Title: Social enterprise manager's career path preferences

Authors: Chi Maher

Addresses: School of Management and Social Sciences, St. Mary's University Twickenham, London, Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, TW1 4SX, London, UK

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the career path preferences of third sector social enterprise managers in the UK. It is becoming evident that small social enterprise are seeking ways to provide managerial career options that are suited to individual and organisational need (Spear and Bidet, 2005; Maher, 2014). A survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 operational managers working in eight social enterprises. Eight HR managers working in the same eight organisations were interviewed to provide insight into managerial career path management systems in small social enterprises. The findings suggest that operational manager's career path preferences are influenced by the individual's values and career needs and the organisation's ability to provide career path options for managers. This is significant for small social enterprises seeking to retain managers; not through the promise of high salaries but through providing developing career paths that will match manager's career needs.

Keywords: boundaryless career models; career paths; global partnerships; social enterprises; third sector operational managers; UK; United Kingdom; managerial careers; small firms; small business; career path preferences; career needs; operational management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGSB.2015.069032

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 2015 Vol.7 No.1, pp.59 - 72

Received: 19 Sep 2014
Accepted: 18 Dec 2014
Published online: 24 Apr 2015 *

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