Abstract
As a field of study, social entrepreneurship is currently in what Kuhn (1962) referred to as a ‘pre-paradigmatic phase’, lacking a clear epistemology, and hence debate and flux exists regarding the most appropriate research methods, techniques and lines of enquiry (Nicholls, 2010). Therefore, this edited volume is timely, as it draws together contributions from competent academics with the goal of advancing theoretical development in the field. This book aligns with the papers presented at the 2011 NYU Stern Conference on Social Entrepreneurship; the structure reflecting the themes dominating this conference. Accordingly, the book is divided into four parts. The first part addresses opportunity recognition, exploration and exploitation within social entrepreneurship. In Chapter 1, Clarkin, Deardurff and Gallagher explore entrepreneurial opportunities within the context of charitable organisations in midwest US cities. Their study reveals that social entrepreneurial opportunities are either enabled or constrained by environmental and/or contextual influences. Thus, social entrepreneurs must adapt similar practices of evaluating market and competitive opportunities undertaken by their commercial entrepreneurial counterparts in order to understand fully the potential of entrepreneurial opportunities. Chapter 2 by Perrini and Vurro provides a stakeholder perspective of the transformation of opportunity recognition into opportunity exploitation in the planning process. The chapter’s focus on the planning process of a social project based in Italy highlights the challenges in balancing social objectives with economic viability and sustainability. Planning within this scenario was deemed crucial with regard to risk minimisation, and also as a tool for managing stakeholder relationships. In Chapter 3, Meyskens and Moss contribute to theory development by applying innovation theories to the unique and novel context of the green technology sector and in so doing, assesses the relevance of such theories to social entrepreneurship. Disruptive innovation is employed as a theoretical lens by which to assess the innovative content of 20 green technology business plans. Their results revealed that such entities are involved in both sustainable and disruptive-type innovations. Furthermore, correlations were revealed between economic value creation and new market disruptive innovations, and social value and sustaining innovations.
Part II explores social entrepreneurship at the level of the individual. Consequently, in Chapter 4 Conger utilises values theories as the theoretical framework by which to investigate the role of values in driving social entrepreneurial action. It emerges that values are either based on self-enhancement or self-transcendence, with the degree to which the entrepreneur prioritises these types of values determining the significance placed on creating social or economic value. Thus, it is value prioritisation or the dominant value that influences the type of value created or emphasised. In Chapter 5, Bhutinai, Flicker, Nair and Groen consider social entrepreneurship as transformational leadership in action: therefore, engaging in social entrepreneurship is an effective training ground for acquiring transformational leadership skills. Indeed, the similarities between transformational leadership and social entrepreneurship are based on the motivation to achieve goals that are not limited to personal gain. The conceptual framework developed is validated subsequently through the analysis of three well-known transformational leaders: Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Wangari Maathai.
In Part III the importance of stakeholder theory in understanding the social entrepreneurship process is acknowledged. As a consequence, this section commences with Bissola and Imperatori’s proposal of a stakeholder configuration model for social enterprises based on the theoretical constructs of stakeholder theory and social exchange theory. Through a single case analysis, four typologies of organisation–stakeholder relationships relating to different types of stakeholder engagement are identified. This chapter contributes to social entrepreneurship by taking an organisational and managerial stance to advance understanding of the diverse set of stakeholders within a social enterprise. In Chapter 7, Moss and Meyskens investigate the relationship between stakeholder salience and disruptive innovations. Stakeholder salience is concerned with power, legitimacy and urgency of stakeholder claims, whereby higher levels of these dimensions result in higher salience. The chapter extends traditional ideas of disruptive innovation in order to encapsulate the reality of social entrepreneurship where there are several influential stakeholders, thus affecting customer power and resource allocation. In Chapter 8, Katre, Salipante, Perelli and Bird consider the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs with regard to the balancing of collaboration and competition orientations. Consequently, a theoretical lens combining stakeholder theory and social identify theory is used to make sense of the paradoxical situation faced by social entrepreneurs whereby collaboration is required in order to enact long-term social change, yet competition is essential for business growth and profitability. These theoretical contracts are then validated through qualitative analysis of 31 nascent social ventures and their respective entrepreneur–stakeholder interactions. The empirical evidence reveals that in order to navigate this paradox, the social entrepreneur creates diverse social identities in order to aid interaction with stakeholders and to understand their respective expectations. In Chapter 9, Young, Kerlin, Teasdale and Soh examine the dynamics and long-term stability of social enterprises. The framework developed provides insight into the different instabilities encountered by different forms of social enterprises, and the likelihood of success in balancing social and business goals. This is endorsed through the analysis of six case studies of social enterprises, incorporating non-profit and profit organisations all striving to obtain both social impact and business success. The findings reveal that social entrepreneurs must be implicit about the balance that they seek, also to be prepared to be experimental with different forms of social enterprise arrangements in effort to achieve this balance.
The final section of the book, Part IV, investigates the legitimation of social entrepreneurship in society. Accordingly in Chapter 10, Bennett, Gregory, Leaver and Ramirez provide lessons gained from the Fairtrade sector with respect to social enterprise certification. Insights are provided through a single case analysis of a social enterprise support organisation. The research recommends that innovators and pioneers should take a transparent and inclusive approach that is guided by social priorities. The authors also argue the case for peer-verified certification as opposed to self-certification, which lacks accountability and third-party auditing. The book closes with Mezias and Fakhreddin’s application of an institutional perspective in order to investigate the need for, and challenges posed by, social entrepreneurial initiatives in the context of emerging economies. Interestingly, this chapter provides insights from the Middle East and, as such, recommendations are provided relating to fostering social entrepreneurial activity in emerging economies, including increasing the number of private sector and community leaders involved in economic development initiatives, and the maximisation of diversity and quality of participation in the community change process.
While significant variance existed among the research methods employed within this edited volume, a scarcity of large-scale, quantitative datasets was evident. Social entrepreneurship is at an embryonic stage and although this edited volume goes some way in moving beyond this infancy stage, it still has a considerable way to go. Therefore, it is beneficial to end this review with the future research directions identified as a result of survey data obtained from the aforementioned 2011 NYU Stern Conference. These included defining the field, resources issues, social impact measurement, finance of social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship business models.