Abstract

While much research has been devoted to the study of how social entrepreneurs manage social-business tensions inherent when pursuing dual missions, we know very little on what determines the ways that they address this challenge. Building on Fauchart and Gruber’s classification of three pure types of entrepreneurial social identities, this study applies a qualitative approach to explore the interplay between entrepreneurial identity and the handling of social-business tensions. The aim of the study is twofold: first, to identify social entrepreneurs’ self-perceived identity, and second, to explore its potential relationship with social-business tensions. Findings reveal that social entrepreneurs exhibit hybrid identities of all three pure identity types. In handling social business tensions, however, they tend to develop new meta-role identities, acting as intermediaries between their organisations and the market, and between actors from different sectors. Additionally, the study identified push and pull factors, which play a role in the gradual process of self-perceived identity modification. These findings offer fresh insights into the entrepreneurial identity and social entrepreneurship literature and expand our understanding of the micro-foundations of social entrepreneurs’ managerial choices.

摘要

虽然很多研究都致力于研究社会企业家在追求双重使命时如何处理社会企业固有的紧张关系，但我们对决定他们应对这一挑战的方式知之甚少。基于 Fauchart 和 Gruber 对三种纯粹类型的企业家社会身份的分类，本研究采用定性方法来探索企业家身份与处理社会企业紧张关系之间的相互作用。该研究的目的是双重的：首先，确定社会企业家的自我认知身份，其次，探索其与社会企业紧张局势的潜在关系。调查结果表明，社会企业家表现出所有三种纯身份类型的混合身份。然而，在处理社交业务紧张局势时，他们倾向于发展新的元角色身份，充当其组织与市场之间以及不同部门参与者之间的中介。此外，该研究还确定了推动和拉动因素，它们在自我认知身份修改的渐进过程中发挥作用。这些发现为企业家身份和社会企业家文学提供了新的见解，并扩大了我们对社会企业家管理选择微观基础的理解。