How Social Entrepreneurs’ Value Orientation Affects the Performance of Social Enterprises in Korea: The Mediating Effect of Social Entrepreneurship

Efforts have been made to improve the performance of social enterprises through many studies on social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship. However, previous studies have conceptualized social entrepreneurship based on researches on commercial entrepreneurs. In addition, the scale used in the analysis of social entrepreneurship focuses primarily on behavioral aspects. Although the social and economic values pursued by social enterprises are important virtues for social entrepreneurs, research on the value orientation of social entrepreneurship is insufficient. The essence of a social enterprise is creating social value based on financial sustainability, so the concept of blended value has been recently emphasized. This study analyzed the relationships among blended value orientation, social entrepreneurship, and the performance of social enterprises. The results indicate that the blended value orientation of social entrepreneurs influenced social entrepreneurship and performance; social entrepreneurship fully mediated blended value orientation and performance. These findings suggest that it is important to focus on the blended value orientation of social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship in the promotion and policies of social enterprises.