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

2023/01/21 by Andreana Drencheva, Wee Chan Au, Jian Li Yew
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Community Development and Social Impact #Knowledge Management and Sharing

paper · doi:10.1177/00076503221150780

Abstract

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.

Citations

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