Social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1252-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip T. Roundy
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Revitalization ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems ◽  
Support Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Time Work

Purpose The formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems is recognized as an activity that can produce economic development and community revitalization. Social entrepreneurship is also an activity that is receiving growing attention because of its potential for addressing social and economic problems. However, while scholars have focused on how the participants in entrepreneurial ecosystems, such as investors and support organizations, influence ecosystem functioning, it is not clear what role social entrepreneurs can play in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Nor is it known how the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which social entrepreneurs are located can influence the founding and operation of their ventures. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In this conceptual paper, theory is proposed to explain the interrelationship between entrepreneurial ecosystems and social entrepreneurship. Findings It is theorized that entrepreneurial ecosystems will influence the operations and effectiveness of social entrepreneurs through mechanisms such as the ecosystem’s diversity of resource providers, support infrastructure, entrepreneurial culture, and learning opportunities. In turn, social entrepreneurs can shape the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which they are situated by influencing the heterogeneity of ecosystem participants, garnering attention for the ecosystem, and increasing its attractiveness to stakeholders. Originality/value Scholars examining entrepreneurial ecosystems have not studied the role of an increasingly important market actor: the social entrepreneur. At the same time, work on social entrepreneurship has not emphasized the community of social relations and cultural milieu in which social entrepreneurs found their ventures. The theory developed addresses both of these omissions and has important implications for practitioners focused on spurring entrepreneurial ecosystems and social entrepreneurship.

Principles of frugal innovation and its application by social entrepreneurs in times of adversity: an inductive single-case approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oly Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Frugal Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

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.

Creating change through social entrepreneurship: the case of girls’ school dropouts in Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Isa Nsereko ◽  
Alex Bignotti ◽  
Mohamed Farhoud
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Business ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
School Dropouts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Initiative ◽  
Business Model Canvas ◽  
The Social

Subject area This case focusses on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Africa, specifically looking at behavioural characteristics of social entrepreneurs, their motivations to create social value and the application of personal initiative theory. The case discusses the self-starting proactiveness and innovation traits of the social entrepreneur. The social business model canvas will be used to analyse the social enterprise’s business model. Study level/applicability Students of social entrepreneurship, development studies, sustainable livelihoods and asset-based development. It is useful for customised or short programmes on social entrepreneurship or for students with a background in business wanting to understand social enterprise as a vehicle for social and economic change. As such, this case is written for Business Management and Entrepreneurship undergraduates or students of elective courses in social entrepreneurship (“understanding” and “remembering” learning activities under Bloom’s taxonomy). When personal initiative theory is used, the case provides an initial understanding of social entrepreneurship in a less developed context for post-graduate students and may be used for higher-order learning activities (“analysing” and “applying”). Case overview The case tells the story of Dr Engr Moses Musaazi, who is a Social Entrepreneur and Managing Director of Technology for Tomorrow (T4T). Troubled with the persistent social problems in his country. Musaazi, through T4T, strived for social innovations to reduce school dropouts of Ugandan girls. While exploring Moses’ journey for solving persistent social problems through social innovations, students will be able to understand, remember, analyse and apply Dees’ (2001) social entrepreneurial behaviours and Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship. The case discusses what motivates African social entrepreneurs to start a social venture (Ghalwash, Tolba, & Ismail, 2017). Students will apply personal initiative theory to identify the social entrepreneurial behaviours displayed in the creation of social ventures. To exemplify and analyse the different components of social ventures’ business model, the social business model canvas by Sparviero (2019) will be introduced. Expected learning outcomes The teaching objectives are Objective 1. Students are able to remember, understand, identify and apply the social entrepreneurial behaviours as defined by Dees (2001) and the elements of Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship to Dr Moses Musaazi’s case as a social entrepreneur. Objective 2. Students remember, understand and identify what motivates social entrepreneurs in less developed economies to create social value (Ghalwash et al., 2017). Objective 3. Early-stage postgraduate students are able to apply and analyse (also evaluate and create for higher-level post-graduates) personal initiative theory to explain the emergence of social entrepreneurial behaviour and especially how innovation, self-starting and proactiveness may lead to social entrepreneurial venture start-up (Frese, Kring, Soose, & Zempel, 1996). Objective 4. Students use the social business model canvas (Sparviero, 2019) as a tool to understand, analyse and improve a social-enterprise business model. Supplementary materials Supplementary learning materials are provided in the Teaching Note (Table 1). Table1, which includes videos and their description. Also, a link to Uganda’s sustainable development index is provided (the focus is sustainable development goals [SDGs] 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender equality, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities). Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Social capital and the target population

