Social impact through family firms' interorganizational relationships within a community and a cooperative: An embedded view of stewardship

Current literature provides limited understanding on the processes through which interorganizational relationships contribute to social impact. We focus on a context, which is uniquely suited to understanding this phenomenon: a cooperative composed of family firms that operate in a rural community. We draw on stewardship and embeddedness perspectives to understand the way interorganizational relationships within a community and a cooperative allow family firms to engage in social impact. Relying on abductive logic and a qualitative multiple case study research, this study unveils the micro-processes and mechanisms through which interorganizational relationships within a cooperative and a community allow firms to operate on a continuum comprised of social value generation, sharing and replication practices. An embedded form of stewardship emerges as a core mechanism for interorganizational social impact activities. A conceptual model, based on generating, sharing and replicating processes of social impact is proposed. Implications and opportunities for further research are presented.

Automated summary

This study examines how interorganizational relationships within a cooperative of family firms in a rural community contribute to social impact, drawing on stewardship and embeddedness perspectives. Through qualitative multiple case study research, the study reveals the micro-processes and mechanisms through which firms engage in social impact practices. An embedded form of stewardship is identified as a core mechanism for interorganizational social impact activities, and a conceptual model based on social impact processes is proposed for further research.