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Working For Impact, But Failing to Experience It: Exploring Individuals' Sensemaking in Social Enterprises

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Wee Chan Au

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 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.

Publication metadata

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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