Social Enterprises, Benefit Corporations and Community Interest Companies: The UK Landscape (original) (raw)

CONCEPTUALISATION OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN THE UK: A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE

The concept of social enterprise is gaining academic interest worldwide and is increasingly becoming an integral component of the mainstream economies of many countries, including the Unite Kingdom. Despite persistent interest from academics, the concept is relatively underdeveloped inherently complex and there are various aspects of social enterprise that remain largely under researched compared to conventional businesses. Given the advent of globalization and increased competition social enterprises are under pressure to provide more innovative solutions to social problems that society in the UK faces. Through a comprehensive literature review of social enterprises, this paper scrutinizes the evolution of these organizations as they adapt to changes in the environment in which they operates. The discussions show a cultural shift in the conceptualization and practice of social enterprises in the UK.

The development of social enterprise in the UK. Some operational and theoretical contributions to knowledge

2015

Social enterprise is an 'emerging' research paradigm, yet it is not an entirely new phenomenon. There are calls from academics, policy makers and practitioners for greater understanding of the organisational models and business practices of social enterprises which this research thesis aims to contribute to. This thesis is based on a selection of my previously published research in the field of social enterprise. The eight publications selected have contributed to knowledge about both operational concepts and the theory building of social enterprise in the UK. My research in this subject area began in 2004 at a time when the concept of social enterprise was in its infancy. The fieldwork was conducted between 2004 and 2007. The publications based on the fieldwork span from 2006 to 2014. I begin this thesis with a contextual commentary on the field of research. The commentary charts theoretical conceptualisations of social enterprise. I map out how my research links to the bro...

Defining the Social Enterprise: A Tangled Web

International Journal Of Management and Applied Research, 2015

This paper aims to inform those reviewing the literature defining the social enterprise. The researcher made observations as part of a wider review of the Social Enterprise literature. The review was undertaken by searching with a range of key words, targeting relevant journals to identify relevant papers and used citations and references to search for further relevant material. The discussion has a UK perspective and consults but does not comprehensively incorporate the international literature. The findings include the discovery that while a definition may remain elusive the process of searching provides opportunities to deepen understanding of the topic. The author recommends further research to explore the perspectives of users, employees and managers of social enterprises to add to the discussion that already exists amongst the academics and policy makers.

Social enterprises: a short note

2007

The objective of this note is to address the following four questions about social enterprises: 1. Why do we need social enterprises? 2. What differentiates social enterprises from economic enterprises? 3. How to accelerate the development of social enterprises worldwide? 4. What are the potential areas for research on social enterprises?

Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe

2019

Social enterprises present an alternative to business-as-usual with their combination of core social and environmental objectives being addressed through commercial approaches. In this way they present an alternative avenue for a sustainable prosperity that is not driven by profit but rather focused on flourishing and living within ecological limits. In the UK, there has been particular interest and support for the creation of start-ups and the scaling of existing social enterprises. The term social enterprise has been in use in the UK since the 1970s, and the current approaches are shaped by the philanthropic traditions of charities, the cooperative traditions of democratic governance, and cultures of socially responsible business. The UK social enterprise movement was given a boost by the pioneering public policies and approaches in the 1990s, including various support programmes, the introduction of a new legal form and investment funds. Since 2010 there has been a focus of polic...

Social Enterprises as Integrative Resources, Strategies, and Models

Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprises in Economic and Social Development, 2020

This chapter on “Social Enterprises as Integrative Resources, Strategies, and Models” provides the framework for the rest of this section and text. It first describes the global social and economic problems that neo-conservative orthodoxy and public policy have not been able to correct. That is followed by articulating the basic premise that enterprises that simultaneously pursue both financial and social objectives achieve greater impact. The next section presents characteristics of business models and social enterprises, along with a template to create a social business model. The “strategy tripod” integrates these strategy and organization aspects by considering the micro (enterprise resources and core competences), macro (national institutions), and mezzo (industry forces) levels of enterprise strategy. Last, 10 exemplars are provided that have synthesized these concepts to alleviate a variety of disparities in different countries. The conclusion provides general lessons, and Ap...

Whither social enterprise?

Increasingly the United Kingdom government is looking upon social enterprises as a key policy intervention to tackle deprivation and poverty. However, grant and philanthropic support structures which have traditionally supported social enterprises are in serious decline. This development is now threatening the survival of social enterprises across the country. In addition to challenges brought about by globalisation, it is inevitable that social enterprises will interact more with stakeholders outside the social economy to secure vital resources and expertise required for them to survive. These developments imply the need for drastic change of mindset across the sector and development of robust business models to maximise extraction and deliverance of value. The main focus of this research is on the current discourses on the development of social enterprises in the United Kingdom and particularly in South Yorkshire region. Specifically, the focus is on the legal structures of these organisations and how they impact on their performance and outcomes. This paper presents and discusses key results emerging from a doctoral investigation on the development of social enterprises in South Yorkshire. The investigation was carried out in the context of the United Kingdom's policy framework on the sector and the pressing need for social enterprises to be financially sustainable and therefore reduce dependency on state support.