From nonprofit organization to social enterprise

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlei Wang ◽  
Zhaowen Duan ◽  
Larry Yu

Purpose This study aims to examine the development of a social enterprise in China’s tourism industry by analyzing the coevolution of the social entrepreneur and the social system. Design/methodology/approach Purposeful sampling was used to select 1kg.org as a single-case study. Semistructured in-depth interviews of three informants were conducted to obtain organization-specific insights. Interview data were analyzed following structuration theory. Secondary data and interviews of other social entrepreneurs and experts were used to support the findings. Research findings were validated using triangulation and member-checking methods. Findings Because of the institutional environment, most nonprofit organizations in China do not have resource independence and clear legal identity. Meanwhile, social enterprise has emerged as a new organizational form with the objective of creating social value through profitable business operations. Practical implications Social enterprise is still in its infancy in China, particularly in the tourism field. This study reveals an innovative and sustainable model for nonprofit organizations in China facing institutional challenges and competitive funding environments. It provides recommendations to policymakers for improving mechanisms to increase social services through social enterprises. Originality/value This study proposes a new conceptual framework for studying social entrepreneurship by adapting structuration theory to address contemporary social and business issues.

Author(s):  
Daniel B. Cornfield

This chapter considers the pathways to becoming an artistic social entrepreneur. Previous research on social entrepreneurs has emphasized the impact of one's stock of human, social, and cultural capital on one's mobilization of requisite resources for launching and sustaining a social enterprise. Less sociological attention has been given to the influence of career-biographical factors, such as family, religion, education, and pivotal career turning points that may inspire and compel one to become a social entrepreneur and to envision and shape one's social enterprise, let alone an artistic social enterprise. The profiles of four artistic social entrepreneurs in this chapter illustrate how their strategic and risk orientations and career pathways shape the social enterprises they envision and influence their assumption and enactment of their roles as artist activists.


2021 ◽  
pp. 251512742110474
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Social entrepreneurship is on the rise. For educators, it is no longer a question of if we should teach social entrepreneurship, but rather how we might best do so. The Social Enterprise Audit is introduced as an innovative way to combine in-class learning with active engagement in the social entrepreneurship community. Student teams are matched with local social enterprises. As foundational concepts of social entrepreneurship are taught in the classroom, student teams visit and meet with their social enterprise partner to apply the concepts. The final deliverable includes an analysis and critique of the social enterprise along with a set of recommendations. The structured approach is easy for the instructor to implement and aligns directly with course material. Students benefit by nurturing their identity as a social entrepreneur while developing a skillset that equips them to make a difference.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oly Mishra

