Reverse accountability and leadership in social enterprises: analysis of social control and openness for pragmatic organisational design

Rajagopal and Ananya Rajagopal

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2025, vol. 36, issue 1, 31-51

Abstract: This qualitative study analyses the entrepreneurial business performance based on collective leadership styles of social enterprise and attributes of stakeholder driven reverse accountability. The qualitative research method was applied through in-depth interviews to the entrepreneurial leaders of 25 start-up enterprises in Mexico. The study revealed that collective leadership is more effective as compared to an individualistic leader-driven entrepreneurial design. Social enterprises are transitioning to collective leadership models through implementation of organisational design based on reverse accountability. This study is motivated by the perceptual control theory, agency theory, and stakeholder theory. This research study contributes extensively to the existing literature by analysing the impact of reverse accountability and collective leadership patterns on decision-making process of social enterprises. The main focus of this study evolves around leadership and intervention in social enterprises to contribute to the growth of managerial capacity and longevity of stakeholder values.

Keywords: reverse accountability; social enterprises; collective leadership; grounded theory; social governance. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijbexc:v:36:y:2025:i:1:p:31-51

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