EXPLORING THE DETERMINANTS OF PERFORMANCE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ORGANIZATIONS

ABSTRACT

Much of social entrepreneurship literature has been focused on definitional debates about the social entrepreneur. Previous research has failed to provide an explanation for factors which affect the performance of social entrepreneurs. This paper highlights Cognitive moral development (CMD) as a variable which influences organizational structure. CMD explains how organizational structure develops. Organizations at low levels of moral development are characterized by tight controls, high emphasis on authority relationships, and centralized decision making (Reidenbach & Robin, 1991). In contrast, organizations at higher stages of moral development allow more employee freedom and discretion. The type of organizational structure that develops in turn influences the financial performance that social entrepreneurship organizations record and the social impact that they achieve.

Key Words: cognitive moral development, organic structure, mechanistic structure, financial performance, social impact, social entrepreneurship organizations