Title: Growth orientation in social enterprises

Authors: Saila Tykkyläinen; Pasi Syrjä; Kaisu Puumalainen; Helena Sjögrén

Addresses: School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, FI-53850 Lappeenranta, Finland ' School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, FI-53850 Lappeenranta, Finland ' School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, FI-53850 Lappeenranta, Finland ' School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, FI-53850 Lappeenranta, Finland

Abstract: This study explores growth orientation in the social entrepreneurship context through in-depth case studies in six Finnish social enterprises. In light of existing research on business growth and scaling up social enterprises and our data, we propose that willingness to grow is fairly strong among social entrepreneurs, and that growth is sought through various strong and intentional strategies. Growth orientation stems primarily from the entrepreneurs' social mission, but at the same time, the mission appears to narrow down options for growth paths. However, tensions between financial and social goals, often discussed in the social enterprise literature, did not appear as a form of conflict. Our study suggests that the social mission can be both a driver and a barrier of growth for social enterprises.

Keywords: social entrepreneurship; growth orientation; scaling up; case study; social enterprises; Finland; social mission.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2016.078966

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2016 Vol.8 No.3, pp.296 - 316

Received: 14 Sep 2014
Accepted: 27 Jan 2015
Published online: 08 Sep 2016 *

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