Social entrepreneurship orientation and corporate dual performance: A serial mediation model

Abstract

Purpose: Shouldering dual missions, social entrepreneurship-oriented enterprises often face the challenge of mission drift when confronted with environmental dynamics and limited resources. Therefore, based on the resource-based view, this article explores the mechanism of effective resource management in the process of achieving dual performance in social entrepreneurship-oriented enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach: In this study, 220 enterprises in China were surveyed. A quantitative approach, utilising convenience sampling for survey distribution, was employed, and the proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA).

Findings/results: We found that: (1) Social entrepreneurship orientation (SEO) has a significant positive effect on corporate dual performance. (2) Social entrepreneurship orientation positively affects corporate dual performance through resource management, and this mediating role is played through multiple paths – separate mediating roles of resource acquisition, resource integration, and resource utilisation, serial mediating roles of resource acquisition and resource integration, serial mediating roles of resource acquisition and resource utilisation, serial mediating roles of resource integration and resource utilisation, and serial mediating roles of resource acquisition, resource integration, and resource utilisation. (3) The fsQCA analysis shows that there are two ways to realise corporate dual performance, namely, social entrepreneurship orientation-dominated means and resource management-dominated means.

Practical implications: Companies in a period of social transformation should pay more attention to the role of social entrepreneurship orientation. In addition, they need to take a close look at resource management to effectively alleviate the pressure they face in fulfilling their social mission and realising economic values.

Originality/value: These findings not only reveal the impact of social entrepreneurship orientation on corporate dual performance and its specific mechanism but also enhance the theoretical explanation of analysing the heterogeneity of SEO practice under the resource-based view.