Social enterprises (SEs) have gained increasing prominence over the past three decades as hybrid organisations operating at the intersection of market mechanisms, civic engagement, and public welfare. Their dual identity—combining a social mission with market-based economic activity—creates inherent governance tensions, as SEs must navigate divergent stakeholder expectations, competing institutional logics, and persistent ethical dilemmas. Despite the growth of SE research, existing studies remain fragmented and offer limited insight into how governance systems function across different organisational levels to manage these socio-economic tensions. This dissertation seeks to advance conceptual and empirical understanding of governance in SEs by examining both the internal mechanisms through which decision-making authority, accountability, and ethical reasoning are structured, and the relational processes that shape collaboration in cross-sector partnerships. Focusing on Italian social cooperatives as a paradigmatic form of SE, this dissertation adopts a multi-method, three-study design. Study One provides a structured literature review that maps how SE governance has been theorised and highlights the need for stronger ethical and normative foundations. Study Two addresses this gap by introducing principlism as a conceptual lens for interpreting governance dilemmas, thereby offering a framework to systematise ethical reasoning in multi-stakeholder contexts. Study Three complements these contributions with an empirical case study exploring governance practices in partnerships between a social cooperative and for-profit firms, illustrating how internal and inter-organisational governance mechanisms interact in practice. Taken together, the three studies contribute to a more integrated and ethically attuned understanding of governance in hybrid organisations, offering theoretical and practical insights into how SEs sustain their social mission while engaging in complex market and collaborative environments.
Multi-stakeholder governance for social sustainability: a multi-level analysis of institutional, ethical and relational governance in Italian Social Enterprises.Three studies on the governance tensions of hybrid organisations / Guazzaroni, Giulia. - (2026).
Multi-stakeholder governance for social sustainability: a multi-level analysis of institutional, ethical and relational governance in Italian Social Enterprises.Three studies on the governance tensions of hybrid organisations
GUAZZARONI, GIULIA
2026-01-01
Abstract
Social enterprises (SEs) have gained increasing prominence over the past three decades as hybrid organisations operating at the intersection of market mechanisms, civic engagement, and public welfare. Their dual identity—combining a social mission with market-based economic activity—creates inherent governance tensions, as SEs must navigate divergent stakeholder expectations, competing institutional logics, and persistent ethical dilemmas. Despite the growth of SE research, existing studies remain fragmented and offer limited insight into how governance systems function across different organisational levels to manage these socio-economic tensions. This dissertation seeks to advance conceptual and empirical understanding of governance in SEs by examining both the internal mechanisms through which decision-making authority, accountability, and ethical reasoning are structured, and the relational processes that shape collaboration in cross-sector partnerships. Focusing on Italian social cooperatives as a paradigmatic form of SE, this dissertation adopts a multi-method, three-study design. Study One provides a structured literature review that maps how SE governance has been theorised and highlights the need for stronger ethical and normative foundations. Study Two addresses this gap by introducing principlism as a conceptual lens for interpreting governance dilemmas, thereby offering a framework to systematise ethical reasoning in multi-stakeholder contexts. Study Three complements these contributions with an empirical case study exploring governance practices in partnerships between a social cooperative and for-profit firms, illustrating how internal and inter-organisational governance mechanisms interact in practice. Taken together, the three studies contribute to a more integrated and ethically attuned understanding of governance in hybrid organisations, offering theoretical and practical insights into how SEs sustain their social mission while engaging in complex market and collaborative environments. I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
