How does the institutional environment influence the scaling process of social initiatives? An empirical exploration in the Dutch public sector

• Date: 05 December 2023
• Pages: 77-90
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-12-2022-0291
• Published date: 05 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management
• Author: Marion van Lunenburg

How does the institutional

environment influence the scaling

process of social initiatives?

An empirical exploration

in the Dutch public sector

Marion van Lunenburg

Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract

Purpose –The scaling of social initiatives is of immense importance for public innovation. A key factor in the

scaling process is the institutional environment, which plays a key role in supporting and coordinating the

scaling process. This environment can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous, i.e. dominated by a few or a

variety of public organizations, norms and practices. Both environments have advantages and challenges.

However, the academic understanding of the influence of the institutional environment is limited, and a

systematic empirical assessment of the relationship between the type of environment and scaling is lacking.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of homogeneous and heterogeneous environments on the

scaling process of social initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach –A comparative qualitative study was conducted in the Dutch social

sector, including 48 in-depthinterviews with initiators and organizations operating in three different domains –

a homogeneous, heterogeneous or mixed environment –in the public sector.

Findings –Homogeneous environments are less supportive of scaling social initiatives than heterogeneous

environments, as sharing best practices and collaborating with less-familiar organizations is not common.

Heterogeneous environments, however, do not provide coordination of the scaling process, with the risk that

public funds are used less efficiently and effectively. Institutional environments with a balance of homogeneity

and heterogeneity are best suited for scaling social initiatives.

Originality/value –By combining literature from different research areas and conducting extensive

empirical research in different domains of the social sector, the authors’study provides a broad and nuanced

picture and brings precision to the authors’understanding of the relationships between the institutional

environment and scaling in the public sector.

Keywords Institutional environment, Scaling, Social initiatives, Public innovation, Networks, Collaboration

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Scaling social initiatives –entrepreneurship with a social purpose (Austin et al., 2006)-is

important to realize a broad societal impact based on successful small-scale experiments

(Doberstein, 2016;Geuijen et al., 2017). A key factor in scaling social initiatives is their

institutional environment (Van Lunenburg et al., 2020;Diaz Gonzalez and Dentchev, 2021),

which can be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Homogeneous environments are dominated by

a few public organizations with similar practices and norms, whereas heterogeneous

environments consist of a wide variety of organizations, practices and norms. Within the

public sector, heterogeneity and homogeneity in the environment differ. The diversity of

practices and norms in highly protocolized environments, such as health and safety, is much

less than in the market. This paper aims to provide a theoretical and empirical understanding

of the relationship between the institutional environment and the scaling of social initiatives.

The diversity or lack of diversity in the institutional environment influences two key factors

in the scaling process: support and coordination. To better understand the scaling process, we

need to have a good understanding of how homogeneity and heterogeneity in the institutional

Scaling process

of social

initiatives

77

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Received 27 December 2022

Revised 1 October 2023

28 October 2023

6 November 2023

Accepted 9 November 2023

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 37 No. 1, 2024

pp. 77-90

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-12-2022-0291