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Social Entrepreneurship

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Kai Hockerts at Copenhagen Business School
Kai Hockerts
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Social Entrepreneurship
Last draft version before publication, please cite as:
Hockerts, Kai. "Social Entrepreneurship," in: W. Visser and D. Matten (eds):
A-Z in Corporate Social Responsibility, ICCA, Frankfurt, 2007: p. 422.
Social Entrepreneurship (S-ENT) describes the discovery and sustainable exploitation of
opportunities to create public goods. This is usually done through the generation of
disequilibria in market and non-market environments. The S-ENT process can in some cases
lead to the creation of social enterprises. These social ventures are hybrid organizations exhi-
biting characteristics of both the for-profit and not-for profit sector. Individuals engaging in
S-ENT are usually referred to as social entrepreneurs, a term that describes resourceful
individuals working to create social innovation. They do not only have to identify (or create)
opportunities for social change (that so far have been unexploited), they must also muster the
resources necessary to turn these opportunities into reality. A typical example is Prof.
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank (Bangladesh) and recipient of the Nobel
Peace price in recognition of his contribution to poverty alleviation through the invention and
popularization of Microfinance.
Today many foundations aim to identify and promote social entrepreneurs. Two prominent
examples are Ashoka and the Skoll Foundation. These so called venture philanthropists adopt
methods from the domain of venture capital, for example, encouraging social entrepreneurs to
provide detailed business plans and to measure and report systematically on their social
performance. Social Return on Investment (S-ROI) analysis is an example, for an emerging
tool aiming to describe the social impact of S-ENT in dollar terms, relative to the
philanthropic investment made.
... The first to make this construct part of their social entrepreneurship definition was Mair and Marti (2006), who explicitly specify the process of "explor[ing] and exploit [ing] opportunities to create social value […] alters existing social structures". This notion is further detailed by Hockerts (2007), who draws on a Schumpetrian perception of entrepreneurship when he elaborates that the "discovery […] of opportunities to create public goods […] is usually done through the generation of disequilibria in market and non-market environments". He later expounds on this idea by proposing that it is the conversion of antagonistic assets into complementarities that is at the heart of the social entrepreneurship process (Hockerts, 2015). ...
... Following Hockerts (2007Hockerts ( , 2010, this paper accordingly posits that the social innovation component of OSE entails the creation of market and non-market disequilibria through the discovery of opportunities for generating social impact and the identification of a mechanism to do so in a financially sustainable 3 way. Just as with traditional for-profit innovators, however, the disequilibria created are not permanent. ...
Organizational social entrepreneurship: scale development and validation
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2019
Purpose Social entrepreneurship has become a growing field of research interest. Yet, past research has been held back by the lack of a rigorous measurement instrument. Rather than defining social entrepreneurship as an organizational form that a venture does or does not have, this paper agrees with Dees and Anderson (2006) that the construct is better thought of as a set of practices, processes and behaviors that organizations can engage in to a higher or a lesser degree. In other words, the construct is a set of behaviors that any organization can engage in. The purpose of the paper is to develop scale items to measure the construct of organizational social entrepreneurship (OSE). Design/methodology/approach Drawing on previous literature, this paper first develops and then validates scales for measuring OSE as a third-order formative construct. As its second order, the scale includes three components that capture the heterogeneity of the OSE concept: social change intention, commercial activity and inclusive governance. Findings The OSE scale is developed and tested through a sample of 182 nascent social enterprises from 55 different countries in the world and then revalidated using a second sample of 263 mature social enterprises from 6 European countries. Results suggest that the scale items exhibit internal consistency, reliability, construct validity and nomological validity. Research limitations/implications The scale presented here offers an important new venue for social entrepreneurship theorizing. First, it allows scholars to take a broad approach toward a diverse field and to study OSE behavior in any empirical field in which it may occur. Second, the scales also allow for more focused theorizing. Scholars are encouraged to delve into the antecedents of all three components presented here and to study the different performance effects they have in terms of likelihood to survive, growth rate or potential to achieve financial sustainability. Originality/value The paper develops a multidimensional construct for OSE. In particular, the authors propose scale items for three central components of social entrepreneurship, namely, social change intentions, commercial activities and inclusive governance. The scales thus measure the three formative dimensions identified by Dees and Anderson (2006) and Defourny and Nyssens (2010).
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... The main factors singled out were the willingness of the entrepreneur to perceive the possibilitythe personality traits, available knowledge and previous experience; social orientation and social relations; the ability to receive, process and use relevant information; the type of the opportunity itselfthe prospects, resources required for the implementation, the degree of risk, institutional constraints. K. Hockerts [15] believes that under modern conditions, it is the social value that should prevail when evaluating the identified market-based business opportunities. In the opinion of the authors of this article, the results and conclusions obtained in the papers discussed above [4,15] can be adapted to the characteristics of the digital economy. ...
