How Social Enterprises Operate in Global B2B Contexts: The Interplay of Commercial Market Choice and Social Mission

Date and time: 23 March, 2023, 14:00

Location: 303, ISM (Gediminas av. 7, Vilnius)

Abstract.

Social enterprises in emerging economies often operate in global business-to-business contexts, which has important implications for their social mission that we need to better understand. Based on the empirical case of impact sourcing – hiring and training of disadvantaged staff for global business services – we examine how the strategic market orientation of impact sourcing firms relates to how they organize their social mission. We find that impact sourcing firms that regard their social mission as highly important relative to commercial objectives are likely to invest more into specific marketable skills which allows them to serve respective niche markets. We also find that serving primarily domestic client markets favors an integration of social mission with business operations, whereas serving diverse international markets favors decoupled approaches. Our findings inform recent debates on social enterprise business models in international contexts.

Reference: Kannothra, C., Manning, S., Cotterlaz-Rannard, G., Kundu, S. “How Social Enterprises Operate in Global B2B Contexts: The Interplay of Commercial Market Choice and Social Mission”. Business and Society (R&R, 3rd round).

Short bio

Stephan is a Professor of Strategy and Innovation in the University of Sussex Business School, Department of Strategy and Marketing. Previously, he worked at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Duke University and Free University Berlin. He has been Visiting Scholar at Copenhagen Business School, Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management, and Imperial College London.

Stephan's current research focuses on responses to global societal challenges; social innovation and entrepreneurship; and global value chains. Stephan also has a continuous interest in project entrepreneurship and project-based organizing. He has done field research on various topics, including outsourcing and social entrepreneurship, in several countries, including China, Germany, Guatemala, Kenya, Romania, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and the United States. His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Human Relations and Research Policy. Stephan is member of the Editorial Review Board of Organization Studies. He has also written blog articles for various outlets, including The Conversation. He is co-founder of the Organizations and Social Change Blog. For more details  >>>.

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