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ann Scheiber
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Youth Empowerment ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to shed light on opportunities for social capital during the conceptualization and initial implementation of innovative social enterprises dedicated to violence prevention and youth empowerment in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a two-tiered interview process over a nine-month period with 27 social entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attention is given to with whom, where and in what ways these innovators accessed and utilized the skills and knowledge necessary to develop and administer social entrepreneurial programs. Findings – The findings reveal more than any other social actor the target population featured most frequently in interviews with social entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications – Because of the small scale of the study and the specific focus of the social entrepreneurs, the implications of the study are not generalizable to social entrepreneurs across fields. Practical implications – The findings are valuable because they can inform future social entrepreneurs dedicated to violence prevention and youth empowerment about social relations they may wish to cultivate to access relevant social resources during the initial stages of social entrepreneurship. Social implications – Among other benefits, investing in social relations with the target population could help minimize top-down models, which have been a common criticism among third-sector social enterprises. Originality/value – The value of this study is that it adds insight into how the social entrepreneurs built trust among this critical group of actors as well as an analysis of the outcome of the social capital embedded in relations with the target population during the initial stages of social entrepreneurship.

Examining the motivations for social entrepreneurship using Max Weber’s typology of rationality

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1094-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makarand Mody ◽  
Jonathon Day ◽  
Sandra Sydnor ◽  
William Jaffe
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Weberian Theory ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Responsible Tourism

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.

Challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs in Malaysia: career transition to become a social entrepreneur

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Raihan Che Nawi ◽  
Mohd Mursyid Arshad ◽  
Steven Eric Krauss ◽  
Ismi Arif Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Career Transition ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Saturation ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Voice Recorder

Purpose The practice of social entrepreneurship has grown rapidly around the world, including in Malaysia where it is still considered to be at an early stage. Nevertheless, little is known about the career transition among youth who choose careers as social entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs who run social enterprises in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data to answer the research questions. Seven youth social entrepreneurs were interviewed until data saturation was met. An interview guide was created for the purposes of conducting the interviews. The interviews were recorded using a voice recorder. Data were transcribed verbatim and grouped in order to identify the codings, categories and themes. Findings The findings show the career transition to become a social entrepreneur, as well as the major challenges that youth social entrepreneurs face, which include acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur and not getting support from family. Practical implications The study findings are also significant for presenting valuable data on the experience of the developing social entrepreneur. The qualitative nature of the study provides valuable experiential insight into the lives and struggles of young social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The findings will allow local authorities and social entrepreneurship regulatory agencies to design initiatives and plan actions intended to overcome the challenges. Originality/value This study makes an original contribution by showing that the process of career development as a social entrepreneur has given meaning to the informants. Despite presenting many challenges, social entrepreneurship has reinforced the role of youth social entrepreneurs, especially in relation to social responsibility.

Elucidating technology-based social entrepreneurs’ scale and scope perspectives: a study of environmental and organizational variables

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Research Study ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Venture

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to ascertain how social entrepreneurs were required to recognize their new ventures’ scope and scale of operations. The firm boundary was based upon two dimensions, namely, the scope of the offering and its scale. The objective of this research was to ascertain the thinking regarding this of social entrepreneurs engaged through technology-based social entrepreneurship (TBSE). Design/methodology/approach This study conducted an in-depth interview of 26 technology entrepreneurs engaged in social entrepreneurship ventures in India. The interview was carried out based upon a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire. This study undertook thematic and relational content analysis to develop a model of technology-based social entrepreneurs’ venture scoping and scaling. Findings This study found that the antecedent variables were the level of support perceived by social entrepreneur from government and at the industry level. Furthermore, the variables’ entrepreneurial and market orientation of social entrepreneurs were found to be the independent variables. These four variables in turn determined the explorative and exploitative horizon of the technology-based social entrepreneurs. Finally, an interplay of these variables ascertained the perspectives of social entrepreneurs engaged in TBSE regarding the notion of their firm’s scope and scale. Research limitations/implications The theoretical insights developed in this research study provided an integrated theoretical perspective accommodating both environmental perspectives (industry support and government support) and organizational perspectives (entrepreneurial and market aspects). This was in context of TBSE. Practical implications The insights from this research study could provide a robust and comprehensive understanding to social entrepreneurs regarding the strategic thinking towards scale and scope for a technology-based social venture. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study was one of the first theoretical works in TBSE towards scaling versus scoping perspectives.

