Social enterprise and neoinstitutional theory: An evaluation of the organizational logics of SE in the UK
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that neoinstitutional theory can provide insights into the conflicts between social ends and economic means within social enterprises (SEs). Tensions between these differing institutional logics may be seen as a manifestation of ambiguity and incoherence in an organizational field that is, despite many recent regulative and normative changes, still weakly institutionalized in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design adopts a qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 40 SE managers in four major UK cities.
Findings
Findings suggest that SE managers deal with the competing institutional logics of “the market” and “social care” in differing ways.
Research limitations/implications
The case studies are derived from major UK cities where SEs are more likely to be dependent on state and quasi-public sector forms of support.
Practical implications
Policies attempting to imbue a more commercial and business-like approach with the institutional field of SE should recognize the tensions imposed by such a shift. These tensions are especially pronounced in SEs affected by changes to state funding regimes and publicly sponsored markets. In some situations, such market logic may be largely inappropriate.
Social implications
Changing institutional logics within an organizational field such as SE requires a recognition of the complex interrelationships between that factors that create and sustain such a field, most notably legal (regulative), educational (normative) and attitudinal (cognitive) factors.
Originality/value
This is one of the few papers to explore the value of neoinstitutional theory in the context of SE.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research on which this paper is based was undertaken within the Third Sector Research Centre Programme run jointly by the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, funded by the ESRC and Barrow Cadbury Trust, and with the research assistance of Heather Buckingham.
Citation
Pinch, S. and Sunley, P. (2015), "Social enterprise and neoinstitutional theory: An evaluation of the organizational logics of SE in the UK", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 303-320. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-07-2014-0030
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited