Inclusive Governance in Social Enterprises in the Netherlands – A Case Study

Abstract

An element that policymakers and academics often believe to be constitutive in the governance of a social enterprise is the use of inclusive and responsible decision-making processes. This entails the involvement of various categories of stakeholders. In this paper, a case study is used to explore how a work integration social enterprise based in the Netherlands, AutiTalent BV, has organized its governance. The Netherlands has not developed legislation specifically dealing with social enterprises, in contrast to many other EU Member States (16 out of 28), and it does not require, although it allows for, the establishment of inclusive governance. By examining how (national Dutch) law affects the governance of a work-integration-oriented social enterprise, the authors aim to contribute to emerging theory on participatory and inclusive governance of social enterprises -as a legal concept but also as an organizational concept -shaped by (tailor-made and/or ordinary) law. The case study reveals that the investigated work integration social enterprise has not set up formal inclusive governance, suggesting that a social enterprise may not be stimulated by legislation which allows but not requires the participation of stakeholders in decision making. At the same time, informal direct communication channels exist between the people who influence the decision-making processes and people from various stakeholder categories.

Doing the right thing or doing things right? The role of ethics of care and ethics of justice in human resource management of social enterprises

“…Colenbrander, Argyrou, Lambooy, and Blomme (2017) examine how inclusive and participatory governance is realized in a Dutch social enterprise in terms of processes and structures and concluded that its governance has an informal character and focuses on a free flow of information between employees and management:

“we have a very active view on staff engagement in the decision‐making of the business, so staff can also apply to become members of the company and, therefore, have a say in its say in strategy and direction” (SE12).

“everyone is approachable… from myself and Senior Management and down to shop floor and trainees. So, I think that provides quite a transparent culture” (SE05).

…”

The Janus face of participatory governance: How inclusive governance benefits and limits the social innovativeness of social enterprises

“…Works on the social enterprise-stakeholder relationship discuss the importance and constraints of balancing the interests of stakeholders and provide theoretical explanations for stakeholder participation. According to Colenbrander et al (2017), involving multiple stakeholders is imperative for the survival of social enterprises. It can provide them with expertise, legitimacy, and access to resources, and help them identify social needs.…”

“…3. In the third group of contributions, participatory governance is not regarded simply as an organizational concept but also as a legal and political one (Spear, Cornforth and Aiken, 2009;Colenbrander et al, 2017). From this perspective, the implementation of participatory governance models also depends on the existence of appropriate legal frameworks.…”

Lean HRM practices in work integration social enterprises: Moving towards social lean production. Evidence from Italian case studies*

“…In the case of NPOs, the mission (Battilana, Sengul, Pache, & Model, 2015; Doherty et al., 2014) and the nature of human resources (Barrenechea‐Mendez & Ben‐Ner, 2017; Ben‐Ner & Ren, 2015) can particularly affect the content of the HRM practices adopted. As regards the external environment, institutions (Akingbola, 2013) including legislation (Colenbrander, Argyrou, Lambooy, & Blomme, 2017) and the economic context particularly shaped by market pressures (Kaye, Jans, & Jones, 2011) play a prominent role.…”

“…Regarding the institutional context, commercial WISEs in the Italian context must employ at least 30% disadvantaged workers by law. The prevalent business model is that of social cooperatives, therefore applying member democratic control, limited‐profit distribution, and an asset lock, mirroring growth strategies based on surplus reinvestment with the primary aim to benefit marginalized workers and the community in a stable way (Borzaga & Tortia, 2006; Colenbrander et al., 2017). At the same time, fiscal relief is assured by the state over hired disadvantaged people’ wages.…”