Institutional Drivers for Managers: A study on Training Adoption and its Impact on Social Enterprises Legitimacy and Performance in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Despite wide global attention to training programs in business organizations, research on training programs and their outcomes at the social enterprises in general is very limited. This study aims to explicate the drivers and effects of manager’s training. OBJECTIVE: Based on institutional theory, this research explores the reasons why social enterprises train their managers as well as how the legitimacy and performance improves in response to training. METHODS: Our theoretically derived model is tested using survey data obtained from ninety-nine senior managers of social enterprises in Pakistan. Data was analyzed through Partial Least Square structural equation modeling method (PLS-SEM). RESULTS: The results of analysis support the idea that training of managers is synergistically and interactively driven by institutional forces e.g. normative, mimetic and coercive pressures. These institutional pressures spur social enterprises and induce them to adopt training programs to enhance their external and internal legitimacy and improve their performance. CONCLUSIONS: This research emphasizes the importance of institutional pressures in adopting training programs in social enterprises. In sum, the present study provides important insights for senior managers in social enterprises who seek to foster external and internal legitimacy and improve performance. This study makes important contribution to the literature by developing an empirical link between institutional pressures and social enterprises performance. This research reiterates finding in previous studies to show the significance of the institutional forces in adoption of certain practices e.g. training of managers, to monitor the outcomes of training and providing further explanation regarding effects of training on legitimacy and performance.