Researching and Teaching Social Entrepreneurship
Who am I and what do I do?
I am an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Lerner College of Business & Economics - University of Delaware. I have a background in Energy & Environmental Engineering (B.Eng & M.Eng), a MSc in International Management and a PhD in Management (@Nova School of Business and Economics).
I have worked as a social impact consultant and researcher for the Leadership for Impact Knowledge Center and launched Nova SBE’s “Leadership Observatory”. I teach Social Entrepreneurship and Eco-Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware and was previously a Teaching Assistant for the courses “Applied Social Entrepreneurship”, “Entrepreneurship with Impact”, “The Essence of Philanthropy”, and “Performance & Progress” at the Nova University of Lisbon in their Masters in International Management (the 8th best International Master’s in Management in the World - Financial Times ranking 2024) .
My areas of research interest include: Institutional Logics, Categories, Hybrid Organizations, Hybrid Organizing in Nonprofits, and Organizational Tensions.
Teaching Experience
I started teaching in 2013 when I became a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. After that, I was interested in learning about the design of effective learning experiences in the field of sustainability management and social enterpreneurship.
I have had the opportunity to teach in many different contexts, from a classroom of 120 graduate students of International Management, to groups of 12 and 13 year-olds in the outskirts of the Sequoia National park.
I have also developed teaching content, including a number of in-class case studies, seminars, and workshops on the topics of Hybrid Organizations, the Future of Capitalism, and Leadership for Impact.
Mentoring and Supporting Social Entrepreneurs
I have devoted my time since 2018 to study and support the creation and growth of dozens of social enterprise projects, by teaching the classes of “Applied Social Entrepreneurship”, “The Essence of Philanthropy”, and “Entrepreneurship with Impact” courses from both the Masters in Management and Master’s in Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal. I’ve continued this work within the Horn Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Delaware. Students in my classes have developed projects to address issues as diverse as the employment of people with disabilities, capture of plastics in the ocean, or helping to scale electric grid infrastructures in the developing world through the use of blockchain.
Supporting Nonprofit and For-profit Organizations
I have also worked as a social consultant for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations that seek to become financially sustainable and extend their social missions and impact. Examples of projects I consulted for include, the creation of a business plan for an Hospitality Institute for a University, the expansion of a school for kids with behavioral problems, and an extensive benchmarking analysis of philanthropic good-practices for one of the largest foundations in Europe.
Background
Research
(Working paper) The Organizational Politics of Legal Change: The Case of Hybrid Organizations in Portugal, 1990-2019.
Salgueiro, T., Mezias, S., Zózimo, R. and Alves-Martins, M. 2025 (expected).
Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Legal Infrastructure; Organized Anarchy
Abstract: In this study we present, measure, and test a theoretical model of how the legal infrastructure for hybrid organizations evolved in the parliamentary system of Portugal over three decades. To develop this model, we begin with an organized anarchy representation, describing the policy process as the confluence of four distinct streams: choice situations, participants, problems, and solutions. We suggest a theoretical distinction between anarchic policy processes, along the lines of the garbage can, where the streams remain independent, and more structured policy processes, where agenda control creates more interdependence among the streams. We develop hypotheses that link the observed outcomes of legal deliberations, categorized as oversight, flight, or resolution, with a characterization of the policy process as more anarchic or more structured. Our findings suggest that the process is more structured than anarchic and show that mechanisms related to a mix of temporal, institutional, and political orders significantly affect legal outcomes. We close with a review of the findings and implications for organizational theories of politics, managers, and advocates of hybrid organizations.
(Working Paper) Shifting Logics and Categories in Flux: A Dynamic Model for the Evaluation of Hybrid Organizations and the Simpson’s Paradox in the Emergence of Categories
Salgueiro, T., Zózimo, R. and Cunha, MP. 2024 (expected).
Keywords: Hybrid Organizing, Institutional Logics, Nonprofits, Marketization, Stakeholder Evaluations
Abstract: The viability of many nonprofit organizations hangs in the balance. While prototypal nonprofits would typically rely on donative financing models, dwindling state support and the stagnation of donations and grants have pressured many to adopt commercial activities like the sale of products or services, engaging in hybrid organizing, and conflating both social and market logics. While these commercial activities often provide a crucial lifeline for nonprofits, these organizations are nonetheless judged over their ability to fulfill a social mission and should therefore take careful account of the potential effects of hybridity on the way stakeholders evaluate them. By looking at the largest database of nonprofit ratings in the United States (GreatNonprofits.org) and pairing this with mandatory financial records from the IRS, we studied the effects of hybrid organizing on these stakeholder evaluations and discuss their important implications for research and practice in the nonprofit domain.