Purpose This study aims to focus on implementing frugal innovation and its principles by social entrepreneurs to face the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper discusses the case of an Indian social entrepreneur who works for menstrual health and hygiene of unprivileged and rural women in India. The social entrepreneur’s constant endeavor is to create an ecosystem to ensure rural women’s economic and social upliftment through financial inclusion and livelihood training. When faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the social entrepreneur re-purposed the manufacturing process to produce masks that were the need of the hour. Design/methodology/approach The research paper is qualitative and follows an inductive case study approach. The underlying principles of frugal innovation are established through content analysis of the social entrepreneur’s interviews and her team members. Findings The study discusses how adversity can be an opportunity for social entrepreneurs by implementing frugal innovation principles, i.e. re-use, re-purpose, re-combine and rapidity, in times of crisis. Research limitations/implications One of the major limitations of this study is that it is based on a single case study, as, in the current scenario, this case appeared to be the most suitable one. There is no way to generalize the assumptions of this model. Researchers will have to study the phenomena of frugal innovation in adversity across multiple cases in the future. Also, the study is based on a single emerging economy, i.e. India. Further research may be carried out with such cases from other countries. Practical implications The proposition of this research paper will help new and established social entrepreneurs understand that the four principles of frugal innovation and their practical application by a social entrepreneur. This will act as a guiding light for the present and future entrepreneurs regarding how one can respond to a crisis. This will also help advance our understanding of the distinct ways in which social entrepreneurs’ activities can help society in times of crisis. The findings of this research paper provide timely implications for social entrepreneurs. To respond efficiently to various crises, it is important to consider its effect on social entrepreneurship. Social implications The research paper shows that the social enterprise has implemented frugal innovation principles to manufacture the COVID-19 protection items supplied through existing supply chain networks. Also, a social entrepreneur is not intimidated by the sudden changes in the business environment; instead, they look at the situation as an opportunity to do something new. They are always willing to take the risk to innovate a solution that will address people’s problems. frugal innovation, due to its highly collaborative nature and its ability to make the most from limited resources, is the only way social entrepreneurs can create an inclusive, secure and sustainable future. Originality/value There are several challenges in social entrepreneurship, especially in emerging economies like India. During the pandemic, availability of resources was the major challenge, due to which social entrepreneurs had to find solutions through frugal innovation. This paper provides the practical application of the four principles of frugal innovation implemented by a social enterprise to manufacture and supply Covid protection items. It also presents the practical and managerial implications of the principles of frugal innovation by social entrepreneurs in low resource settings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Murphy ◽  
Jack Smothers ◽  
Milorad M. Novicevic ◽  
John H. Humphreys ◽  
Foster B. Roberts ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper examines the case of Nashoba, a Tennessee-based social enterprise founded in 1824 by Scottish immigrant Frances Wright. The Nashoba venture intended to diminish the institution of slavery in the USA through entrepreneurial activity over its five years of operation. Design/methodology/approach This study methodology entailed mining primary source data from Wright’s letters; communications with her cofounders and contemporaries; and documentations of enterprise operations. The authors examined these data using social enterprise theory with a focus on personal identity and time-laden empirical aspects not captured by traditional methodologies. Findings The social enterprise concept of a single, self-sustaining model generating more than one denomination of value in a blended form has a deeper history than the literature acknowledges. As an entrepreneur, Wright made strategic decisions in a context of supply-side and demand-side threats to the venture. The social enterprise engaged injustice by going beyond market and state contexts to generate impact in the realms of institutions and non-excludable public goods. Research limitations/implications This study generates two formal implications for the development of new research questions in social enterprise studies. The first implication addresses the relation between social entrepreneurs and their constituencies. The second implication pertains to the effects of macro-level education, awareness and politics on social enterprise performance and impact. The implications herald new insights in social enterprise, such as the limits of moral conviction and the importance of social disruption. Originality/value This paper broadens the current understanding of how social enterprises redress unjust and unethical institutions. It also contributes new insights into social enterprise launch and growth based on shared values within communities and coordinated strategic intentions across communities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inbal Abbou ◽  
Benjamin Gidron ◽  
Noga Buber-Ben David ◽  
Yael Greenberg ◽  
Yisca Monnickendam-Givon ◽  
...  

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to outline the historical and current contextual forces behind the development of the social enterprise movement in Israel and to analyze the different models identified by the research team along which social enterprises are formed at present. Design/methodology/approachThe study was part of the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project and the methodology used in the analysis of the models was the one used in the international comparison. It entailed the analysis of three to five case studies within each model, which were analyzed along three major dimensions: the economic basis of the enterprise, its social objectives and its governance structure. FindingsThe findings suggest that social enterprises in Israel develop along four major models, all within existing different incorporation systems; these are nonprofit organizations, privately owned business enterprises, cooperatives and public-sector frameworks. On the basis of the case studies analyzed, it was possible to identify specific characteristic configurations of the three dimensions (economic/social/governance) that were at the basis of the model and guided it. Originality/valueThe study is the first of its kind to present a broad picture of the developing social enterprise scene in Israel and as such can clearly inform and guide both researchers and policymakers in their future work on the development of the social enterprise phenomenon in the country.


