A taxonomy of social entrepreneurial models: A cluster analysis

Prior research has mainly focused on the organizational complexity within social enterprises and on the differences between them and commercial organizations. Yet, few studies have examined the heterogeneity among social enterprises. Taking a business model perspective, this study investigates how social enterprises differ in their value creation process. Empirically, we rely on data from 437 social enterprises gathered in the Netherlands to conduct the cluster analysis, resulting in a taxonomy of seven social entrepreneurial models. Our taxonomy contributes to a more comprehensive classification of social enterprises and provides insights into their heterogeneous value identification, delivery, and capture processes. Moreover, we demonstrate the usefulness of the business model perspective for uncovering the essence of organizational designs beyond a purely commercial context. This study also has societal relevance as it can help practitioners and policymakers recognize and act upon different social entrepreneurial models when making decisions.