Stakeholder communication through the websites and expression of success : greek social enterprises against food waste and poverty

Sammanfattning: The uneasy economic situation in Greece and the rise of the poverty has stressed the need to minimize food waste in the country. This issue was discussed mainly by non profit organizations, whereas the contribution of the government was minimal. Non profit organizations that are dedicated to the cause of reducing food waste and alleviating poverty are trying to solve this problem by serving as intermediates between the supply and the demand for food. The dependence on contributions from their stakeholders creates a vital need to communicate with them extensively in order to sustain their activity. This study investigates the dependence of the sustainability of the social enterprises on resource contributing stakeholders. The operation in a country with financial barriers to support such organizations could be challenging in terms of acquiring funding and consequently influence the continuity of service provision. The aim of the study is to identify the extent of stakeholder communication of the websites and their influence to the enabling factors of success. The findings of the study show that the interactivity of the website pages of the organizations is not elevated on the highest level due to the absence of more sophisticated web tools. Also, there is difference in the realization of the objectives between limited and extended social enterprise that are relevant to the funding nature. In one there is external funding in the other the social enterprises capital is support by its own activity. The conclusions are that there is a dependence on resource contributing stakeholders and that the communication with them through the websites of the organizations are not reaching the high levels of interactivity. However, there is recognition by the organizations that a well developed website can offer many advantages in terms of communication. The nature of the social entrepreneurship influences the evaluation of the success according to some criteria. A limited social enterprise is dependent on funding and donations. Therefore the realization of the stated goals, the continuity of service provision and growth is surrounded by more uncertainty in comparison to a hybrid that has for profit activity that provides some capital.