Reconstructing Professional Role Identities: (Un)learning and Hybridization in a Business School Program
Salgueiro, T., Zózimo, R., Cunha, M., Carvalho, I., 2024 Academy of Management Learning & Education (accepted for publication)
Keywords: Learning, Unlearning, Hybrid Organizing, Identity Work and Play
Abstract: As social organizations hybridize by adopting business strategies, their professional staff face the challenge of forging a new professional role identity. Hampered by a lack of preparation, knowledge, and guidance, professionals in these hybrid organizations often struggle to establish a coherent professional identity while attending to market and social-welfare logics. Over forty seven months, we conducted ethnographic research, following social sector professionals from twenty organizations participating in a business school program aimed at facilitating reflection and capacity-building to support hybridization. We reveal the program's transformative impact on participants' collective professional role identity, through a deliberate process of (un)learning as participants systematically loosen entrenched cognitive schemas, dismantle ideological biases, and discard ineffective or outdated practices. Participants acquire a new professional language and a range of management capabilities while developing and launching social businesses. The program exposes them to disruptive ideas, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and a renewed sense of self assurance in their work. Interactions with peers break down social sector silos and foster the development of a sentient community. Our work contributes to ongoing discussions of business schools as spaces for identity work and play, and the constructivist aspects of learning a new professional role identity during a process of hybridization.
(Working Paper) Role of Legislation on the Emergence of Stakeholder Capitalism.
Social Entrepreneurship and CSR: Navigating Hybridity with B Lab’s Tools
Salgueiro, T., Mezias, S., Zózimo, R. and Alves-Martins, M. 2025 (expected).
Keywords: Stakeholder Capitalism; Legislation; Decision-making
Abstract: We explore how legislation that supports the emergence of stakeholder capitalism comes to be. The study is a theoretical exploration of the mechanisms that condition the emergence of certain legislative solutions in support of social hybrid organizations.
Salgueiro, T., 2024, Chapter 17 - De Gruyter Handbook of Social Entrepreneurship
Abstract: This chapter seeks to extend our understanding of social enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of social entrepreneurship. The chapter begins with the conceptualization of social enterprises as hybrid organizations that deal at their core with both social welfare and market logics. The author suggests the usefulness of the distinction between organizational means and organizational goals that help situate social enterprises along a Hybrid Spectrum. The chapter then transitions into an exploration of purpose and success in social enterprises, borrowing from Stakeholder Theory and the work of Freeman and colleagues to critique the traditional conceptualization of CSR. The chapter concludes with an examination of B Lab’s contributions to CSR through initiatives like the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager, suggesting how social entrepreneurs may use these practical tools to assess and improve the social performance of their businesses.
Salgueiro, T., Mezias, S., Zózimo, R. and Alves-Martins, M. 2022. Academy of Management Proceedings
Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Legal Infrastructure; Organized Anarchy
In this study we present, measure, and test a theoretical model of how the legal infrastructure for hybrid organizations emerged from the parliamentary system of Portugal over three decades. To develop this model, we begin with an organized anarchy representation, describing the policy process as the confluence of four distinct streams: choice situations, participants, problems, and solutions. We suggest a theoretical distinction between anarchic policy processes, along the lines of the garbage can, where the streams remain relatively independent, and more structured policy processes, where institutional and political orders create more interdependence among the streams. We develop hypotheses that link the observed outcomes of legal deliberations, categorized as oversight, flight, or resolution, with a characterization of the policy process as more anarchic or more structured. Our findings suggest that the process is more structured than anarchic and show that mechanisms related to a dynamic mix of temporal, institutional, and political orders significantly affect legal outcomes. We close with a review of the findings and some implications for institutional theories of regulation and managers and advocates of hybrid organizations.
FAQs
What are your prefered theoretical frameworks?
Institutional Logics Theory
Categories
Hybrid Organizations
Garbage Can Model of Decision-Making
Organizational Tensions Lens
Paradox Theory
Dialectic Theory
What quantitative methods have you used in your research?
Methods
Survival Analysis (Competing Risks)
Moderation and Mediation Analysis
Panel Dataset Analysis
Tools
IBM Statistics
R/R Studio
What qualitative methods have you used in your research?
Methods
Grounded Theory
Case Study Development
Comparative Case Studies
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