... K. Hockerts [15] believes that under modern conditions, it is the social value that should prevail when evaluating the identified market-based business opportunities. In the opinion of the authors of this article, the results and conclusions obtained in the papers discussed above [4,15] can be adapted to the characteristics of the digital economy. ...
Features of the entrepreneurship development in digital economy
Article
  • Jan 2018
The broad introduction of digital technologies makes changes in the structure of socio-economic relations between labor and capital in the market, affecting its informational efficiency. The purpose of the article is a systems analysis of the structure of the cause and effect relationships between the informational efficiency of exchange prices, which affect the desired rate of return for investors; characteristics of the digital economy, methods used by entrepreneurs to evaluate specific assets. The analysis of the informational efficiency of markets based on the Fama-Samuelson criterion and conducted with the use of likelihood functions showed the down trend in the informativeness of exchange prices. According to the authors, this is due to a significant discrepancy in the price of transactions with real goods and futures operations, which are based on a variety of rational and irrational expectations. At the same time, the disproportionate growth of the derivative capital strengthens the influence of irrational expectations and contributes to the growth of the number of speculative transactions while the uncertainty of the external business environment is growing. Under these conditions, it is proposed to use the real options theory to evaluate specific tangible assets of entrepreneurial projects. Furthermore, the authors outlined the main characteristics of the digital economy in terms of entrepreneurship; carried out an analysis of market-based business opportunities resulting from the characteristics of the digital economy. On this basis, two causal chains are specified. For entrepreneurs in traditional spheres of activity, which has the following form: cause: excess labor - effect: a chance for development - market conditions: entrepreneurial activity, public-private partnership. And for entrepreneurs in the field of information and communication technologies, which is as follows: cause: poor structuring of information - effect: a chance for development - implementation conditions: availability of ideas for structuring of information flows.
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... No obstante, Kerlin (2009), en su estudio comparativo de empresas sociales, plantea que la manera de definir «empresa social» varía entre países y destaca que las estructuras sociales e institucionales influyen en su desarrollo, observando distintas configuraciones entre sociedad civil, el mercado, el Estado y la ayuda internacional. Otros autores, comoMair et al. (2006), plantean que la definición debe ser amplia para incluir y aprovechar la diversidad de aportes. En la siguiente sección, se caracterizan siete tipos de empresas sociales identificados en la literatura, distinguiendo en algunos casos otros tipos menores. ...
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... Social enterprises differ from the traditional business (for-profit) organizations in that their primary mission is to create social value rather than generate private economic gains (Chell 2007; Dacin and Matear, 2010; Haugh 2006; Mair et al 2012a; Pless 2012; Santos 2012; Steyaert and Katz, 2004). By combining the pursuit of public social goods (traditionally under the purview of governments and nonprofit organizations) with the market-oriented techniques and tools of for-profit organizations, social enterprises operate at the boundaries of traditional notions of organizations (Dees 2012; Defourny and Nyssens, 2008; Haugh 2011; Shaw and Carter, 2007). In this study, we follow the generally accepted definition of social enterprises as organizations that engage in business activities to fulfill social goals (e.g. ...
Social Entrepreneurship in Non-Munificent Institutional Environments and Implications for Institutional Work: Insights from China
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2019
  • J BUS ETHICS
We investigate the research question: Why are there very few social enterprises in China? Our findings unpack four types of institutional challenges to social entrepreneurship, as perceived by social entrepreneurs: norms of a strong role for government; misunderstood or unknown role for social enterprises; non-supportive rules and regulations; and lack of socio-cultural values and beliefs in support of social goals. We contribute to the literature on social enterprises by showing how an institutional environment may be “non-munificent” i.e. non-supportive for the existence of social enterprises and their goals, and we thus address the need for more attention to the institutional environment in which social entrepreneurship takes place. Further, by using Q- Methodology on 42 social entrepreneurs along with illustrative qualitative data from interviews, we address the need to go beyond anecdotal case studies and introduce methodological plurality in social entrepreneurship research. Finally, our findings on institutional challenges provide us with an opportunity to discuss how social entrepreneurs may engage with purposive activities to overcome such challenges, leading us to initiate a conversation between the social entrepreneurship and institutional work literatures.
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... The concept of social entrepreneurship emerged in the late 1990s ( Boschee, 1995;Henton et al., 1997;Warwick, 1997;Bornstein, 1998;Dees, 1998a;1998 b;Brinckerhoff, 2000;Dees et al., 2001a;2001b;Drayton, 2002). However, it has only recently reached the academic debate (Haugh, 2006;Light, 2006;Mair and Marti, 2006;Nicholls, 2006;Perrini, 2006;Hockerts, 2007;Peattie and Morley, 2008;Robinson et al., 2009). ...
