Scaling social impact is a challenge that innovative social firms operating in resource-constrained Bottom of Pyramid markets must address while also ensuring profitability. However, how scaling occurs is scarcely understood. By building on the case studies of two healthcare social enterprises located in India, we make four important contributions to the understanding of the scaling up process. First, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial adjustments are guided by whether social firms prioritize alleviating their internal constraints or those faced by customers. Second, we show how such dynamic prioritization of constraints influences how firms mobilize resources and use operating routines from inception to market establishment. Third, we illustrate how, by pursuing resource mobilization strategies and operating routines, firms generate a ‘deep’ impact by expanding the number and type of their activities or a ‘broad’ one by increasing their membership base and/or geographic area. Finally, our findings show that the prioritization of internal or customer constraints leads firms to establish different sequences of elements of institutional legitimacy—i.e., normative, regulatory, and cognitive ones. We conclude by presenting the development of a process model for scaling-up social firms, by developing our propositions and by discussing the implications of our findings.

扩大社会影响是在资源受限的金字塔底层市场运营的创新型社会公司必须解决的挑战，同时还要确保盈利能力。然而，几乎不了解缩放是如何发生的。通过对位于印度的两家医疗保健社会企业的案例研究，我们为理解扩大过程做出了四项重要贡献。首先，我们证明了创业调整是由社会企业优先考虑减轻其内部约束还是客户面临的约束来指导的。其次，我们展示了这种动态的约束优先级排序如何影响公司如何调动资源和使用从开始到市场建立的运营程序。第三，我们说明如何通过追求资源调动策略和操作程序，公司通过扩大其活动的数量和类型产生“深刻”影响，或通过增加会员基础和/或地理区域产生“广泛”影响。最后，我们的研究结果表明，内部或客户约束的优先排序导致公司建立制度合法性要素的不同序列——即规范、监管和认知要素。最后，我们通过提出扩大社会企业的过程模型，提出我们的命题并讨论我们发现的含义，从而得出结论。我们的研究结果表明，内部或客户约束的优先排序导致公司建立制度合法性要素的不同序列——即规范、监管和认知要素。最后，我们通过提出扩大社会企业的过程模型，提出我们的命题并讨论我们发现的含义，从而得出结论。我们的研究结果表明，内部或客户约束的优先排序导致公司建立制度合法性要素的不同序列——即规范、监管和认知要素。最后，我们通过提出扩大社会企业的过程模型，提出我们的命题并讨论我们发现的含义，从而得出结论。