scholarly journals Challenges of a social enterprise supporting mothers in Hungary

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriett Primecz

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how and to what extent social enterprise can contribute to improving women's life in Hungary.Design/methodology/approachThe case study was based on a four-month organizational ethnographic study of a café. Participant and non-participant observations were supplemented with interviews with the founder, the manager, visitors and informal conversations with the staff and visitors. Social media communication was also reviewed.FindingsThe empirical results from the organizational ethnography allowed us to gain insights into the impact of the investigated organization on its target group, young mothers, in a post-socialist gender context. The dominant post-socialist gender regime has remained almost entirely untouched and the outcome of the operation of the social enterprise only helped women to accommodate their everyday life to their disadvantaged social situation.Originality/valueWhile previous studies have uncovered the dualistic nature of social enterprises, this analysis shows that an award-winning and popular social enterprise in Hungary could nevertheless only minimally influence the social situation of women. In spite of the good intention of the owner, the all-encompassing prescribed gender roles are hardly questioned, and consequently, women's situation hardly ameliorates.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy Gordon ◽  
Juliette Wilson ◽  
Andrea Tonner ◽  
Eleanor Shaw

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focusses on community food initiatives, their impact on the social determinants of health and the influence of structure on their outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Using an interpretive qualitative approach through case studies focussed on two community food social enterprises, the research team conducted observations, interviews and ad hoc conversations. Findings Researchers found that social enterprises impacted all layers of the social determinants of health model but that there was greater impact on individual lifestyle factors and social and community networks. Impact at the higher socio-economic, cultural and environmental layer was more constrained. There was also evidence of the structural factors both enabling and constraining impact at all levels. Practical implications This study helps to facilitate understanding on the role of social enterprises as a key way for individuals and communities to work together to build their capabilities and resilience when facing health inequalities. Building upon previous work, it provides insight into the practices, limitations and challenges of those engaged in encouraging and supporting behavioural changes. Originality/value The paper contributes to a deeper insight of the use, motivation and understanding of social enterprise as an operating model by community food initiatives. It provides evidence of the impact of such social enterprises on the social determinants of health and uses structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) to explore how structure both influences and constrains the impact of these enterprises.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Mswaka ◽  
Olu Aluko

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the growth of social enterprise in the UK in the context of the renewed interest in the creative use of organisations with a social mission to complement public service delivery. Given the impact of globalisation and increased demands for effective social welfare interventions, this paper specifically focuses on the nature and type of social enterprise governance models and how they influence their outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises a mixed method approach involving the complementary use of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Findings – The paper finds that the way in which the social enterprise governance structure is designed ultimately influences its outcomes. In particular, those with stewardship governance models tend to perform better than those with democratic models of governance. This leads to a conclusion that in the social context of the UK, social enterprise should aim for a paradigm shift in the design and selection of governance models. Research limitations/implications – Comparative regional experiences in other regions or social contexts could enrich our understanding of whether these results are applicable across the board. Practical implications – This paper is of potential benefit to researchers and particularly those designing policies for the governance of social enterprise. Originality/value – The study employs innovative analytical theoretical lenses not normally associated with the social economy, namely agency, stewardship and resource dependency theories to provide a more in-depth analysis of the governance of contemporary social enterprise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1128-1150
Author(s):  
Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati ◽  
Aida Idris

