Social enterprises: Solution for inclusion? An examination of how behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion in the Netherlands

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Amsterdam Business School

Bachelor: Future planet studies

Major: Business Administration

Bachelor Thesis

Social enterprises: Solution for inclusion?

An examination of how behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs

to focus on work inclusion in the Netherlands

Author:

Joris Hulsman

10739189

Date: 26-06-2018

Supervisor: Nesrien Abu Ghazaleh

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Statement of originality

This document is written by Student Joris Hulsman who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Abstract

In recent years the participation of individuals with distance to the labour market in the Dutch labour market has decreased. Social entrepreneurs have been improving the participation by creating social enterprises focused on work inclusion for individuals with distance to the labour market. To examine the behavioural factors that influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion the theory of planned behaviour is applied. Thereby, behavioural interventions can be designed by the Dutch government to stimulate entrepreneurs in the Netherlands to get involved in social entrepreneurship focused on work inclusion. Specifically, entrepreneurs can be stimulated by targeting the behavioural factors that are determined in this research to be of influence on the intention to focus on work inclusion. Consequently, the research question is: How do behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion in the Netherlands? It is proposed that a positive attitude towards behaviour, perceived norm and high perceived behaviour control positively influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion. Also, it is proposed that one of these three factors is of greater influence on the intention to focus on work inclusion compared to the other two factors. These propositions are examined by conducting semi-structured interviews with ten founders of social enterprises focused on work inclusion. Three out of four propositions were confirmed in this research, suggesting that a positive attitude towards work inclusion and high perceived behavioural control considering work inclusion do positively influence the intention to focus on work inclusion of the social entrepreneurs. Also, the perceived norm towards work inclusion does not influence the intention to focus on work inclusion. Lastly, the attitude towards work inclusion is the most influential factor on the intention. These results indicate that the Dutch government should target the attitude towards behaviour and perceived behaviour control of entrepreneur’s through informative campaigns to create more involvement with the issue. Finally, forthcoming studies could focus on

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investigating the influence of the behavioural factors on the intention of dissimilar classes of entrepreneurs.

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had taken place in the amount of people with disabilities that were involved in the Dutch labour market (Nos, 2016). The amount of people with constraints on their health and that were on incapacity benefits, whom still partook in the labour market, had lowered from 55% in 2008 to 43% in 2014, a decline of 12% (SCP, 2016). Also, the volume of people who were on ‘Wajong’1_{benefits and contributed to the labour market lowered from 26% in 2008 to 22% in}

2014 (SCP, 2016). Although these numbers originate from economically difficult times, the fact that people with disabilities seemingly were having a harder time participating in the labour market could be considered a worrying trend.

To combat the trend described above, social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands could play a crucial role in getting people with a distance to the labour market involved in the Dutch labour market again. Social entrepreneurs are defined in this study as entrepreneurs who primarily have the goal to increase social wealth by combating social issues (Zahra, Rawhouser, Bhawe & Neubaum, 2008). A lack of inclusion of people with distance to the labour market could be considered such a social issue and is one of the disputes social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are trying to resolve. The group of individuals with distance to the labour market for this study includes everyone that cannot autonomously earn a minimum wage or has a labour handicap as described by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (2018). Although a number of Dutch social entrepreneurs are already improving work inclusion through the practices of their enterprises, there is still a large share of people with distance to the labour market that remain unemployed. Therefore, an increase of social entrepreneurship focused on improving work inclusion is essential to battle this unemployment.

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An insight into the factors that determine the behaviour of social entrepreneurs, to focus on work inclusion, is necessary to assist the Dutch government to find ways to stimulate and engage social entrepreneurs. This research aims to investigate these behavioural factors and determine how they could be used to aid the Dutch government. To show the societal and scientific relevance, a more detailed description of the characteristics and issues of people with distance to the labour market are given below.

As an illustration of the concern portrayed above, only 42% of people with a labour handicap, people who could not participate in the labour market due to illness or other problems, were reported to have paid employment. This compared to an 87% employment rate for individuals who did not have a labour handicap (CBS, 2016). Some of the reasoning behind this was that employers were increasingly selecting based on the health of employees. This practice indicated that people with disabilities were less likely to obtain and maintain employment (SCP, 2016). Moreover, people with a labour handicap tend to have worse social circumstances due to bullying in the work atmosphere. According to the Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau, 16% of people with a handicap experienced bullying and had the feeling they were given less chances to grow within the organization (SCP, 2016). This shows that the challenging circumstances experienced by the target group influence their participation rate in the Dutch labour market.

Furthermore, in December 2014 the Dutch government cancelled the Law for labour and social security, Law Social Workplace and a part of the Law ‘Wajong’. The groups targeted by these laws can all be classified as having a distance to the labour market. All of the people affected by these laws were defined by the fact that they would not be able to earn a minimum wage independently or had a labour handicap (Ministerie van Sociale zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 2018).

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The idea behind this was that the Dutch government wanted people with distance to the labour market to integrate in a regular workplace, instead of specifically designed labour facilities (Ministerie van Sociale zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 2018).

Consequently, to improve on this lack of participation of people with distance to the labour market and replace the three laws mentioned above, the Dutch government enacted the Participation law in January 2015 (Rijksoverheid, 2018). This was partly based on the UN-treaty for sustainable development, signed by the Netherlands in 2015, which also included the aim to enhance their position on the labour market (United Nations, 2015). Based on the participation law the Dutch government has set the target to create 125.000 extra jobs for individuals with distance to the labour market. The idea is to achieve this objective by operating in collaboration with employers in the Netherlands (Ministerie van Sociale zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 2018). The goal of this target was to create a more inclusive labour market. This target could be reached by creating relationships and collaborations with social entrepreneurs focused on work inclusion.

Moreover, overall unemployment has been found to affect both the psychological and physical health of individuals in a negative way. However, the effects of unemployment can range significantly and are known to differ amongst individuals (e.g. depression, anxiety and lowered physical well-being) (McKee, Song, Wanberg & Kinicki, 2005). Although the effects are mainly felt on an individual level, unemployment also effects the population of a country due to significant healthcare and welfare costs (Harris & Morrow, 2001). These findings demonstrate that combatting unemployment can be relevant and beneficial both for the people with distance to the labour market and the Dutch society.

Also, the target group aimed at in this research, individuals with distance to the labour market, seems to have group specific difficulties. According to Alba Ramírez (1993) employees with jobs that do not properly match their skills and level of education, for example

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due to disabilities, tend to have a higher level of turnover and are more likely to leave their jobs. This could be one of the reasons for the lowered levels of labour participation in the Netherlands, mentioned above. Furthermore, people with disabilities tend to face negative attitudes towards them from people within the organizations they work in (Bruyere, Erickson & Ferrentino, 2002). Which may keep them from participating at all since they have the feeling they are handled in a different way than other employees (Colella & Bruyere, 2011). This shows that adjustments from the side of employers could be a solution for several of the reasons that people with distance to the labour market increasingly fail to be included in the Netherlands.

A viable option to face this problem could be social enterprises, as mentioned before. Social enterprises can, among other things, aid to combat social issues in society and catalyse change in these fields (Alvord, Brown & Letts, 2004). In this case they could aid to deal with the problems considering work participation of people with distance to the labour market. A more detailed exploration of the concept of social entrepreneurship can be found in the theoretical framework.

It was estimated that there were approximately 5000-6000 social enterprises in the Netherlands in 2016. In comparison, in 2011 there were only between 2000 and 3000, which indicates a growth of 70% between 2011 and 2016 in the social enterprise sector. Also, social enterprises were assessed to have created between 65000-80000 jobs in the Netherlands until 2016 (McKinsey, 2016). Although these numbers for social enterprises include companies that try to impact society in different areas, improving participation in the labour market is the second most chosen impact area in the Netherlands (McKinsey, 2016). This shows the impact and contribution social enterprises are starting to make over the last years. Organizations in the Netherlands such as brewery the Prael, GreenFox and i-did have made it their mission to improve participation of people with distance to the labour market. However, according to

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Blonk (2018) little research has been conducted into ways to effectively involve social entrepreneurs in the process of increasing participation of people with distance to the labour market.

Therefore, this research aims to examine the gap identified by Blonk and provide insight into the behavioural factors that influence the degree to which social enterprises focus on work participation. In this case, the examination is done by using qualitative research methods in the form of ten semi-structured interviews with 10 founders of social enterprises focused on work inclusion.

Furthermore, Blonk (2018) suggested that the factors such as social pressure, intention and motivation could influence the effectiveness of social enterprises, based on the theory of planned behaviour and the reason action model by Fishbein & Ajzen (2011), these theories will be discussed in the theoretical framework.

Consequently, this research can aid to identify the importance of different factors that influence efficient approaches for enterprises to focus on increasing work participation. Thereby helping to guide and stimulate social enterprises in their practices to increase work participation. Also, current issues considering a lack of participation mentioned before could possibly be resolved. Finally, the examination of behavioural aspects of the social entrepreneurs, executed in this research, can aid in the development of programs by the Dutch government to promote social entrepreneurship. Specifically, social entrepreneurship focused on improving work inclusion.

The concept of social entrepreneurship, the theory of planned behaviour and the reasoned actioned model will be discussed in the theoretical framework, to aid and answer the research question. Thereby, the research question is formulated as follows: How do behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion in the Netherlands?

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Theoretical framework

Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship has been a widely researched concept over an extended period of time and is regarded, amongst other uses, as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enhance social circumstances and bring novel answers to societal issues (Zahra, Rawhouser, Bhawe & Neubaum, 2008). Furthermore, social entrepreneurship has been described as a combination of diverse exercises to detect and capture opportunities with the aim to improve social wealth through the creation of novel businesses or finding creative ways to run present businesses (Zahra, Gedajlovic, Neubaum & Shulman, 2009).

Also, the importance of applying social entrepreneurship can be found in the fact that a lack of knowledge and resources within governments and NGO’s can lead to little consideration of vital social requirements. Social entrepreneurs can fill in for these organs and build the necessary resources and capabilities to solve these issues (Prahalad, 2005). Moreover, social enterprises have proved to be more cost efficient and creative in solving social issues than existing entities (Cox & Healey, 2008). Finally, with governments around the world taking a step back on investing in social services, a sense of urgency has developed for entrepreneurs to deal with these social matters, which could also explain the emergence of social enterprises (Lasprogata & Cotton, 2003).

Concluding, with the Dutch government handing out more responsibility to entrepreneurs to solve social issues they have not yet been able to find solutions for, there seems to be a niche for the innovative, cost efficient and resourceful social entrepreneurs to do their part. However, to allow for social entrepreneurs to produce their contribution, the Dutch government has to find a way to reach them and understand their drive behind why they start a social enterprise in the first place. By understanding their drive and incentives new and existing entrepreneurs could be stimulated to create social enterprises focused on work

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inclusion. Thereby, an opportunity to create a more inclusive labour market with the help of social entrepreneurs can be captured.

Moreover, in the following paragraph the theory of planned behaviour and associated theories will be examined. These theories will be discussed to clarify the foundation of the reasoned action model. The reasoned action model is used to describe the factors that are relevant for the behaviour and drive of social entrepreneurs. Describing these factors is necessary to answer the research question mentioned before.

Theory of planned behaviour

For the last 50 years scholars have been researching what the factors are that influence particular behaviours (Armitage & Connor, 2001). One of the most valued and studied theories, considering the prediction of behaviour, is the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action had been developed by Fishbein & Ajzen since 1975 and argued that intentions, the direct predictor of behaviour, were formed by the attitude and subjective norm towards that behaviour (Madden, Ellen & Ajzen, 1992). However, the theory did not adequately explain behaviour yet. This was argued because it did not take into account the beliefs of individuals considering their ownership of sufficient resources and opportunities to perform a behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). Therefore, Ajzen extended the model by adding perceived behaviour control as an element that determined the intention to perform a behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). This extended model is currently known as the theory of planned behaviour. Furthermore, the addition of perceived behaviour control was proven to significantly improve the prediction of intentions and thereby behaviours (Madden, Ellen & Ajzen, 1992). However, the extent to which the three factors independently affect specific types of intentions, differs per behaviour (Madden, Ellen & Ajzen, 1992).

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In practice, the theory of planned behaviour has been used for numerous applications and to explain various types of behaviours. Chatzisarantis & Hagger (2005) used the theory of planned behaviour to establish what the main predictor was for physical activity behaviour. By doing so, they aimed to create interventions that would change behaviours considering leisure time physical activity of 83 students. Thereby, they found that the use of persuasive communication, aimed at the key behavioural beliefs, resulted in a more positive attitude towards the behaviour and greater intentions (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2005). Also, perceived behavioural control and perceived norms were found to not have a significant effect on the intentions of students in this case. This shows that by studying how specific behaviours are influenced by the factors of the theory of planned behaviour, an opportunity can be created to craft behaviour specific interventions to change behaviours. Another example of the usage of the theory of planned behaviour was by Shih & Fang (2004). They used the theory of planned behaviour to examine the behaviour of 425 Taiwanese consumers considering the adoption of internet banking. This showed that the main predictor for the adoption of internet banking was attitude towards behaviour. Similarly, as in the study mentioned above, both subjective norm and perceived behavioural control were not proven to have significant effects on the behaviour to adopt internet banking (Shih & Fang, 2004).

A final, more work related, example of a study on the application of the theory of planned behaviour was done by van Breukelen, van der Vlist and Steensma (2004). They examined the extent to which the three behavioural factors and the eventual intention clarified the behaviour of voluntary employee turnover. This was done by examining the turnover behaviour of 296 respondents in the Dutch Navy over a 2-year period. As a result, these researchers concluded that the intention to perform the behaviour of turnover was the best forecaster of voluntary employee turnover. Thereby, it was proven that the theory of planned behaviour provided better predictors than the traditional predictors like job satisfaction, tenure

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and organizational commitment (van Breukelen, van der Vlist & Steensma, 2004). Overall, these three studies show that by applying the theory of planned behaviour the predictors of intentions and behaviours can be pinpointed. And when the main influential factors are discovered interventions can be made more accurate.

Lastly, as a product of the theory of planned behaviour the reasoned action model was crafted. This model is the most recent and efficient tool used to predict behaviours and create behavioural interventions (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011).

Therefore, in the following part the reasoned action model will be deliberated on and a further explanation of relevant concepts will be presented. This model can, in this research, help to clarify the reasons and motives for social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands to focus on work participation. As mentioned before, through knowing these motives the incentives can be found to trigger current entrepreneurs to contribute to solving the issue of work participation of people with distance to the labour market.

The reasoned action model

The reasoned action model (Figure 1.1) created by Fishbein & Ajzen (2011) in short describes the predictors of behaviour and can help to identify motives for the reasons a person decides to engage in a behaviour or not. The model consists of different levels commencing with the background characteristics of the individual, entailing three different categories knowingly: individual, social and information characteristics.

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Figure 1.1 Reasoned action model (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011)

Secondly, these three categories of background characteristics together determine the beliefs of an individual for three separate classes. These three classes of beliefs are behavioural, normative and control beliefs and mainly determine what a person thinks the overall effects of certain performed behaviours will be (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011).

Thirdly, the behavioural beliefs aid people to establish if they judge specific behaviours to have favourable results or not and form an attitude towards that specific behaviour, this attitude can be positive or negative. In this specific research, attitude towards behaviour can be described as the results social entrepreneurs expect to get when they focus on work inclusion and if these are positive or negative results. A positive attitude towards a specific behaviour has proven to create a stronger intention to perform a behaviour (Ajzen, 2006; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). Therefore, the first proposition is formulated as the following:

• P1: Positive attitude towards work inclusion of social entrepreneurs positively influences their intention to focus on work inclusion.

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Additionally, normative beliefs decide wherever an individual deliberates that certain behaviours are approved by key members or groups in their lives and form the perceived norm which defines social pressure to behave in a certain way. When adapted to the case examined here, perceived norm is the social pressure social entrepreneurs experience to focus on work inclusion. The social pressure here consists of pressure from family, friends, society or the Dutch government. When individuals perceive the specific behaviour is found appropriate by others and critical people in their lives execute the behaviour they are more likely to perceive social pressure. Perceived norm leads to a greater intention to implement a behaviour (Ajzen 2006; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). This leads to the second proposition:

• P2: Perceived norm towards work inclusion by the social entrepreneurs positively influences their intention to focus on work inclusion.

Moreover, control beliefs determine if some individual thinks he or she would be able to perform certain behaviours based on personal circumstances and forms perceived behavioural control, perceived control can be high or low. High indicates a person feels like they have the tools to adequately perform a behaviour and low indicates the opposite (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). Applied here, perceived behaviour control is the extent to which social entrepreneurs have the feeling there are enough conditions that facilitate focussing on work inclusion in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the higher the quantity of perceived behavioural control the stronger the intention to show a behaviour. As a result, the third proposition is as follows:

• P3: High perceived behavioural control concerning work inclusion positively influences the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion.

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Finally, as portrayed in the three exemplary studies above and discovered by Madden, Ellen & Ajzen (1992) the impact of the three behavioural factors differs per sort of behaviour. Although, the impact of all the three behavioural factors is proposed to be positive, it is therefore to be expected that one of the behavioural factors affects the intention of the social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion more profoundly. However, it would not be possible to predict which of the three would be more influential since little research has been done into social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands considering this subject. Thereby, the fourth and final proposition states:

• P4: One of the three predictors of the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion has a higher effect on intention compared to the other two predictors.

The attitude towards behaviour, perceived norms and perceived behavioural control govern the intention to conduct behaviours. Intention is described as the willingness to complete a certain behaviour and the higher perceived control, more approving the attitude and perceived norm the more powerful intention will be. This intention is the main forecaster of the motivation to perform behaviours and this relationship is moderated by actual control over behaviour (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). In this research, intention is defined as the willingness of social entrepreneurs to create an enterprise that focusses on work inclusion. Altogether, this model predicts how individuals, for example entrepreneurs, form the intention to undertake certain actions and helps to determine what the motives are for people to build social enterprises focused on work inclusion. The conceptual model applied to this research can be seen in Figure 1.2. This conceptual model intents to describe the relationship between the behavioural factors that determine intention and the eventual intention that is formed considering work inclusion by social enterprises. Since the model has not yet been applied to employers who focus on social entrepreneurship and work participation doing so could create new insights.

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In the following section the methods used to test the propositions and find an answer as to what behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion, will be discussed.

Figure 1.2 the conceptual model describing the behavioural factors influencing the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion

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Methodology

Research design

In this section the research design, sample, data collection, data analysis and reliability and validity of this research will be discussed. This research aims to investigate the way in which the behavioural factors, mentioned in the conceptual model above, influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion. By doing so the objective is to get a clearer view on what and how behavioural factors impact the intention of social entrepreneurs to start focussing on work inclusion. As mentioned in the previous section, the three factors influencing the intention to perform behaviours have been measured before and have proven to predict behaviour (Madden, Ellen & Ajzen, 1992). However, the amount of impact they independently have differs per specific behaviour. By identifying the drivers for the behaviour to undertake social entrepreneurial activity focused on work inclusion the Dutch government could create more informed and accurate measures to stimulate this behaviour.

Furthermore, a qualitative research method has been chosen for this particular research. Reason for that is the fact that by using a qualitative method an understanding can be created for the multifaceted human disputes (Marshall, 1996). Behaviour and intention are characteristically classic examples of multifaceted concepts and therefore it is appropriate to use a qualitative research method. Also, qualitative studies are able to take into account a broader social environment to develop answers. This in contrast to quantitative studies which tend to insulate their matter of research (Rich & Ginsburg, 1999). In this case perceived social norm is a crucial factor in behaviour and social circumstances are essential. Thereby, a qualitative research method is appropriate. To gain a more elaborate and wholesome insight into the social entrepreneurs that focus on work inclusion multiple cases were examined. This type of case study approach is fitting since it is most appropriate to use when reasoning for certain behaviours is examined (Yin, 2017).

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Since the factors that influence behaviour have not been researched yet, for the specific group of social entrepreneurs targeted in this study, an exploratory research style has been applied. This type of exploratory style can aid to gain a novel and deeper comprehension into what underlying beliefs and situational factors have influenced social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion. Also, the exploratory approach fits because this research aims to pinpoint and examine the phenomenon. The gathering of more data about this specific group can aid to create behavioural interventions to stimulate social behaviour of entrepreneurs.

Additionally, a deductive research approach is chosen. Firstly, the deductive approach is suitable because the reasoned action model by Ajzen & Fishbein (2011) has been widely used to examine the factors influencing behaviours. Due to the existence of such a model and the extensive substantiation of the theory of planned behaviour, it is most appropriate to deduct theories from here. By doing so, this research has been able to go from the broader theory of planned behaviour to a more target group focused model that explains their behaviour. Thereby testing to what extent, the three different behavioural factors, described by Ajzen & Fishbein (2011), impact the intention for the context of social entrepreneurs focused on work inclusion. Based on this the three propositions above were formed, these propositions are examined by collecting and analysing data.

Moreover, the collection of data was done by conducting semi structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews are used since they allow for more flexibility and follow up questions when needed (Gill et al., 2008). The semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten social entrepreneurs focused on work inclusion. Moreover, the use of semi-structured interviews aids to make sure respondents deliberate on the variables that relate to intention but also have the ability to fill in their specific perspectives on attitudes, perceived norms and perceived control. This is essential since this allows for the gaining of further and specific information concerning the underlying constructs of the factors that are examined in this

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research. Also, interviews create the opportunity to gain more detailed information concerning the respondents, which is considered necessary when trying to assess personal opinions and beliefs.

In the upcoming part the sample criteria used for the selection of respondents will be discussed.

Research sample

As mentioned before, the group targeted in this research is rather specific and narrow. Therefore, it was clear from the beginning that the sample that needed to be examined had to fit various criteria. Beginning with the fact that all of the respondents would have had to be involved in the founding of a company that is occupied with social entrepreneurship. Reasons for this being that social entrepreneurs could contribute to solving the issue of low numbers of participation considering people with distance to the labour market. The definition of social entrepreneurship, as mentioned above in the theoretical framework, is the capturing of opportunities in a business environment to improve social wealth and combat social issues (Zahra, Rawhouser, Bhawe & Neubaum, 2008; Gedajlovic, Zahra, Neubaum & Shulman, 2009). Also, the social entrepreneurs had to be focused on work inclusion and the improving of the position of people with distance to the labour market. Thereby, having the goal to involve people with distance to the labour market and give them the opportunity to re-integrate. Finally, there was the criterion that the entrepreneurs had to be involved in the founding of the company. This had to do with the fact that this helped to access a specific group that could give an insight into the behavioural factors that influenced the intention to create new solutions for work inclusion of people with distance to the labour market.

However, there were no strict criteria applied considering the size of the enterprises the entrepreneurs worked for. Since the research question is primarily focused on investigating

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why social entrepreneurs focus on work inclusion the size of a company does not enhance or impede the suitability of respondents. Nevertheless, a mixed sample of both smaller and larger companies were included due to accessibility. Yet, this could help to make better generalizations about social entrepreneurs in differently sized companies. Additionally, the entrepreneurs that were incorporated in this research represent companies from multiple lines of business. This includes companies who do business in hospitality, landscaping, providing services and manufacturing. As for size, the line of business similarly does not influence the ability of social entrepreneurs to be focused on work inclusion and therefore was not a criterion for selection. Other personal characteristics like age or education for example were no criterion for selection of social entrepreneurs. Finally, all of the companies had to operate in the Netherlands. Since this research aims to provide insight into why social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands focus on work inclusion. Thereby, it can be noted that purposive sampling was used since the respondents were selected strictly on all of the criteria mentioned above and the most fitting respondents were chosen (Tongco, 2007).

The following section will discuss the procedure of the collection of the data and the measures used to gather it.

Data collection

The process of finding the specific companies and founders that fitted the criteria mentioned above, was helped by the usage of personal contacts. These contacts operated in the field of social entrepreneurship. Making use of the networks of these contacts helped to access the contact information of the target group. As mentioned before, the industries that the enterprises operated in were not relevant and therefore founders from various industries were contacted. In total twenty-four founders of social enterprises focused on work inclusion where contacted through email. This email contained information on where the research was about and

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contained the request for an interview on the subject. Out of this pool of twenty-four a total of ten founders agreed to participate in this research. They represented a wide variety of industries and company sizes as stated in the previous section. Underneath, in table 1.0, an oversight of is given, with particular details about the respondents and the companies they represent.

Table 1.0 Characteristics of respondents and social enterprises

For this particular research, data was gathered by conducting ten semi-structured interviews with the ten founders of companies that were involved in social entrepreneurship. More specifically, all the companies were involved improving the work inclusion of people with distance to the labour market. Also, all of the businesses operated solely in the Netherlands. The interviews were conducted in May 2018 on various locations in the Netherlands. For example, the office of the interviewees or public meeting spaces. Locations were chosen by the participant due to their busy schedules and the small time frame the interviews had to be conducted in. Also, this study hoped to create a sense of security and trust for the respondent by conducting the interviews on their location of choosing. In all cases the interviews were conducted with the sole presence of respondent and researcher. Thereby,

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making sure the respondents were not pressured by others within their organization. These interviews helped to create a thorough and noteworthy insight into the beliefs and behavioural factors that impacted the intention for these social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion.

Moreover, the semi-structured interviews started off with general questions to gather information about the personal characteristics of the respondents. These personal characteristics include name, age, education and work experience. It must be noted that every individual respondent was informed that the interviews were recorded and that they agreed with this. Similarly, it was assured that the participants would remain anonymous during the research and in the end product. This was done to improve the reliability of the research since bias can be lowered. After the questions considering personal characteristics, some general questions about the companies were asked. These provided information about the social enterprises’ size, mission, goals etc.

Thereafter, the behavioural factors, described in the theoretical framework, that impact intention according to Fishbein & Ajzen (2011) were examined. This was done by grouping the interview in different topics namely the three behavioural factors that are proposed to govern the intention to perform behaviour. These three factors are the attitude towards behaviour, perceived norm and perceived behavioural control. To assess the factors, themes related to these factors were used to compile information and measure the three variables. These themes were derived from existing questionnaires used to examine behavioural factors that influence the intention of individuals from research by Roland Blonk and colleagues. These questionnaires were accessed through personal contact with Roland Blonk and are not publicly available. Examples of themes used to gather information considering attitude towards behaviour are attitude towards importance labour, attitude towards accessibility labour market and attitude towards dealing with people with distance to the labour market. These themes had specific questions assigned to them and the questions were similarly inspired by existing

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questionnaires from Roland Blonk and colleagues. For the perceived norm and perceived behaviour control other appropriate themes were used. These can be located in the interview protocol in the appendix. Also, the interview was structured in a way that certain questions were requested to be answered twice, both for when the entrepreneur started the enterprise and for the present moment. The aim with this was to get an understanding of how the social enterprise had impacted the behavioural factors of entrepreneurs over time and if changes had occurred. By designing the interview protocol in the way described above, this research was able to gather valuable data on the way that behavioural factors had influenced the social entrepreneurs to create a social enterprise focused on work inclusion. Hereby, giving this research the opportunity to discover data that can be utilized to test the propositions and thereby answer the research question.

In general, the interviews were conducted in 45-75 minutes. For all the interviews Dutch was the sole language. Finally, for additional information, the interview protocol used to conduct the interviews can be located in the appendix. Also, for every interview the protocol was followed.

Next up, the way the collected qualitative data was analysed is described.

Data analysis

To achieve a better comprehension of the data gathered, qualitative techniques were used for the analysis in this research. Firstly, the interviews conducted were transcribed to make sure no data was lost and that future research would have the ability to access the data. Hereby, it was ensured that no personal interpretation of the data was applied before the analysis since this can in instances negatively impact the data (Bryman, 2016). For the transcribing, the voice recordings of the interviews were used and written down in Microsoft Word.

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After the transcribing, the interviews were analysed by using a combination of deductive and inductive coding. A deductive coding approach implies that the coding of the data was done by using the concepts, from the theoretical framework above, to categorize the data. For example, the behavioural factor attitude towards behaviour was used as one of three major and broad codes. Also, inductive coding was used in a sense that the data was interpreted during the analysis to develop new categories and codes that emerged from the data. These categories did not fall in the categories derived from the theoretical framework. The coding was done by using Atlas.ti, a program that aids qualitative analysis.

Firstly, during the interviews there was already a general idea of how the data should be categorised. Since, a deductive coding approach was likely to be used, as mentioned previously. Therefore, memos were written to assure that certain statements by the interviewees were classified under a specific broad category. Furthermore, the coding of the interviews was started by using open coding. In this open coding stage, the researcher examines the data and produces categories to group the data (Burnard, 1991). Pieces of data were categorized based on specific properties and codes were assigned to the data portions. These specific properties and the meaning of the codes were based on the theoretical framework. A few instances of the open codes applied in this research were: importance labour, believe possibility re-integration and expected impact.

After the open codes were produced, axial coding was used to make connections between the data and codes that were assigned in the open coding phase (Kendall, 1999). By doing so relations between different codes became apparent and the amount of codes could be reduced since there was overlap and some codes could be grouped under the same category. An example of this are the open codes opinion direct environment and opinions others at start that were merged together under opinion direct environment. Finally, the codes and

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relationships between the data were interpreted to give a coherent answer to the research question and propositions based on the data provided by the social entrepreneurs.

In the following section the reliability, generalizability and validity of this research will be assessed.

Validity and reliability of the research

To safeguard the quality of qualitative research both validity and reliability have to be guaranteed (Franklin & Ballan, 2001). First of all, reliability has to do with the ability to replicate the research and the consistency of discoveries (Kirk & Miller, 1986). Secondly, the validity of qualitative research deals with the accurateness of the discoveries made in the research (Franklin & Ballan, 2001). One of the methods that helps increasing reliability is the creation of homogenous samples, because it tends to reduce variability (Franklin & Ballan, 2001). By selecting on the criteria mentioned earlier a rather homogenous sample was gathered and thus reliability was increased. Also, a sample should not be too small according to Hill et al. (1997), and should at least contain 8 to 15 cases to increase the consistency of the research. For this research 10 cases were used and thus meets these standards. Similarly, at 10 cases no new information appeared and thus saturation had likely been reached. Hence, including more cases would not have been of added value concerning the gathering of data for this research (Saunders, Sim & Kingstone, 2017).

Moreover, to ensure that the study could be replicated, steps taken and the decisions that were made considering research design, sampling and data collection and analysis are thoroughly described above. Additionally, to provide further translucency the interview protocol, is available in the appendix. The interview protocol was systematically and identically followed in each interview and transcripts contained the exact information provided by respondents. Altogether, this helps to ensure both validity and reliability. However, since

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there was only one sole researcher in this study potential bias in interpretation of coded data could be present.

External and construct validity were assured by creating an elaborate theoretical framework that was synthesized from scientific literature. Based on this framework propositions were formed and thus this aids external validity. Since, this helps to illustrate the fact that the data collection and analysis are grounded on models and concepts (Franklin & Ballan, 2001). Nevertheless, because of the rather small sample size the generalizability of this research could be questionable. Besides, all respondents were assured anonymity to make sure they had the feeling they could speak freely and would not solely provide socially acceptable answers. Also, respondents were given the freedom to elaborate on their answers when they felt this was necessary. Therefore, it should be noted that measures have been take to increase the reliability and validity of this research.

In the upcoming chapter the findings as a result of the conducted semi-structured interviews will be displayed.

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Results

In this section, the findings of this research will be presented. As described before, these findings were gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with ten founders of social enterprises. These enterprises are all focused on improving work inclusion in the Dutch labour market and aim to get individuals with distance to the labour market to employment.

Moreover, the findings are structured by using the four propositions, stated above, that were derived from the theoretical framework. All of these propositions aim to explain the influence of a separate behavioural factor. Findings considering these behavioural factors will be separately discussed. Also, the themes used to structure the interview questions will be used to display the findings.

These findings are used to get a better understanding about what behavioural factors influence the intention of these social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion. By getting a better understanding of the influence of these factors, the four propositions above can be examined. Hereby, an answer to the following main research question of this research can be found: How do behavioural factors influence the intention of social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion in the Netherlands?

Attitude towards behaviour

The first proposition states: Positive attitude towards work inclusion of social entrepreneurs positively influences their intention to focus on work inclusion.

According to Fishbein & Ajzen (2011), a positive attitude towards behaviour strengthens the intention to perform the behaviour. This implies that when social entrepreneurs would expect positive results from their behaviour of focusing on work inclusion it would strengthen their intention to create an enterprise focused on work inclusion. Therefore, findings are displayed underneath considering the significance and importance for the social

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entrepreneurs of the outcomes they achieve by focusing on work inclusion. Thus, in the following section the findings considering the attitude towards the importance of employment, accessibility of the labour market and dealing with people with distance to the labour market are presented.

Attitude towards importance employment

Firstly, the main and most obvious contribution of social entrepreneurs by focusing on work inclusion is that they supply labour. Hereby, attitude towards employment is relevant, when examining the attitude towards behaviour, since it shows the value the respondents do or do not assign to enabling the people with distance to the labour market to get back onto the labour market. This can be an example of what results they expect to get when focusing on work inclusion.

All of the social entrepreneurs considered labour a crucial part of life. Also, the respondents said it was one of the major reasons to start their social enterprise focused on work inclusion because they knew how much it could contribute to an individual’s life. Like respondent 6 mentioned, “Absolutely, that is where it is all about, creating work for these people, because we know how important it can be. Employment brings structure and meaning back into their lives” (R6, 2018). Furthermore, they are of the opinion that employment has attributes that improve the quality of life overall. Labour is for example believed to improve self-esteem, create the ability to survive, enhance social skills, aid personal growth and create a sense of appreciation.

Since they all know the positive effects of labour they aim to achieve these effects for the people with distance to the labour market. They believe employment is a solution to the wide array of problems the people with distance to the labour market have. This positive attitude towards what results they could achieve for individuals by creating employment was

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said to be a driver to build their social enterprise. As respondent 2, an entrepreneur who aims to integrate people with autism into the labour market, mentioned, “Employment is the best medicine. There is no medicine for autism and however it is proven that visiting a psychiatrist can produce results I believe employment is more effective” (R2, 2018). Likewise, respondent 4 stated, “Work is almost as important as food. If a person does not have employment they are confronted with that every moment of the day. It is what makes your day. Where you get out of bed for and what requires you to go to bed at a decent time. It helps an individual to grow and develop” (R4, 2018).

When asked whether generating profits was ever part of their intention of starting a social enterprise the respondents said this was not the case. All social entrepreneurs felt that their main driver to start the social enterprise was to create labour for the people with distance to the labour market and not to generate profit. Thereby, these social entrepreneurs do all realize that to have a bigger impact on improving work inclusion a decent positive financial result has to be achieved. For example, respondent 4 elaborated, “We put impact above profit maximisation. We make investments that negatively influence our current and future profits. Because our employee becomes interesting for other employers. He does not need us anymore” (R4, 2018). However, respondent 2 and 7 also declared that profit for them is a means to be independent and not completely reliant on other parties, like the government.

Therefore, it can be concluded that all of the social entrepreneurs in this research do have a positive attitude towards employment and see the contributions it can make to one’s life. The believe that labour could create that much positive side-effects was an essential stimulus for their intention to start their social enterprise and focus on work inclusion.

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Attitude towards accessibility labour market

The attitude towards the accessibility of the Dutch labour market is crucial when studying the attitude towards work inclusion since these findings can show whether the social entrepreneurs in this research believe enough was done to aid the target group and if the right methods were applied. Consequently, this can demonstrate whether exhibited efforts and used methods by the Dutch government have been of influence on the respondents’ intention to focus on work inclusion

Principally, the possibilities for people with distance to the labour market to get to work are limited according to the founders of the social enterprises. Main reasons for this are the preconceptions towards people with distance to the labour market and the limited amount of jobs that this group can fit into. The impression of the respondents that the individuals with distance to the labour market would not get a job from regular employers, was a motive to begin their social enterprise and aid this group. Respondent 6 mentioned, “Especially people in re- integration trajectories do not know where to search. There are only a limited number of spots where they can participate on their level. That is not always easy” (R6, 2018). Also, it is declared by the respondents that there is not enough transparency and information available for people with distance to the labour market to get an image of where to look for employment.

Additionally, in general the social entrepreneurs consider that the Dutch government does put in sufficient effort into helping people with distance to the labour market to work. However, the ways in which the government does this and the results they achieve by using these methods are considered not to be suitable and satisfactory. Respondents 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 state that they believe the specific talents of people with distance to the labour market are not sufficiently recognised and selected on. Furthermore, the trajectories that exist to re-integrate people are stated to not be personal enough and in many cases, result in bad matches between employee and employer. This attitude towards the practices of the government were mentioned

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to be an incentive to work on the improvement of these practices and craft a social enterprise that does take the talents and qualities of the target group into consideration. Exemplary for this, “I think that most of the people with distance to the labour market have been disappointed countless times. They are promised the world in all of the trajectories but it has never helped them to get employment” (R2, 2018). Altogether, this is said to result in unsatisfied individuals, bad matching between individual and job and demotivation of people with distance to the labour market. Respondents 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 9 specifically mentioned one of the reasons the social enterprise was started was because they believed better methods existed to get people with distance to the labour market to work.

Furthermore, all of the respondents believe that they contributed to making the labour market more accessible. The several groups with distance to the labour market are considered not to have been employed if it was not for the efforts of the social entrepreneurs. The believe that the individuals with distance to the labour market did not fit in the existing labour market was a key consideration for the social entrepreneurs to create appropriate work via their social enterprise. As for respondent 2, “We have been pioneers because other employers saw people with autism as difficult employees and a risk. But we did see the talents” (R2, 2018).

Concluding, the attitude towards the accessibility of the labour market, facilitated by the Dutch government, is not always positive. However, the fact that the opinion towards the accessibility was not always positive is shown to be a reason for the respondents to start their social enterprise. These shortcomings have in several cases been a trigger to start a social enterprise focused on work inclusion and create more efficient practices than existing ones. Finally, the social entrepreneurs do feel like they have played a distinct role in creating a more inclusive labour market.

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Attitude towards dealing with people with distance to labour market

The attitude towards dealing with people with distance to the labour market is relevant to the attitude towards focusing on work inclusion because if the respondents see the target group as too complicated and do not see any chance for re-integration, their intention to start a social enterprise to aid the target group could be unlikely.

The opinions on wherever the social entrepreneurs did anticipate specific difficulties by employing people with distance to the labour market differs considerably. On the one hand, respondents 1,3,4,5,8 and 9 did see complications with the hiring of people with distance to the labour market. One of the anticipated problems was concerning the need of guidance for the target group. Since most of the individuals either have a labour handicap or have not participated in the labour market for a long time there is a necessity for staff to guide them. However, these respondents do mention that part of their intention to found the enterprise focused on work inclusion came from the fact that they knew they could create working environments with the attention the target group needed. Something the respondents experienced a regular employer was not willing to do. For example, respondent 8 mentioned, “That is exactly the reason we are working with this group. We are the kind of company that is open to these sorts of people but there are lots of companies that are not, those companies remain sceptical” (R8, 2018).

On the other hand, respondents 2,4,7 and 10 did not expect much issues but saw opportunities in the target group. Most of these entrepreneurs felt like they knew the target group and their particular talents that could be utilized. Also, the fact that these talents were considerably underutilized was a vital consideration for them in their intention to build their social enterprise and use the talents to their full potential. By hiring the individuals with distance to the labour market and taking the risks associated with these individuals they were able to show other employers that these were manageable risks. This because the social

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enterprises were responsible for their employees and hired them to other organizations. According to respondent 2, “We did the coaching and made work instructions, that helped to take away the risks for other employers. If you deliver good work you get mouth to mouth advertisement and you get hired more” (R2, 2018)

Furthermore, the respondents’ intention to design a social enterprise focused on work inclusion was declared by the respondents to be based on this positive attitude towards the possibility of re-integration. Respondent 4 mentioned, “We believed that everyone had a head start on the labour market, no distance. That everyone has qualities. Every disability is a specialty for us, everyone can contribute” (R4, 2018).

However, most of the social entrepreneurs do not think they could fit in every single person from the group of distance to the labour market. Respondent 4 stated, “We have also had to say farewell to employees who did not want to participate in education. I cannot force them to get education but some employers see this as essential” (R4, 2018). Also, respondent 5 mentioned, “I also declined applications. I did that because I could not guarantee the safety of the group if I took this person in” (R5, 2018).

However, respondents 3,6,7 and 10 do feel like they can fit everyone into their organization. Mainly, due to the fact that they have highly diverse tasks. As respondent 6 said, “We can actually take in everyone. We can also play into the situation of individuals. Sometimes they have a good day and sometimes a bad one” (R6, 2018).

Thereby, it can be concluded that all entrepreneurs do have a positive attitude towards re-integration and believe that the people they hire can re-integrate no matter their former circumstances. This positive attitude towards the re-integration of these individuals enhanced their intention to start a social enterprise and actually get results.

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Conclusion proposition 1: Positive attitude toward work inclusion of social entrepreneurs positively influences their intention to focus on work inclusion

Overall, the findings with regard to the attitude towards behaviour concerning focussing on work inclusion, of the social entrepreneurs, show they see this behaviour as positive and that this positively influenced their intention to focus on work inclusion.

It is demonstrated that the social entrepreneurs do in fact see the major importance of labour and only value profits as a device to aid more individuals with distance to the labour market. This indicates that they do expect positive results from the behaviour to focus on work inclusion. Furthermore, the fact that the respondents did anticipate these positive results from their behaviour of focussing on work inclusion was mentioned to have positively influenced the intention to start their social enterprises aimed at improving work inclusion.

In addition, the social entrepreneurs in this research evidently think more could be done to aid individuals with distance to the labour market and that better practices should be implemented to do so. Thereby, the intention to start a social enterprise was enhanced since the social entrepreneurs felt like they would be able to create these improved practices. They see the positive effects of this behaviour and their positive attitude towards re-integration positively influenced their intention since they found it a sensibly achievable result. Also, the fact that they might not be able to fit everyone in was not mentioned to have influenced their intention to start the enterprise focused on work inclusion.

Therefore, it is evident that proposition 1 is confirmed and it is shown that a positive attitude towards work inclusion does in fact have a positive influence on the intention of the social entrepreneurs in this research to focus on work inclusion.

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Perceived norm

The second proposition states: Perceived norm towards work inclusion by the social entrepreneurs positively influences their intention to focus on work inclusion.

The perceived norm, specifically for this research, is described as the extent to which the social entrepreneurs experience social pressure to create a social enterprise that is focused on work inclusion. As portrayed in the theoretical framework, Fishbein & Ajzen (2011) state that a perceived norm reinforces the intention to execute a specific behaviour. Therefore, if the social entrepreneurs were to have the feeling that people in their lives would approve of conducting behaviours focussing on work inclusion and support these behaviours, they would be more likely to conduct them. The perceived norm can be created by family, friends, government or society and could strengthen their intention to focus on work inclusion. Consequently, in this chapter findings are presented considering the perception of the social entrepreneurs with regards to the receiving of support, the experienced pressure and how their environment influenced decisions.

Perceived opinions and support

To assess the norm that was perceived by the respondents with regard to work inclusion, an examination into the perceived opinions and support of their direct social environment, the Dutch government and other parties is crucial. Mainly, because these three groups generate the perceived norm and thereby this could show whether a perceived norm existed and if this had an impact on the intention of the social entrepreneurs to focus on work inclusion.

According to the social entrepreneurs their direct social environments reacted in dissimilar manners. The direct social environment, consisting of both family and friends, either reacted in a very positive manner or in a neutral and uncaring manner.

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Respondents 2,3,4,5 and 9 stated that their environment did not have a clear image of what the social entrepreneurs wanted to achieve by focusing on work inclusion. Also, most of these respondents quit the steady and well-paid jobs they had to create their social enterprises. Their environments could not comprehend this choice and therefore were not fully supportive. Yet, these respondents declared that the fact that the environment did not fully comprehend their intent to start a social enterprise focused on work inclusion did not impact their intention to do so. As respondent 5 stated, “My family and friends were not very positive at the start. They questioned my decision and did not understand why I would quit my job for this. A lot of discussions have started from that decision, so not necessarily very positive. But that did not influence me much” (R5, 2018).

In contradiction, respondents 1,6,7,8 and 10 did experience a lot of particularly positive reactions. For them, the experience was that most of their environment found the efforts they were going to organize, to help people with distance to the labour market, noble and intriguing. However, as for the other group of respondents, this approval of their direct social environment was not mentioned to necessarily have affected their intention to start a social enterprise focused on work inclusion. Yet, also for this group the direct social environment did foresee difficulties with the target group and the financial situation. For example, respondent 7 mentioned, “On the one hand they thought it was a wonderful idea. They thought it really fit me as a person. But they also found it risky because they did not know a concept like that yet” (R7, 2018).

Furthermore, 7 out of 10 of the social entrepreneurs did have the perception that they received some sort of support from the Dutch government. This support was primarily in the form of subsidies or assistance with the finding of employees with distance to the labour market. In addition, the general impression was that they were taken more seriously after they had a certain number of employees. As respondent 4 noticed, “When your enterprise reaches