When David Meets Goliath: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and the Evolution of Markets
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Jan 2012
Businesses in many industries are increasingly confronted with environmental and social challenges. Rather than just focusing on short-term profits, stakeholders expect firms to meet a triple-bottom line of economic, environmental, and social value creation (Elkington, 1997). The increasing importance of sustainable development creates new risks, but also new opportunities for businesses. Reaping these opportunities requires firms to come up with innovative solutions for tomorrow’s markets (Hart and Milstein, 2003; Pacheco et al., 2009). There seems to be an increasing awareness that there is a business case for sustainable entrepreneurial initiatives, and achieving ‘green growth’ is a popular theme in the political debate (Ki-moon and Gore, 2009). But how does green growth come about? What does it take for sustainable entrepreneurs to blossom? And particularly, is sustainable entrepreneurship something that happens in large firms or small firms?
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The Influence of Culture on Innovation and CSR Practices
Chapter
  • May 2022
CSR practices derive directly from strategic actions of companies but, more indirectly, from other factors that influence organizational behavior, such as culture. But talking about culture is something too comprehensive since we have national and organizational culture. At the level of CSR practices, will the framework of values of the leadership and the employees of an organization or the norms and values of the country where it operates be more influential? What is the role played by an innovative culture in the implementation of CSR? How can companies promote corporate social innovation? To answer these questions, this chapter will present some studies and discussions to contribute to the reflection of this issue not only to sensitize organizations to the importance of assuming CSR behaviors in an innovative way but also to analyze the role that culture has at this level.
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قصد کارآفرینانه و قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی در دانشجویان (مطالعه موردی: مجتمع آموزش عالی گناباد)
Conference Paper
  • May 2017
قصد کارآفرینانه، یکی از مفاهیم مهم در حوزه کارآفرینی است که از دهه 1990 تا کنون، مطالعات صورت گرفته بر روی آن، با رشد سریعی همراه بوده است. از جهت دیگر مفهوم قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی نیز توسط پژوهشگران مختلفی مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است و پژوهش‌ها در این حوزه در حال گسترش می‌باشد. به طور کلی می‌توان اظهار داشت که قصد، بهترین عامل محرک هر رفتار برنامه‌ریزی‌شده‌ای همچون کارآفرینی است. از این رو، این پژوهش به بررسی میزان قصد کارآفرینانه و قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی در میان دانشجویان مقطع کارشناسی رشته‌های مدیریت و مهندسی صنایع مجتمع آموزش عالی گناباد پرداخت. همچنین تفاوت میزان این دو متغیر در میان دانشجویان مذکور بر اساس متغیرهای جمعیت‌شناختی و نیز همبستگی میان این دو متغیر مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. بدین منظور از مطالعه موردی و روش تحقیق توصیفی-همبستگی استفاده شد و پرسشنامه‌ 5 گزینه‌ای طیف لیکرت بین 133 دانشجو که با روش نمونه‌گیری تصادفی ساده انتخاب شده بودند، توزیع گردید. براي تجزيه و تحليل داده‏ها از نرم افزار SPSS و همچنین روش مدل‏سازي معادلات ساختاري با رویکرد حداقل مربعات جزئی و نرم ‏افزار Smart PLS 3 استفاده شد. نتایج نشان داد که میانگین قصد کارآفرینانه و قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی، به ترتیب برابر با 3.261 و 3.142 می‌باشد که نشان دهنده میزان متوسط قصد کارآفرینانه و قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی در بین دانشجویان مورد مطالعه می‌باشد. نتایج آزمون t نیز نشان داد که تفاوت قابل ملاحظه‌ای از نظر تفاوت‌های جنسیتی، وضعیت تأهل و رشته تحصیلی در میزان قصد کارآفرینانه و قصد کارآفرینانه اجتماعی نمونه مورد مطالعه وجود ندارد. میزان همبستگی میان این دو متغیر نیز، متوسط (0.596) به دست آمد.
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Emprendimiento social. Semántica, tipología e historia.
Thesis
Full-text available
  • Nov 2016
Social entrepreneurship is studied from a semantic, typological and historical approach. From its origins in the concept entreprendre (undertaking) to the contributions of renowed authors nowadays. This evolution of the concept is approached, to some extent, from six languages (latin, english, portuguese, italian, spanish and german). From a purely philological approach and from disciplines such as economics, sociology and business. The typological study cites, analyzes and compares some classifications of both social entrepreneur and social enterprise. In the historical study, a review is made of the evolution of social entrepreneurship from its antecedents in other practices such as charity to the current social enterprises.
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An empirical analysis of the factors affecting social entrepreneurial intentions
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2017
The present study aims at identifying the social entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students in Indian context by using the theory of planned behaviour as the research framework. A 72 item questionnaire was responded by 390 students of premier technical universities of India. A method of sampling used was systematized random sampling. 69% (N = 269) of the respondents were male and 31% (N = 121) were female and the average age of the respondents was approximately 20 years. The questionnaire measured emotional intelligence, creativity, and moral obligation, attitude toward becoming a social entrepreneur, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. The result shows that the proposed model in the present study explains 47% of the variance, explaining the social entrepreneurship intention. Creativity showed a strongest positive relationship followed by emotional intelligence. This research study contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature by introducing emotional intelligence and creativity as new antecedents that also explains social entrepreneurial intention formation.
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