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  • September–October 2017
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Blurring the Boundaries: The Interplay of Gender and Local Communities in the Commercialization of Social Ventures

By: Stefan Dimitriadis, Matthew Lee, Lakshmi Ramarajan and Julie Battilana
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Abstract

This paper examines the critical role of gender in the commercialization of social ventures. We argue that cultural beliefs about what is perceived to be appropriate work for each gender influence how founders of social ventures incorporate commercial activity into their ventures. Specifically, we argue and show that although cultural beliefs that disassociate women from commercial activity may result in female social venture founders being less likely to use commercial activity than their male counterparts, these effects are moderated by cultural beliefs about gender and commercial activity within founders’ local communities. The presence of female business owners in the same community mitigates the role of founders’ gender on the use of commercial activity. We examine these issues through a novel sample of 584 social ventures in the United States. We constructively replicate and extend these findings with a supplemental analysis of a second sample, the full population of new nonprofit organizations founded during a two-year period in the United States (n = 31,160). By highlighting how gendered aspects of both the social and commercial sectors interact to shape the use of commercial activity by social venture founders, our findings contribute to research on hybrid organizations in the social sector, communities as a context for the enactment of gender, and the enactment of gender in entrepreneurship.

Keywords

Community; Cultural Beliefs; Social Enterprise; Gender; Local Range; Commercialization; Culture

Citation

Dimitriadis, Stefan, Matthew Lee, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julie Battilana. "Blurring the Boundaries: The Interplay of Gender and Local Communities in the Commercialization of Social Ventures." Organization Science 28, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 819–839.
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About The Authors

Lakshmi Ramarajan

Organizational Behavior
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Julie Battilana

Organizational Behavior
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More from the Authors
  • Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy By: Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana and Dominique Méda
  • Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre
  • OMG! My Boss Just Friended Me: How Evaluations of Colleagues' Disclosure, Gender, and Rank Shape Personal/Professional Boundary Blurring Online By: Nancy Rothbard, Lakshmi Ramarajan, Ariane Ollier-Malaterre and Serenity Lee
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