IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/opmare/v14y2021i3d10.1007_s12063-021-00213-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is different about social enterprises’ operational practices and capabilities?

Author

Listed:
  • Liliana Ávila

    (University of Aveiro)

  • Luís Miguel D. F. Ferreira

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering)

  • Marlene Amorim

    (University of Aveiro)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the main practices and capabilities developed by social enterprises and to explore the relationship between the dual organizational identity of social enterprises and their operational capabilities. A multiple case-study research is conducted comprising five cases representative of the diversity of social enterprise models. The results suggest that the operations strategy in social enterprises is influenced by their dual organizational identity and entails some operational practices and capabilities beyond those traditionally reported in manufacturing companies. They adopt a greater diversity of practices aimed at improvement and cooperation capabilities and their specificities lead to the development of the mobilization of resources capability and the openness capability. Social enterprises with a high social identity show greater evidence of the development of these operational capabilities. This study contributes to the literature on operations strategy by identifying a set of operational practices and capabilities developed by social enterprises and exploring how they are influenced by their dual organizational identity. It responds to the claims that suggest that studying social enterprises would be a fertile ground to advance theoretical and empirical research in the field of service operations. Developing knowledge on the operations management of social enterprises provides valuable insights into improving the performance of such organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Liliana Ávila & Luís Miguel D. F. Ferreira & Marlene Amorim, 2021. "What is different about social enterprises’ operational practices and capabilities?," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 318-336, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:opmare:v:14:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s12063-021-00213-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12063-021-00213-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12063-021-00213-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12063-021-00213-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Teasdale, 2012. "Negotiating Tensions: How Do Social Enterprises in the Homelessness Field Balance Social and Commercial Considerations?," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 514-532.
    2. Avella, Lucía & Fernández, Esteban & Vázquez, Camilo J., 1999. "The large Spanish industrial company: strategies of the most competitive factories," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 497-514, October.
    3. Benjamin Gidron, 2017. "The Dual Hybridity of Social Enterprises for Marginalized Populations," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Brett R. Smith & Christopher E. Stevens, 2010. "Different types of social entrepreneurship: The role of geography and embeddedness on the measurement and scaling of social value," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(6), pages 575-598, October.
    5. Robin Stevens & Nathalie Moray & Johan Bruneel, 2015. "The Social and Economic Mission of Social Enterprises: Dimensions, Measurement, Validation, and Relation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(5), pages 1051-1082, September.
    6. Thun, Jörn-Henrik, 2008. "Empirical analysis of manufacturing strategy implementation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 370-382, May.
    7. Todd W. Moss & Jeremy C. Short & G. Tyge Payne & G.T. Lumpkin, 2011. "Dual Identities in Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(4), pages 805-830, July.
    8. Neck, Heidi & Brush, Candida & Allen, Elaine, 2009. "The landscape of social entrepreneurship," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 13-19.
    9. Moriah Meyskens & Colleen Robb–Post & Jeffrey A. Stamp & Alan L. Carsrud & Paul D. Reynolds, 2010. "Social Ventures from a Resource–Based Perspective: An Exploratory Study Assessing Global Ashoka Fellows," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 661-680, July.
    10. Danny Samson & Matteo Kalchschmidt, 2019. "Looking forward in operations management research," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-3, June.
    11. Edward N. Gamble & Simon C. Parker & Peter W. Moroz, 2020. "Measuring the Integration of Social and Environmental Missions in Hybrid Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 271-284, November.
    12. Jeffrey G. Miller & Aleda V. Roth, 1994. "A Taxonomy of Manufacturing Strategies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 285-304, March.
    13. Geoffrey Desa, 2012. "Resource Mobilization in International Social Entrepreneurship: Bricolage as a Mechanism of Institutional Transformation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(4), pages 727-751, July.
