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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Wee Chan Au
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2023. Individuals start and join social enterprises to catalyze social impact but may not subjectively experience their work as impactful. In this article, we inductively uncover when social enterprise members question the impactfulness of their work and how they engage in sensemaking to experience their work as impactful. Exploring the experiences of members across two social enterprises with different missions, we provide insights into instances creating ambiguity of or discrepancies in impactfulness and unearth how individuals navigate these in different circumstances with two distinct sensemaking practices: internalizing and compensating. We reveal the efforts required to experience work as impactful, highlight the heterogeneity and agency in maintaining this perception, and suggest a potential dark side for members and missions of social enterprises.
Author(s): Drencheva A, Au WC, Li Yew J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Business and Society
Year: 2023
Volume: 62
Issue: 7
Pages: 1458-1495
Print publication date: 01/09/2023
Online publication date: 21/01/2023
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 17/02/2023
ISSN (print): 0007-6503
ISSN (electronic): 1552-4205
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503221150780
DOI: 10.1177/00076503221150780
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