Going global: The influence of transformative experience on social entrepreneurial decisions to internationalize

Abstract

Despite increased importance of SEs in the global marketplace, limited research in social entrepreneurship addresses internationalization, and fewer from a behavioural perspective. We fill this gap by investigating the SE manager’s behavioural attributes and their influence on the decision of social entrepreneurs to become international social entrepreneurs (ISEs) through an exploratory design using content analysis and interviews. All social entrepreneurs were driven to address social change by a strong social conscience; however, this research finds that ISEs shared an urgent and personal call to action. This sense of urgency developed from transformative experiences that altered their views of the world and their place within it. Domestic social entrepreneurs were motivated primarily by their social conscience, shared background, and the timing of the social enterprise opportunity, factors previously identified in research.