Organizations Driving Positive Social Change

Ciara Kelly,Ute Stephan,Malcolm Patterson,Johanna Mair

doi:10.1177/0149206316633268

Abstract

Academic and practitioner interest in how market-based organizations can drive positive social change (PSC) is steadily growing. This paper helps to recast how organizations relate to society. It integrates research on projects stimulating PSC—the transformational processes to advance societal well-being—that is fragmented across different streams of research in management and related disciplines. Focusing on the mechanisms at play in how organizations and their projects affect change in targets outside of organizational boundaries, we (1) clarify the nature of PSC as a process, (2) develop an integrative framework that specifies two distinct PSC strategies, (3) take stock of and offer a categorization scheme for change mechanisms and enabling organizational practices, and (4) outline opportunities for future research. Our conceptual framework differentiates between surface- and deep-level PSC strategies understood as distinct combinations of change mechanisms and enabling organizational practices. These strategies differ in the nature and speed of transformation experienced by the targets of change projects and the resulting quality (pervasiveness and durability), timing, and reach of social impact. Our findings provide a solid base for integrating and advancing knowledge across the largely disparate streams of management research on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and base of the pyramid and open up important new avenues for future research on organizing for PSC and on unpacking PSC processes.

Highlights

LiteraturesTwo broad categories of literature form the backbone of our review
Our findings provide a solid base for integrating and advancing knowledge across the largely disparate streams of management research on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and base of the pyramid and open up important new avenues for future research on organizing for positive social change (PSC) and on unpacking PSC processes
Categorizing change mechanisms and organizational practices according to MCO as levers of PSC allows us to organize the mechanisms and practices we identified in a theoretically and empirically meaningful way

Summary

Background

Two broad categories of literature form the backbone of our review. First, different streams in management research incorporate social change considerations as elements of the activities or strategies of market-based organizations. Researchers have more explicitly related how firms and a broader set of organizations, such as nongovernmental or grassroots organizations, may generate profits and stimulate PSC in such markets (see Kolk, Rivera-Santos, & Rufín, 2014, for a review) This literature highlights the importance of firm-specific organizational capabilities and innovation (Hart & Dowell, 2011), business models (Kistruck, Sutter, Lount, & Smith, 2012), alliances of different types of organizations (Webb, Kistruck, Ireland, & Ketchen, 2010), social capital (Ansari, Munir, & Gregg, 2012), and empowerment processes (Mair, Marti, & Ventresca, 2012).

Review Method and Overview of Reviewed Studies

Motivation

A Holistic Perspective on PSC

Findings

A Deeper Understanding of PSC Processes