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of leader and organisational credibility in influencing customers’ intention to support Islamic social enterprises. Design/methodology/approach The credibility of the leader and that of the social enterprise are exposed through advertising. Ads portraying the six largest Islamic social enterprises in Indonesia and their social entrepreneur leaders were shown to 221 existing customers via online and offline surveys. Findings The findings indicate that organisational credibility and organisational branding have much greater influence than leaders’ personal credibility on customers’ intention to support Islamic social enterprises. Research limitations/implications The study has highlighted the greater role of organisational credibility and branding over advertising in attracting support for Islamic social entrepreneurship. Practical implications Islamic social enterprises need to develop a trusted brand and establish a more effective way to communicate with their stakeholders besides advertising, as the impact of ads on customer support intention is not significant. Originality/value The study contributes to the field of marketing and social entrepreneurship by providing empirical results on the Islamic social entrepreneurship phenomenon.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Farmer ◽  
Tracy De Cotta ◽  
Katharine McKinnon ◽  
Jo Barraket ◽  
Sarah-Anne Munoz ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to explore the well-being impacts of social enterprise, beyond a social enterprise per se, in everyday community life. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study was used. The study’s underpinning theory is from relational geography, including Spaces of Wellbeing Theory and therapeutic assemblage. These theories underpin data collection methods. Nine social enterprise participants were engaged in mental mapping and walking interviews. Four other informants with “boundary-spanning” roles involving knowledge of the social enterprise and the community were interviewed. Data were managed using NVivo, and analysed thematically. Findings Well-being realised from “being inside” a social enterprise organisation was further developed for participants, in the community, through positive interactions with people, material objects, stories and performances of well-being that occurred in everyday community life. Boundary spanning community members had roles in referring participants to social enterprise, mediating between participants and structures of community life and normalising social enterprise in the community. They also gained benefit from social enterprise involvement. Originality/value This paper uses relational geography and aligned methods to reveal the intricate connections between social enterprise and well-being realisation in community life. There is potential to pursue this research on a larger scale to provide needed evidence about how well-being is realised in social enterprises and then extends into communities.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-686
Author(s):  
Abel Duarte Alonso ◽  
Seng Kiat Kok ◽  
Seamus O'Brien ◽  
Michelle O'Shea

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of inclusive and grassroots innovations operationalised by a social enterprise and the impact of these activities on urban regeneration. To this end, the case of Homebaked in Liverpool, UK, is presented and discussed. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews with members of Homebaked’s management, staff and volunteers were conducted; the interviews were complemented with on-site observations and review of archival information of the social enterprise. Findings The data gathered revealed the organisation’s involvement in both types of innovation as a means to achieve long-term urban regeneration related goals. For instance, innovative, strategic and human dimensions, together with the human dimension emerged as key ways of innovating. The impacts of innovative practices comprised encouraging inclusiveness among residents and non-residents, with approaches including hands-on training workshops, job and volunteering opportunities being predominant. Originality/value First, the study advances the theoretical and applied understanding of grassroots and inclusive innovation in the context of a social enterprise. For instance, an innovative/strategic and human dimension emerged as predominant ways in which grassroots and inclusive innovation elements were manifested. These dimensions were based on technology uptake, implementation of new product/service concepts or harnessing the skills of local and non-local individuals. Similarly, four dimensions associated with the impacts of these types of innovation were revealed. Second, the study addresses acknowledged gaps in the literature, particularly regarding the limited contributions illuminating processes and determinants of innovation among social enterprises.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin I-Ping Castellas ◽  
Jarrod Ormiston ◽  
Suzanne Findlay

Purpose This paper aims to explore the emergence and nature of impact investment in Australia and how it is shaping the development of the social enterprise sector. Design/methodology/approach Impact investment is an emerging approach to financing social enterprises that aims to achieve blended value by delivering both impact and financial returns. In seeking to deliver blended value, impact investment combines potentially conflicted logics from investment, philanthropy and government spending. This paper utilizes institutional theory as a lens to understand the nature of these competing logics in impact investment. The paper adopts a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach to study the emergence of impact investment in Australia. The mixed methods include 18 qualitative interviews with impact investors in the Australian market and a subsequent online questionnaire on characteristics of impact investment products, activity and performance. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence of the rapid growth in impact investment in Australia. The analysis reveals the nature of institutional complexity in impact investment and highlights the risk that the impact logic may become overshadowed by the investment logic if the difference in rigor around financial performance measurement and impact performance measurement is maintained. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the development of the Australian social enterprise sector. Originality/value This paper provides empirical evidence on the emergence of impact investment in Australia and contributes to a growing global body of evidence about the nature, size and characteristics of impact investment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1, Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 120-130
Author(s):  
Michael Snowden ◽  
Roopinder Oberoi ◽  
Jamie P. Halsall

