ABSTRACT: (COULD LAW BECOME A LEVER OF CULTURAL CHANGE AND BUSINESS GROWTH? AN ANALYSIS BASED ON FIVE CASE STUDIES). Building on an accredited research method (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007; Ryan, Scapens, & Theobald, 2002), the paper has analyzed five cases of companies that have assumed the status of social enterprise following the introduction of the Legislative Decree of March 24, 2006 no. 155 (law 13, June 2005 no. 118) and that have distinguished themselves in the last four years, for a high rate of growth in revenues and operating profit. The purpose of the analysis can be summarized in two main points: to describe the reasons for the choice of becoming a social enterprise (descriptive aspect) and verify, through a synergistic combination of quantitative and qualitative data (Minzberg, 1979), the effects of such a choice (exploratory aspect). Regarding the effects, this work assumes that the modification of the organizational routines and business rules, arising from the legal obligation for social enterprise to engage in business practices like social reporting or stakeholders’ engagement, can produce a change in corporate culture to the point of generating a positive effect in terms of financial performance and business growth (Burns & Scapens, 2000; Busco, Riccaboni, & Scapens, 2001). The methodology applied to the case study method is the interpretative one, which is oriented to the understanding of the dynamics of specific situations without trying to build general theories (Eisenhardt, 1989). Compared with the first aim of the survey, the results show that, in the examined cases, the social enterprise is not considered an alternative model of business, but rather as a feature to be used to meet legal, variegated and existing needs. Compared to the second purpose of the analysis, the work shows that the assumption of the new social status can become a lever of change only if a pre-existing strong cultural identity (usually due to membership in social networks) does not exist. Nothing definite can be said about the effect of this change on business growth and profitability. The originality of the work is related to the very low diffusion of studies specifically oriented to the understanding of the relationship between law enforcement and corporate culture. As well as for scholars of business disciplines, the findings of this work can be useful to the legislator since they highlight the opportunities for a greater involvement of the social networks in the early stages of investigation prior to the emanations of the laws by which they are going to be affected.
KEYWORDS: social enterprise, business culture, social report, stakeholder engagement
