The Hidden Voices : Impact Assessment from the Perspective of Social Enterprises

Abstract: Background: The field of impact assessment in social enterprises is largely influenced by the top-down demands of institutions like the European Union and other resource-giving institutions. This has caused a one-sided exploration of the topic impact assessment as the perspective of the social enterprises is so far under-researched. Therefore, the purposes, challenges and other experiences the social enterprises face when assessing impact were not yet given enough attention. Purpose: By taking a critical perspective, we seek to inspire dialogue and a change in the practical and theoretical field of impact assessment in social enterprises. We explore the enterprise’s perspective on why they assess their impact and what challenges they face. By that, their voices that have been hidden so far are raised and existing assumptions enriched by the social enterprise’s perspective. Method: To highlight the social enterprises’ experiences when assessing impact, the qualitative research approach Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was chosen. A purposive sampling strategy led to eight in-depth interviews with people from different German-based social enterprises. Five steps were followed to analyze the data, including a two-stage interpretation process where the researcher’s and participant’s interpretations play an essential role. Conclusion: This thesis shows the importance of including all perspectives in a research field. Our study found that social enterprises can have different reasons to assess impact and face challenges differently than assumed with the previous research focus on the funding perspective. At the same time, they experience the process positively. A model was developed to show the interrelations of the different experiences and influencing factors.