    14. MariaLaura Di Domenico & Helen Haugh & Paul Tracey, 2010. "Social Bricolage: Theorizing Social Value Creation in Social Enterprises," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 681-703, July.
    15. James Austin & Howard Stevenson & Jane Wei–Skillern, 2006. "Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(1), pages 1-22, January.
    16. Ying Fan & Monique L. French & Rebecca Duray & Gary L. Stading, 2017. "Service strategy to improve operational capabilities in the public sector," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(11-12), pages 703-725, September.
    17. Craig VanSandt & Mukesh Sud & Christopher Marmé, 2009. "Enabling the Original Intent: Catalysts for Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 419-428, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandro Giudici & James G. Combs & Benedetto Lorenzo Cannatelli & Brett R. Smith, 2020. "Successful Scaling in Social Franchising: The Case of Impact Hub," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(2), pages 288-314, March.
    2. Adélie Ranville & Marcos Barros, 2022. "Towards Normative Theories of Social Entrepreneurship. A Review of the Top Publications of the Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 407-438, October.
    3. Gupta, Parul & Chauhan, Sumedha & Paul, Justin & Jaiswal, M.P., 2020. "Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 209-229.
    4. Robin Stevens & Nathalie Moray & Johan Bruneel, 2015. "The Social and Economic Mission of Social Enterprises: Dimensions, Measurement, Validation, and Relation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(5), pages 1051-1082, September.
    5. Syrus M Islam, 2022. "Social impact scaling strategies in social enterprises: A systematic review and research agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 298-321, May.
    6. Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Nandakumar, M.K., 2020. "Individual capital and social entrepreneurship: Role of formal institutions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 104-117.
    7. Iain A. Davies & Bob Doherty, 2019. "Balancing a Hybrid Business Model: The Search for Equilibrium at Cafédirect," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1043-1066, July.
    8. Weerawardena, Jay & Salunke, Sandeep & Haigh, Nardia & Sullivan Mort, Gillian, 2021. "Business model innovation in social purpose organizations: Conceptualizing dual social-economic value creation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 762-771.
    9. Hadad Shahrazad, 2017. "Main research areas and methods in social entrepreneurship," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 893-903, July.
    10. Rohit Bhardwaj & Saurabh Srivastava & Sunali Bindra & Sumit Sangwan, 2023. "An ecosystem view of social entrepreneurship through the perspective of systems thinking," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 250-265, January.
    11. Hans Rawhouser & Michael Cummings & Scott L. Newbert, 2019. "Social Impact Measurement: Current Approaches and Future Directions for Social Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 82-115, January.
    12. Xiangping Jia & Geoffrey Desa, 2020. "Social entrepreneurship and impact investment in rural–urban transformation: An orientation to systemic social innovation and symposium findings," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1217-1239, December.
    13. Pradeep Kumar Hota & Balaji Subramanian & Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy, 2020. "Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Social Entrepreneurship Research: A Citation/Co-citation Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 89-114, September.
    14. Matthew P. Johnson & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1141-1173, November.
    15. Jonghun Sun & Young Woo Sohn, 2021. "The Influence of Dual Missions on Employees’ Meaning of Work and Turnover Intention in Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-14, July.
    16. João J. Ferreira & Cristina I. Fernandes & Marta Peres-Ortiz & Helena Alves, 2017. "Conceptualizing social entrepreneurship: perspectives from the literature," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 14(1), pages 73-93, March.
    17. Elena-Simina Lakatos & Bercea Oana Bianca & Laura Bacali, 2016. "The concept of innovation in social economy. A review and a research agenda," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 11(1), pages 32-50, June.
    18. Yanto Chandra & Li Crystal Jiang & Cheng-Jun Wang, 2016. "Mining Social Entrepreneurship Strategies Using Topic Modeling," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-28, March.
    19. Reeti Kulshrestha & Arunaditya Sahay & Subhanjan Sengupta, 2022. "Constituents and Drivers of Mission Engagement for Social Enterprise Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(1), pages 90-120, March.
    20. Aidin Salamzadeh & Zahra Arasti & Ghanbar Mohamadi Elyasi, 2017. "Creation of ICT-Based Social Start-Ups in Iran: A Multiple Case Study," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 97-122, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:opmare:v:14:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s12063-021-00213-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.