A relation-based approach to social enterprise: the role of psychological contracts

Social enterprises are economic actors that while operating within traditional markets do not comply to the classic capitalistic goal (i.e. profit maximization) but on the contrary pursue non-profit goals such as collective needs contentment or protection of general interests. Inside social enterprises, due to these characteristics, people hold a central role. For this reason, the nature of relations between the organization and its constituents, particularly employees and volunteers, plays a major role. We adopt the psychological contract framework to show how social enterprises might be apt at extracting additional effort on the part of collaborators, when they ground their management styles in micro-relational and diversity management approaches.