Author(s):  
Renuka Garg ◽  
Subhash Yadav

The authors highlight that it was the personal spiritual experience of the founders which slowly evolved into an ethical-spiritual social organization. The researchers suggest that ethical social entrepreneurship is the result of an intense yearning on the part of the social entrepreneur to serve and advance the wellbeing of people and the environment around them. These personal values of the social entrepreneurs impel a process of help and resource contribution from like-minded people and institutions which result in the formation of a social organization based on ethical intentions. The study proposes a new subdomain of social entrepreneurship which focuses on the subjective, individual, personal values of the social entrepreneur which result in the formation of the social enterprise. The present study is an attempt to highlight the role of own values in the creation and evolution of a social enterprise. It is an attempt to explore the relationship between ethics and social entrepreneurship with the help of three case studies of social enterprises in South Gujarat, India.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Linzalone ◽  
Antonio Lerro

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the management dimensions and factors of social enterprise, in order to identify valuable management innovation challenges. Given the deep social changes occurring, and strong public spending reviews, social enterprises are called to a shift from a traditional management model based on solidarity to a business oriented one. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a survey administered to 344 enterprises, based in five regions of south Italy, with a response of 67 social enterprises. After a first round of six open interviews administered to social entrepreneurs, a closed questionnaire was designed and administered through web survey tools to the 344. Findings – The paper investigates social enterprises, with particular regard to the social cooperatives, identifying and assessing the management dimensions and factors constituting their management model. The analysis reveals and addresses management challenges helpful in driving a competitive growth of social enterprises. Originality/value – The paper explores a sector slightly investigated by management literature, and usually focused by the social literature. Collective interest, social value, mutualism, solidarity appear to be gaps in today's management models, contributing to financial crisis, employment crisis, social emergencies. Social enterprise may represent a new management model, revealing dimensions and factors of interest for a new business management, until it is supported with a more business management oriented model.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Newth

AbstractSocial enterprises are the products of the social, cultural, commercial, and political expectations of the innovation’s range of stakeholders, not solely the vision of the social entrepreneur(s). The power of stakeholders to influence the development of an innovation is drawn from their salience and the resources, access, and/or legitimacy that their support would provide. In this way, the actions of social entrepreneurs represent the interests of communities and it is through processes of resistance, negotiation, and collaboration that the actions of social enterprises become the manifestations of collective social processes. This paper draws on the development of a nascent social enterprise in New Zealand to demonstrate how the effects of its context ultimately shaped its innovative business model. Using an ethnographic methodology, the development of the business model and the partnership through which it formed was examined by the author as a central actor as it unfolded. The case study serves as an illustrative example of the ways in which differing expectations, beliefs, and logics of stakeholders induces particular decisions to be made about the design, resourcing, and strategy of the venture.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1094-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makarand Mody ◽  
Jonathon Day ◽  
Sandra Sydnor ◽  
William Jaffe

Purpose This paper aims to utilize a framework from classic sociology – Max Weber’s Typology of Rationality – to understand the motivations for social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism in India. The critical role of the social entrepreneur in effecting the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has been largely under-recognized. The authors seek to explore, develop and enhance Weber’s theoretical arguments in the context of the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a constructivism paradigm and Seidman’s (2006) Three Interview Series technique to obtain the narratives of two social entrepreneurs in India. Data were analyzed using a hybrid thematic coding procedure. Findings Findings indicate that there exists a dynamic interplay between the formal and substantive rationalities that underlie the behavior of social entrepreneurs. The authors also discuss how entrepreneurs draw upon their formal and substantive repertoires to create their identities through the simultaneous processes of apposition (“Me”) and opposition (“Not Me”). Practical implications The findings provide an important recognition of the impact of formal and substantive rationalities on the conceptualization, implementation and manifestation of social enterprise for a variety of stakeholders. Originality/value This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the why and the how of social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism. It provides a framework that can be widely applied to develop and enhance Weberian theory and further the understanding of the fundamental nature of human behavioral phenomena in tourism and beyond.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper determines the motivating factors that cause entrepreneurs to start a social enterprise instead of a traditional business model. The results reveal that these motivations span a wide spectrum, ranging from pure altruism and a values-led yearning to make a difference to communities, to an opportunistic identification of an autonomy-rich opportunity that compliments their life priorities and supplies income. This spectrum introduces complexity into the social enterprise transition journey, because people start social enterprises based on different circumstantial internal dialogues about their future. Consequently, some blending of different motivations along the spectrum can be expected. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


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