Directors’ exposure and social enterprise performance: does entrepreneurial mindset and financial resource availability matter?

Purpose Building on insights from the upper echelons theory and resource-based view (RBV), this study explains how directors’ exposure influences social enterprise performance through the mediating effect of entrepreneurial mindset, and the contingent role of financial resource availability. Design/methodology/approach The study follows a quantitative approach. Data were gathered from a survey of 168 social enterprises (i.e. Community Interest Companies (CICs)) in the United Kingdom (UK), and covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that directors’ exposure positively relates to social enterprise performance, and that the relationship is mediated by entrepreneurial mindset. Additionally, the findings reveal that financial resource availability moderates the indirect path between directors’ exposure and social enterprise performance such that the effect is more pronounced at high levels of financial resource availability. Originality/value This study is a pioneering attempt to uncover the linkage between directors’ exposure and social enterprise performance. Unlike past research, the study integrates the upper echelons theory and RBV to extend social enterprise research within the social entrepreneurship domain and provide important practical value for social enterprise practitioners.