Social enterprises, marketing, and sustainable public service provision
| Author | Stephen P. Osborne,Madeline Powell |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852317751244 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Social enterprises,
marketing, and
sustainable public
service provision
Madeline Powell
Sheffield Management School, University of Sheffield, UK
Stephen P. Osborne
University of Edinburgh – Business Department, Edinburgh,
Scotland
Abstract
This article explores whether social enterprises are capable of fulfilling the public policy
rhetoric surrounding them, to become sustainable providers of public services. It does
this by examining their marketing activity within North-East England and focuses
on social enterprises delivering adult social care public services. It finds that social
enterprises are employing a product-dominant approach to marketing rather than a
service-oriented, relationship marketing, approach. This undermines their ability to
build the enduring relationships with all their key stakeholders that are the key to
effective service management and fatally weakens their potential as sustainable public
service providers. The article subsequently uses service theory to build an alternative
model of marketing and business practice predicated precisely upon the need to build
such relationships.
Points for practitioners
This article points to the need for public service practitioners to embrace a service
orientation to the management of public services, rather than a product-dominant one
derived from manufacturing. It outlines the key elements of relationship marketing in
Corresponding author:
Madeline Powell, University of Sheffield – Sheffield Management School, Conduit Road, Sheffield, West
Yorkshire S10 1FL, UK.
Email: m.g.powell@sheffield.ac.uk
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2020, Vol. 86(1) 62–79
!The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020852317751244
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
particular and highlights how this approach can contribute substantially to sustainable
public service provision.
Keywords
marketing, public services, service marketing, social enterprise, sustainability
Introduction
UK public service provision in recent years has seen increased ‘marketization’,
with the private sector, third sector and a growing number of hybrid organizations
competing for public service contracts and grants (Bennett, 2008). This competi-
tion has posed considerable resource challenges for these public service organiza-
tions (PSOs) – how can they be financially and organizationally sustainable in such
a competitive and often uncertain environment? A focus upon such self-reliance is
important for PSOs, as public resources have shrunk and become increasingly
difficult to obtain. In this context and in common with global trends, the UK
has placed a strong emphasis on social enterprises (SEs) as public service providers
(Bennett, 2008). They are argued to effectively marry together sustainable business
practice with an adherence to social mission – and hence are argued to be well
placed to respond to this challenging environment.
However, there are tensions for SEs in meeting their social and business aims
which can threaten their sustainability (Moizer and Tracy, 2010), because of the
resultant value conflicts, resource constraints and potential for mission drift
(Ramos and Vaccaro, 2017). Research into SEs has not focused sufficiently
upon evaluating the resolution, or not, of these tensions, and whether SEs can
genuinely become sustainable public service providers (Galera and Borzaga, 2009).
Finally, it is not always clear what ‘sustainability’ means in this policy context.
This article explores this issue. It focuses upon one area of management prac-
tice, marketing, in the context of SEs providing day-care services for adults with
disabilities in the UK. It asks (RQ1): Is there any evidence of marketing contributing
to the sustainability of SEs? As demonstrated below, there is currently a lack of
research that examines the contribution marketing makes to sustainable SEs.
Thus, this article examines empirically if marketing can make such a contribution.
In doing so it will address a broader question (RQ2): Can SEs balance their orga-
nizational tensions (above) and hence become sustainable providers of public serv-
ices? In addressing these two questions the article presents new evidence from the
UK experience about the managerial practices of SEs and explores what ‘sustain-
ability’ actually means for such organizations. While based on the UK experience,
this article does have the potential for significance globally: both increased com-
petition in public service provision and a need for sustainable public service pro-
viders are global imperatives, as are the dilemmas these imperatives pose for SEs.
Powell and Osborne 63
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