Exploring Perceived Differences of Social Entrepreneurs, For-Profit Entrepreneurs, and NPO-Leaders

Abstract

Social enterprises (SEs) strive for the fulfillment of a social mission based on an elaborated income strategy. Consequently, they are largely conceptualized as hybrid enterprises combining logics of traditional non-profit organizations (NPOs) and for-profit enterprises (FPEs). This is sound on the organizational level, however, it remains unclear to which extent the perception of SE-leaders on the personal level mirrors this hybridity as previous studies’ scope is limited to (i) a comparison of only two of the three organizational forms and (ii) leader self-reports. Therefore, in the current study, we examine perceived personality traits, work-related values, leadership styles, and leader attributes of SE-leaders compared to FPE- and NPO-leaders. Using a vignette-based, comprehensive experimental design with a sample of business students (N = 170), we found that whereas notable differences in personality and leadership comparing SE- and FPE-leaders exist, SE- and NPO-leaders were perceived as not different. Based on our findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.