Social entrepreneurial ambidextrous orientation and venture performance

Purpose Social entrepreneurs seek to solve societal problems using business means. The passion to address pressing social issues often invites entrepreneurs who may not have sufficient business expertise. This raises an important challenge for these entrepreneurs: to what extent is balancing the social mission and business expertise important in achieving high venture performance? Though social entrepreneurship literature is robust, it has yet to fully address this challenge. This study tackles this scholarly puzzle and practical challenge by introducing a new construct social entrepreneurial ambidextrous orientation (SEAO). We define SEAO as social entrepreneurs’ propensity to balance their passionate commitment to social causes and the business expertise needed to operate the social venture effectively and efficiently. We propose that high-performing social ventures balance social and business functions. We introduce three contextual factors (mission scope, organic structure, environmental munificence) that might further influence the SEAO-performance relationship. Design/methodology/approach We draw from the awareness-motivation-capacity (AMC) framework in strategic management to conceptualize the SEAO construct. We developed the SEAO scale following Hinkin (1998) and MacKenzie et al. (2011) best practice recommendations. We then empirically tested our hypothesis using data from 246 social entrepreneurs in the USA using a moderated regression analysis. Findings Our findings suggest that SEAO has a significant positive relationship with social performance as measured in the number of beneficiaries served. The presence of organic structure and environmental munificence moderates the relationship between SEAO and economic venture performance (as measured in revenues) such that the relationship is stronger among ventures with organic structure and environmental munificence. Originality/value Social entrepreneurs managing for-profit social ventures often find it challenging to balance the demands of social and economic value creation associated with their dual mission. This study introduces the SEAO construct and a corresponding multi-item scale to assess social entrepreneurs’ propensity to address this challenge. Our empirical analysis indicates that SEAO positively associates with social venture performance and that this relationship is stronger among ventures that have organic structures and those that operate in munificent industries.