Social Connections of Social Enterprises: A Scoping Review of the Strategies Utilized By Public-Private Pairings to Facilitate Successful Social Enterprise Partnerships.

Abstract

Social enterprise has been viewed by some enthusiastic proponents as a transformational and sustainable response to austerity politics in welfare states. Globally there has been a governmental trend towards encouraging social enterprise organizations to take up the mantle of public service provision. A scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to understand the strategies utilized by public-private pairings to facilitate successful social enterprise partnerships. A dialectic social-exchange framework was employed to support analysis because it allows the dynamics within and between partners to be considered over the life of the partnership in relation to their goals. Analysis revealed a range of relational challenges and collaborative strategies employed in social enterprise-governmental partnerships. This article offers several insights that stronger partnerships may be built upon. Namely, minimizing hierarchy, utilizing contextually appropriate work methods, cultivating an openness to learning, having clear communication channels, sharing affinities, having pro-innovation attitudes, and leveraging pre-existing connections. It elucidates a range of challenges and successes experienced by partners and offers an overview of their paradigms, structural arrangements, constitution, and environmental linkages.