http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nvsq Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 2 commercial performance can help to improve SEs' social performance because the revenue generated by commercial activities can be used to improve SEs' social activities. On the other hand, researchers argue that uncertainty within the context of business activities may create structural tension, leading to the underachievement of both the commercial and social objectives (Foster & Bradach, 2005; Weisbrod, 2004). Since each side provides valid propositions, we investigate how the potential effects of one aspect of practice (i.e. social and commercial) positively moderate the impact of SO behavior in another. Thirdly, we answer the call from scholars regarding the urgent need to conduct a large scale quantitative data analysis of SEs (e.g. Dacin, Dacin, & Tracey, 2011). THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Brief summary of SE researches The pursuit of transforming a traditional third sector organization into a more commercialized entity-an SE-has become increasingly popular over the last decade, due to the strong economic and political forces encouraging traditional third sector organizations to seek financial independence (Coombes, Morris, Allen, & Webb, 2011; Dacin et al., 2011). Recent studies on SEs can be divided into three major streams of literature. The first emphasizes the definition of SEs' concept and domain (e.g. Austin, 2000; Mair & Marti, 2006), and debates what they are and what constitutes SE practice. The second research stream studies the SE business model (e.g. Cooney, 2011; e.g. Foster & Bradach, 2005; Weisbrod, 2004), focusing on investigating the uniqueness of the SE hybrid business model that combines both the commercial and social aspects of business operations, highlighting the structural tensions of the model and the legitimacy of SEs' commercial involvement, and developing managerial implications regarding SEs' operation. Finally, the third stream of studies documents the impact on performance when SEs adopt strategic marketing or