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The embeddedness of social entrepreneurship: Understanding variation across geographic communities
(2011)
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.
Organizational closure competencies and scaling: A realist approach to theorizing social enterprise
(2014)
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.
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.
Profitable business models and market creation in the context of deep poverty: A strategic view
(2007)
The bottom of the pyramid (BOP) in the global distribution of income has been promoted as a significant opportunity for companies to grow profitably. Under the BOP approach, poor people are identified as potential customers who can be served if companies learn to fundamentally rethink their existing strategies and business models. This involves acquiring and building new resources and capabilities and forging a multitude of local partnerships. However, current BOP literature remains relatively silent about how to actually implement such a step into the unknown. We use two BOP cases to illustrate a strategic framework that reduces managerial complexity. In our view, existing capabilities and existing local BOP models can be leveraged to build new markets that include the poor and generate sufficient financial returns for companies to justify investments.
Digital democracy
(2006)
Comite para Democratizacao da Informatica (CDI) is a non-political, non-profit, and non-governmental organization founded in Brazil in 1995. It aims to promote the social inclusion of less-privileged people, using information and communication technologies to teach them the basic concepts of self-esteem, citizenship and their rights as individuals. CDI executive director and founder Rodrigo Baggio's first step was to launch a campaign called "Computers for All", where companies were contacted and asked to donate used computers to the favelas. The next step was to create computer schools in the slums. In response to demand for new schools in other Brazilian states and beyond, CDI designed a "social franchise" model. The idea was to set up regional CDI offices to create new schools. Students are motivated to develop ideas that generate income and give them better employment prospects. The challenge now is for Baggio and his team to manage growth without losing the original vision of CDI.
Social entrepreneurship. The contribution of individual entrepreneurs to sustainable development
(2004)
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.
Over the last few years many business schools have been active in developing courses on social entrepreneurship. The case studies used are typically based on non-profit initiatives aimed at alleviating social problems in the community. Yet social entrepreneurship is not limited in scope and structure. It is neither geographically nor culturally centered. To avoid the dilemma of defining what social entrepreneurship is or what it is not, we argue that the most fruitful approach is to adopt a specific perspective that illuminates the role and the unique contribution of social entrepreneurship. The perspective we propose is 'sustainable development'. This approach also permits the positioning of social entrepreneurship alongside existing organizations that participate in the global efforts to achieve sustainable development. We describe initiatives by social entrepreneurs and established corporations, highlight the social, economic and environmental impact, and draw out commonalities from the examples given.
Social entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool for corporations to gain entry and build loyalty in developing markets. While economic growth has led to tremendous improvements in personal freedoms and well-being for people in industrialised societies, it has left too many behind. The images of hunger, disease and human misery refuse to disappear from our television screens. How can growth be made more sustainable while at the same time including and benefiting all of society? The paradox is painful: while traditional markets are saturated, billions of people are desperately waiting for companies to cater to their most basic needs and wants. Social entrepreneurs act as change agents that enable the poor to participate in economic life. Entrepreneurs invent business models that can be scaled up and possibly repeated elsewhere: the Grameen Bank model has been replicated all over the world, with huge success. Social entrepreneurship initiatives also constitute local resources that lend themselves to new configurations for novel forms of value creation.
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.