Organizational growth strategies for Greek social enterprises’ social impact during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the organizational scaling strategies of the social impact are still under-researched and remain one of the most significant issues in the social entrepreneurship field, with scarce empirical research so far. This paper aims to present the organizational growth strategies that Greek social enterprises have used to scale their social impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Building on development studies, organization theory and social movement research, this study addresses how Greek social enterprises scale their social impact following organizational growth strategies during the pandemic, based on a sample of ten social enterprises and following a qualitative method approach through a multiple case study. Findings Results highlight that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizational scaling of social enterprises has supported social impact through expanding services, building new interorganizational collaborations and serving additional beneficiaries. Furthermore, new and viable growth strategies include advocacy-oriented scaling for resources and local and remote markets through prompt digitalization. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first systematic attempt to explore the organizational scaling strategies undertaken by Greek social enterprises in the context of the difficulties placed by the COVID-19 crisis. What emerged from this study was a new prominent organizational scaling strategy of the social enterprises’ social impact called strategic organizational change.