TY - GEN A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Seelos, Christian T1 - Sekem: Liberating a Vision, an Artistic Approach to Entrepreneurship N2 - This case portrays a complex set of circumstances that frames Sekem's decisions to further grow and develop the initiative along its historical path of holistic development in the social, economic and cultural spheres. The case documents the history of the initiative and lays out the major constituents and their internal and external relations. Sekem was founded by Ibrahim Abouleish, an Egyptian who had been living, studying and working in Austria prior to his return to Egypt in 1977, the year he established Sekem. Literally starting from nothing, ie, a piece of desert land north of Cairo, Abouleish showed tremendous resourcefulness, creativity, and perseverance. Driven by a strong belief in his personal mission, Abouleish built up the Sekem initiative that in 2003 consisted of three main parts: the Sekem group of companies, the Egyptian Society for Cultural Development and the Co-operative of Sekem Employees, together employing more than 2,000 people. Sekem was also a hub managing a large network of associated farmers and companies within Egypt and abroad. It also ran a medical centre for the local community, a kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, an adult training centre, special needs education programmes, and an academy for applied arts and sciences. In 2003, Abouleish won the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize', in recognition of Sekem being the blueprint of the organisation of the 21st century. Abouleish has also received an award as an 'outstanding social entrepreneur' from the Schwab Foundation of the World Economic Forum. Abouleish's objective was to heal Egyptian society from the wounds of the past and to initiate holistic development able to create economic, social and cultural value in a sustainable manner. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - Strategy KW - Egypt Y1 - 2004 PB - IESE Business School ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Seelos, Christian A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Battilana, Julie A1 - Dacin, M. Tina ED - Lounsbury, Michael T1 - The embeddedness of social entrepreneurship: Understanding variation across geographic communities T2 - Communities and Organizations N2 - Social enterprise organizations (SEOs) arise from entrepreneurial activities with the aim of achieving social goals. SEOs have been identified as alternative and/or complementary to the actions of governments and international organizations to address poverty and poverty-related social needs. Using a number of illustrative cases, we explore how variation of local institutional mechanisms shapes the local “face of poverty” in different communities and how this relates to variations in the emergence and strategic orientations of SEOs. We develop a model of the productive opportunity space for SEOs as a basis of and an inspiration for further scholarly inquiry. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - Civil Society or Community Y1 - 2011 SN - 978-1-78052-284-5 SN - 0733-558X VL - 33 SP - 333 EP - 363 ET - Research in the Sociology of Organizations ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Seelos, Christian A1 - Mair, Johanna T1 - Organizational closure competencies and scaling: A realist approach to theorizing social enterprise T2 - Social entrepreneurship and research methods N2 - Purpose Social entrepreneurs create novel approaches to social problems such as poverty. But scaling these approaches to the dimension of the problem can be a difficult task. In the social enterprise sector, the subject of scaling has become a key dimension of organizational performance. This chapter advances the scholarly literature on the scaling of social enterprises, a literature which is currently in an embryonic stage and characterized by conceptual ambiguity and fragmented perspectives. Methodology/Approach We engage realist philosophy of science to develop mechanism-based causal explanations of the scaling performance of social enterprises. We also develop a coding scheme to guide systematic empirical analysis and highlight the explanatory power of counterfactuals. Counterfactuals have been largely neglected in empirical research as they represent mechanisms that are enabled but remain unobservable – in a state of suppression or neutralization of their effects. Findings We question the ability of organizations to “socially engineer” desired outcomes and introduce a new construct – organizational closure competence. Anchored in realism, this construct provides a basis for productive approaches to social engineering. We elaborate on the importance of organizational closure competencies for scaling, derive a series of propositions, and develop ideas for future research and for practice. Research, Practical and Social Implications Applying a realist lens allows us to add empirical rigor to research on social enterprises and scaling. Our approach constitutes a move from rich narratives to causal models and informs the way we design and evaluate efforts to address important societal challenges. Originality/Value of Chapter This chapter demonstrates how to operationalize realist philosophy of science for causal explanations of complex social phenomena and better utilize its theoretical and practical value. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - scaling KW - realism KW - causal model KW - mechanism-based research Y1 - 2014 SN - 978-1-78441-142-8 SP - 147 EP - 188 PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited CY - Bingley ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Seelos, Christian T1 - Innovation and Scaling for Impact BT - How effective Social Enterprises do it N2 - Innovation and Scaling for Impact forces us to reassess how social sector organizations create value. Drawing on a decade of research, Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair transcend widely held misconceptions, getting to the core of what a sound impact strategy entails in the nonprofit world. They reveal an overlooked nexus between investments that might not pan out (innovation) and expansion based on existing strengths (scaling). In the process, it becomes clear that managing this tension is a difficult balancing act that fundamentally defines an organization and its impact. The authors examine innovation pathologies that can derail organizations by thwarting their efforts to juggle these imperatives. Then, through four rich case studies, they detail innovation archetypes that effectively sidestep these pathologies and blend innovation with scaling. Readers will come away with conceptual models to drive progress in the social sector and tools for defining the future of their organizations. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - Social responsibility of business KW - Nonprofit-Organization KW - Management KW - Case studies KW - India KW - Bangladesh Y1 - 2017 SN - 9780804797344 PB - Stanford University Press CY - Stanford ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Seelos, Christian A1 - Mair, Johanna T1 - Social entrepreneurship. The contribution of individual entrepreneurs to sustainable development T2 - Working Paper, WP No 553 N2 - Social entrepreneurship is a phenomenon that has resisted attempts to establish a clear definition. A focus on organizational structures and/or what constitutes a worthy social cause has created a diverse set of terminology. Observing the positive social impact of entrepreneurs catering to basic needs, this paper recognizes their unique role in efficiently contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. From this perspective, the term social can be much better defined. The frameworks proposed in this paper should guide much-needed further research and facilitate decision making about more focused support from a financial as well as a learning perspective. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - sustainable development KW - value creation KW - needs Y1 - 2004 UR - http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/DI-0553-E.pdf PB - IESE Business School CY - Barcelona ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Seelos, Christian T1 - Social Entrepreneurship : Creating new business models to serve the poor JF - Business Horizons N2 - The term “social entrepreneurship” (SE) is used to refer to the rapidly growing number of organizations that have created models for efficiently catering to basic human needs that existing markets and institutions have failed to satisfy. Social entrepreneurship combines the resourcefulness of traditional entrepreneurship with a mission to change society. One social entrepreneur, Ibrahim Abouleish, recently received the “Alternative Nobel Prize” for his Sekem initiative; in 2004, e-Bay founder Jeff Skoll donated 4.4 million pounds to set up a social entrepreneurship research center; and many social entrepreneurs have mingled with their business counterparts at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Social entrepreneurship offers insights that may stimulate ideas for more socially acceptable and sustainable business strategies and organizational forms. Because it contributes directly to internationally recognized sustainable development (SD) goals, social entrepreneurship may also encourage established corporations to take on greater social responsibility. KW - Social entrepreneurship KW - Sustainability KW - Business model KW - Corporate social responsibility Y1 - 2005 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.006 SN - 0007-6813 VL - 48 IS - 3 SP - 241 EP - 246 ER -