Strategic orientations and the performance of Social Entrepreneurial Organisations (SEOs): A conceptual model

Abstract

PurposeThe primary goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that addresses how market, entrepreneurial and brand orientation influence the performance of different types of social entrepreneurial organisations (SEOs) with different founders and in different markets. Design/methodology/approachThis is essentially a conceptual paper that integrates three main specifications regarding the broader concept of strategic orientation (market, brand and entrepreneurial orientation) in a single framework. FindingsIn this paper, a framework about the nature of market, entrepreneurial and brand orientation is developed. It is argued that these orientations consist of a cultural and a behavioural layer, and an influence of the cultural layer on the behavioural layer is proposed. It is also proposed that all strategic orientations influence the performance of an SEO, which consists of the dimensions of economic survival, social effectiveness and institutional legitimacy. The framework implicitly suggests that an SEO could follow several strategic orientations -to a different degree -at the same time.

The Manifestation of Entrepreneurial Orientation in the Social Entrepreneurship Context

“…Therefore, SEs must attain multiple stakeholders either to serve them or to gain their support (Desa and Basu 2013). Serving such multiple stakeholders' mission requires a subjective firm performance measurement (Bagnoli and Megali 2011;Schmidt et al 2015).…”

“…Bloom and Chatterji (2009) suggested seven capabilities for SEs to achieve their social goals. Other scholars used a goal directed approach to measuring SEs' performance through three dimensions: economic performance, social effectiveness and institutional legitimacy (Bagnoli and Megali 2011;Schmidt et al 2015). While others relied on measures of SEs' effectiveness as an indicator of their performance (Chen and Hsu 2013;Knife, Haughton, and Dixon 2014;Miles, Verreynne, and Luke 2014) and other researchers suggest SEs' performance measurements focusing on the SEs' social and economic effectiveness (Arena, Azzone, and Bengo 2015;Arogyaswamy 2017;Miles et al 2013).…”

Nonprofit entrepreneurial orientation: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework

“…Only three studies (Lumpkin et al, ; Pearce II et al, ; Voss et al, ) considered all five dimensions of EO. We emphasize the relevance of the following four theoretical studies, which proposed adaptations to the EO approach in the nonprofit context: (a) Kuratko et al (), theoretical application and intensity levels; (b) Morris et al (), concept, dimensionality, and results; (c) Lumpkin et al (), antecedents, dimensionality, and results; and (d) Schmidt et al (), association with other theories.…”

“…Studies about EO in the context of NPOs have rarely adapted EO scales to reflect differences in how entrepreneurship is manifested in different contexts (Hu & Pang, ; Lumpkin et al, ; Morris et al, ; Schmidt, Baumgarth, Wiedmann, & Lückenbach, ). An organization's mission can differentiate social entrepreneurs from commercial ones—for‐profit or not (Dacin, Dacin, & Matear, ; Lumpkin et al, )—as well as their operational characteristics (Mort, Weerawardena, & Carnegie, ), which reflect the need for studies about entrepreneurship considering different contexts.…”

“…An organization's mission can differentiate social entrepreneurs from commercial ones—for‐profit or not (Dacin, Dacin, & Matear, ; Lumpkin et al, )—as well as their operational characteristics (Mort, Weerawardena, & Carnegie, ), which reflect the need for studies about entrepreneurship considering different contexts. As an example, studies have suggested that aspects of reciprocity are common among NPOs, and deserve to be analyzed as an entrepreneurial behavior of these organizations (Lurtz & Kreutzer, ; Schmidt et al, ).…”