ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two main indicators for “actual” positioning as a social enterprise. First, it refers to the organization’s service or activity portfolio, which would need to be representative for social enterprise models in the respective country contexts. Second, actual positioning is indicated by the balance of pursuing both social and economic goals in strategic action. Social enterprises, as hybrid organizations, are especially vulnerable to legitimacy challenges from their external environment. The Greek agricultural cooperative ultimately aims to strengthen the local community and economy, which was badly hit by a government-debt crisis. In the Irish case, we identify a social enterprise that aims to deliver core public services to local communities, enhancing employability, supporting small businesses, and promoting the region as a tourist destination. Social enterprises tend to adopt multi-stakeholder governance and thus aim to combine advantages from traditional member-focused cooperatives and advocacy non-profit organizations in terms of opportunity identification and search for information.
