Exploring Accountability in Social Enterprise: Priorities, Practicalities, and Legitimacy.

Year: 2020
Published in: VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations
Cited as: Bradford, A., B. Luke and C. Furneaux (2020). “Exploring Accountability in Social Enterprise: Priorities, Practicalities, and Legitimacy.” VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 31(3): 614-626.

This paper draws upon accountability and legitimacy theories to explore for what social enterprises are accountable, how they communicate accountability, and to what extent they publicly communicate accountability. Case study methodology was employed, examining four work-integrated social enterprises in Australia. Data collection involved interviews with managers of each social enterprise, and a review of various secondary data including social enterprise websites and internal and external reports. Findings reveal a temporal dimension of accountability, as social enterprises acknowledged their dual social and financial accountability, but prioritised financial over social performance. Communication of social performance was limited, with publicly available reports partial and selective in nature. Communication of financial performance was even more limited, reporting typically directed to internal stakeholders. Implications include the need for social enterprises to communicate social and financial performance more broadly, in order to advance their legitimacy from moral (based on intentions) to consequential (based on achievements).