[en] Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the use of current performance tools is consistent with the specific features of social enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach – In a first phase, the main performance tools are divided into
strategic planning tools, reporting tools and economic optimization techniques. In a second phase, 15 criteria emerge from a literature review to characterize the specific features of social enterprises. These criteria are brought together into an analytical framework, which makes it possible to analyze the relevance of each performance tool in relation to the specific features of social enterprises.
Findings – What comes out of the analysis is that the tools globally fail to account for the specific
features of social enterprises. That none of them met more than half of the criteria suggests the need for new performance tools based on strong theoretical bases.
Research Center/Unit :
CES - Centre d'Économie Sociale - ULiège
Disciplines :
Social economics General management, entrepreneurship & organizational theory
Author, co-author :
Mouchamps, Hugues ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC-Ecole de gestion : UER > Social Entrepreneurship
Language :
English
Title :
Weighing Elephants with Kitchen Scales. The relevance of traditional performance measurement tools for social enterprises
Publication date :
2014
Journal title :
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN :
1741-0401
eISSN :
1758-6658
Publisher :
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Volume :
63
Issue :
6
Pages :
727-745
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
Walloon region
Funding text :
This research is part of the ENSOREWA program on social entrepreneurship in Wallonia and is financed by the Walloon Region, the CERA cooperative group and the University of Liège
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