COVID-19 has overwhelmed and stretched existing healthcare infrastructure in both developed and developing economies and pushed governmental response mechanisms to the brink. Globally, governments elicited the call for corporate support, asking social entrepreneurs and social business ventures to organise efforts to build voluntary support for the large-scale response needed during the sudden lockdown disruptions. By April 2020, 26.5 million jobs were lost in the US alone (Lambert, 2020), global stocks plummeted at least 25% and gross domestic product (GDP) contracted significantly for all countries. With reduced domestic demand for non-food goods, reduced foreign demand for US goods exports, supply-chain disruptions, and plant closures, the manufacturing sector saw a huge decline (Reinicke, 2020). Governments all over the world announced massive stimulus packages. The US has approved $2 trillion financial support to combat the economic downturn so far (Emma & Scholtes, 2020) and EU finance ministers have recently approved €500 billion in stimulus measures (Riley, 2020). It is estimated that the global economy will grow at -3 percent in 2020. This article sheds light on the role of social enterprises in addressing the societal problems caused by COVID-19. The authors highlight the efforts of virtual and collaborative associations who seek to swiftly recognise issues and develop solutions, which create social value and alleviate the plights of suffering communities. This article sheds light on the role of social enterprises in addressing the societal problems caused by COVID-19. The authors highlight the efforts of virtual and collaborative associations who seek to swiftly recognise issues and develop solutions, which create social value and alleviate the plights of suffering communities. The authors place emphasis upon the role of the social entrepreneur in developing a way forward in these challenging times and present a contemporary conceptualisation of the social entrepreneur in the form of an “avatar” and the impact that this may have on social enterprise.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Murphy ◽  
Artem Kornetskyy ◽  
Joseph T. Nixon

Purpose Social enterprises are defined in practice in terms of one operational model generating measurable value in more than one of the economic, social and natural/ecological value denomination categories. However, entrepreneurship theory does not generally or explicitly reflect this definition, which has generated confusion about the social enterprise concept. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to social enterprise theory by delineating novel aspects of this definition and their conceptual ramifications. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the social enterprise literature with a focus only on the most original contributions and most distinct research questions. The authors do not explicitly review research on traditional for-profit entrepreneurial ventures, not-for-profit/non-governmental organizations or mainstream social entrepreneurial ventures. Findings The authors offer several implications for social enterprise theory based on practices that are unique to the area but not amenable other areas of entrepreneurship. The contribution is instrumental to establishing social enterprise as a distinct theoretic area. Originality/value By focusing on novel aspects of social enterprise not easily explainable by mainstream theoretic traditions, the authors offer an original contribution to the development of social enterprise theory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-357
Author(s):  
Indiana Bonar ◽  
Paula Sonja Karlsson

Purpose Social enterprises are competitive businesses in the marketplace, yet insubstantial research has investigated how they market their businesses. This paper aims to investigate the impact a social enterprise label – “Buy the Good Stuff” – used in Edinburgh has had on consumer awareness and explore whether a possible national label could be used as a marketing tool by social enterprises in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a mixed-methods approach, consisting of an online questionnaire with 100 participants and seven semi-structured interviews with representatives of social enterprises involved in the marketing campaign in Edinburgh and representatives of social enterprises who were not involved in the campaign. Findings Findings indicate that the label used in Edinburgh has had little impact on increasing consumer awareness of social enterprises. However, a national label has the potential to help social enterprises increase consumer awareness. Yet, successful implementation requires thorough design of the label and broad support for its promotion. Practical implications The paper offers insights into the implementation of a national label. Managers of social enterprises and social enterprise networks should consider the findings when adopting marketing activities. Originality/value Findings contribute to the sparse literature regarding marketing activities of social enterprises. The paper provides evidence that the broader social enterprise sector and its representatives in Scotland should re-evaluate their position on the introduction of a national label, given that one priority identified for the sector is to create and promote a social enterprise brand which the SE code is not focussed on.


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