How the social entrepreneurship business model designs in South Africa create value: a complex adaptive systems approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olu Oludele Akinloye Akinboade ◽  
Trevor Taft ◽  
Johann Friedrich Weber ◽  
Obareng Baldwin Manoko ◽  
Victor Sannyboy Molobi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local governments in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed. Findings Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts. Practical implications This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice. Social implications Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.

How do social responsibility and social entrepreneurship generate value creation in pandemics?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Silva ◽  
Margarida Rodrigues ◽  
Mário Franco ◽  
Cidália Oliveira ◽  
Nuno Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
High Degree

Purpose Using self-determination theory and individual social responsibility’s (ISRs) association with pure social entrepreneurship, this study aims to answer the following question: How and why have the different actors responded to the crisis caused by the pandemic? Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research (multiple case studies) was adopted, resorting to interviewees with seven economic and non-economic actors in the Portugal context. Findings The results obtained, using MAXQDA software, show that those carrying out actions of social responsibility have a high degree of self-determination and intrinsic motivation, and are true social entrepreneurs, which lets them improve the well-being of those around them. In addition, these individuals feel good about themselves by performing these actions, as they measure their performance by the social impact of their actions on society in general. Practical implications This study suggest there is a high awareness amongst people to exercise that responsibility in a voluntary way, through humanitarian initiatives and campaigns brought about especially by an unprecedented pandemic. In practice, people joining these initiatives motivate many others towards the causes, creating the will to continue in the future and satisfy unmet needs provoked by social crises. Originality/value This study is innovative because it is related to filling the gaps identified, mainly by carrying out an empirical study about ISR, rather than that of firms, where studies are more common.

Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship

2017 ◽  
pp. 768-789
Author(s):  
Jorge Colvin Díez ◽  
José Manuel Saiz-Alvarez
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theories Of Leadership ◽  
Indirect Action

The social entrepreneur has been analyzed from many perspectives, either from its social impact, its proposed social value, or its direct or indirect action. This chapter attempts to analyze the entrepreneur from a new approach: the perspective of the leader. Therefore, the question arises: is leadership in social entrepreneurs an evolutionary process or not? Is it a natural ability or a learned technique? Is the social entrepreneur a leader born or made? To answer this, [1] we will analyze the main contemporary theories of leadership from two different paradigms (Colvin, 2013), [2] we will define new concepts in the world of social entrepreneurship, [3] we will establish a life cycle of strategic leadership promoted by the social entrepreneur focused on his or her organization in order to serve as a seed for the intended social impact.

scholarly journals A NEW PARADIGM FOR THE MODEL OF A NEW ECONOMY: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2016 ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
Oleksiy Stupnytskyy ◽  
Vlad Genin
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
The State ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Innovations

The necessity of using innovative social technologies, and explores the concept of social entrepreneurship, which is parsed as a form of social innovations. It analyzes the concept of «social entrepreneurship» as a relatively new specific type of enterprise, and its differences from commercial entrepreneurship. It proves, that today in terms of the new model of economic development the social entrepreneurship allows, first of all, to carry out efficient change of social relations and management systems, for the sake of the growth of sociopolitical accessibility of marginalized groups to resources for provision of more qualitative satisfaction of the needs and participation in political processes; and, secondly, to save communicative integrity of social system due to the increase of social capital and possibility of choice for a social individual. It gives a characteristic of both “European” and “American” models of social entrepreneurship, as well as its peculiarities and differences. The provides the examples, how the most successful social entrepreneurs from the West contributed with the distribution of innovations, whose usefulness was rated so highly, that they were implemented on a national scale with the support of the state and business. Also, it analyzes current level of development of social entrepreneurship in Ukraine, the existing problems of creating favorable organizational, legal, economic and competitive conditions, organization and operation of different forms of social entrepreneurship, interaction between the state and public organizations, and maintenance of the development of social entrepreneurship in regions.

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