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Inhibiting Factors of Scaling up the Impact of Social Entrepreneurial Organizations -- A Comprehensive Framework and Empirical Results for Germany

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  • Thomas Scheuerle
  • Bjoern Schmitz

Abstract

This paper proposes an analytical framework for understanding the inhibiting factors in scaling the social impact of social entrepreneurial organizations (SEOs). The framework distinguishes the relevant actors on different levels (leaders, organization, ecosystem) and suggests (pre)conditions from their perspectives (willingness, ability, admission) that are crucial for scaling processes. It further argues that those (pre)conditions are determined by three social forces (cognitive frames, social networks, and institutions) as proposed by Beckert (2010) in his social grid model. The framework is applied and tested by empirically analysing current inhibiting factors for scaling SEOs' impact in Germany, a state with a highly regulated social welfare field. The empirical analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with 16 German SEOs, being mainly young and small pioneer organizations. It identifies a wide range of inhibiting factors, showing that the German welfare system imposes specific barriers for scaling innovative ideas of smaller SEOs. The findings are discussed against previous research conducted in English-speaking institutional contexts and set out implications and suggestions for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Scheuerle & Bjoern Schmitz, 2016. "Inhibiting Factors of Scaling up the Impact of Social Entrepreneurial Organizations -- A Comprehensive Framework and Empirical Results for Germany," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 127-161, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jsocen:v:7:y:2016:i:2:p:127-161
    DOI: 10.1080/19420676.2015.1086409
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiao‐Min Yu & Xiang‐Yang Bi, 2024. "Scaling strategies, organizational capabilities and scaling social impact: An investigation of social enterprises in China," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 129-152, March.
    2. Islam, Syrus M., 2020. "Towards an integrative definition of scaling social impact in social enterprises," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    3. Roger SPEAR & Carman Ka Man CHAN, 2019. "Social Innovation - Scaling Social Impact: a Danish Case Study," CIRIEC Working Papers 1922, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    4. 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.
    5. Jessica Aschari-Lincoln & Claus D. Jacobs, 2018. "Enabling Effective Social Impact: Towards a Model for Impact Scaling Agreements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.

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