Narratives of transition from social to enterprise: you can’t get there from here! (original) (raw)
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Where social enterprise practitioners draw the line
International Journal of Public Sector Management, 2014
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of social enterprises with the public sector. It does this by fore fronting the notions of boundaries, boundary work and boundary objects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports qualitative research with social enterprise practitioners (from social enterprises and support agencies) in the north of England. Accounts elicited through interviews are combined with visual data in the form of pencil drawings made by practitioners when the authors invited them to respond to and rework diagrammatic models from the literature about the social and economic dimensions of social enterprise. Findings – Participants explained in words and images how normative images of social enterprise depicting linear and static boundaries inadequately represent the complexity of ideas and interactions in their world. Rather, they perceived an iterative process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries, with iden...
Contradictions in Social Enterprise: Do they draw in straight lines or circles
2007
This paper provides a critical perspective on the discourse surrounding the concept of social enterprise. The paper shifts the lens away from numbers to consider how actors see themselves as social enterprises. The authors make sense of the foundations upon which the concept of social enterprise and entrepreneurship is 'drawn' -quite literally -by considering linear models and diagrams that analyse social enterprise on a continuum between non-profit (mission) and profit (market) orientation.
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.
Irish Journal of Management, 2023
Building a better tomorrow-Bridging the disconnect between policy, practice, education and research in social enterprise The importance of social enterprise is becoming increasingly evident across societies, economies and local communities, and 'the past decade has witnessed a surge of research interest in social entrepreneurship' (Saebi, Foss and Linder, 2019, p.70). In Ireland, the development of the social enterprise policy in 2019 was welcomed as an important indicator of the growth and importance of this sector. Furthermore, burgeoning networks, ecosystems and research all indicate the widespread development of this sector across many towns, cities and villages nationally. Fundamental to social enterprise is social impact, and at a time when the world is facing signifi cant global challenges Halsall, Oberoi and Snowden (2020, p. 80) note that 'social enterprise is a key player in societal changes'. Given the potential impact of social enterprises, there are many benefi ts in exploring how they can play a vital role in creating a sustainable, inclusive and resilient future by addressing the signifi cant local and global challenges of the sustainable development goals. While the fi eld of study on social entrepreneurship has progressed at the researcher, educator, practitioner and policy perspectives, it is still somewhat fragmented and lacks a cohesive integrated perspective. This individual stakeholder approach has left work on social entrepreneurship a loosely connected domain of issues often resulting in singular representation of endeavors. Social entrepreneurship when viewed as a multidisciplinary and collaborative partnership approach presents a rich environment for practical knowledge exchange and co-creation and the development of support infrastructures to advance theory, practice, policy and competency development interventions (educational and training). This special issue provides a vehicle for one of many such potential cocreations and collaborations. The call for papers for this issue arose from cross institutional collaboration between the editors who have been working in the social enterprise space and wanted to provide a forum for scholars, practitioners and policy makers to come together to explore key issues of concern. In the fi rst instance we ran a Social Enterprise Symposium at the annual Irish Academy of Management conference in 2021 and launched an open call for this special edition. We had great interest from the academic and researcher community to share their research in this growing and important topic, which has resulted in seven papers which will be showcased across two issues in the Irish Journal of Management (this issue and the forthcoming next issue). The papers come from policy makers and researchers and cover a wide range of topics, and perspectives which demonstrate the knowledge and expertise that exists among this embryonic research community. An overview of the papers which are in this special issue will now be outlined, which is supplemented with a summary of a book chapter, which further identifi es the future potential for research is this fi eld.
2011
This thesis examines how social enterprise is constructed in theory and practice. A critical approach is taken to questioning assumptions about complex issues especially the dynamics of networks and those facing uncertain and ambiguous situations. Due to limited empirical evidence, a qualitative approach is adopted to explore how network interactions influence identity, meaning and actions. The research from a 16-month case study was undertaken to understand how social enterprise is made sense of by those in 37 existing social organisations, intermediate support and commissioning agencies in West Yorkshire. An analysis of data collected from in-depth interviews, together with participant observation of network events is used to theorise that issues of identity and interactions between network contacts. It attempts to make explicit some of the identity construction and maintenance processes which take place in local networks. The thesis contributes to knowledge in that it offers a ‘l...
What Is a Social Enterprise? Revising Old Concepts and Interviewing Social Entrepreneurs
Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change, 2017
The concept of social enterprise has been developed by an emerging and collective effort of scholars over the world. However, a comprehensive meaning of 'SE', which embeds traditional knowledge of organizational management has potential to be explored further. Due to the relevance of 'SE' in the contemporary society, new conceptual and practical insights are desirable. This study proposes to shed light on building up a definition for 'SE' that is inspired by existing definitions of organization and 'SE' and rely on real-world evidence. Literature review and comprehensive interviews with social entrepreneurs were conducted. Data analysis defines 'SEs' as an autonomous organization managed in a participative way and created by and for the community, with a relatively identifiable boundary, that strives to generate social wealth, and for this, produces goods and/or services that guarantee its financial viability, consequently, its continuity. Its integration into its environment generates consequences guided by social, economic, and environmental goals.
Social Entrepreneurship: Whose responsibility is it any way?
… is it anyway?, Centre of Full …, 2001
This paper initiates an exploration of the relevance of social enterprise to social policy and welfare practice. Social enterprise refers to a broad set of approaches that use business acumen to address social goals. Recently, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship has gained increasing prominence in the Australian welfare state due in part to the emergence of a national body, The Social Enterprise Network, representing social entrepreneurs. We approach this paper as human services researchers and educators examining the potential and limits of social enterprise for progressive forms of social services policy and practice. We are concerned that although social enterprise is well established in the Australian Third Sector, it remains a poorly researched activity. The polarisation of the debate between advocates for and opponents of social enterprise is of limited value for recognising the breadth, possibilities and limitations of social enterprise. Our practice observations suggest that social enterprise can, in some instances, improve service users' options and that social enterprise is a complement to, rather than, a replacement for progressive change at the macro level. In this paper, we outline the meaning of the term social enterprise, the values underpinning social entrepreneurship, and the role of communities and institutions in social enterprise. We conclude the paper with discussion of the limitations of social enterprise for progressive forms of social policy and social work practice.
Social enterprise: is it the business of social work?
Australian Social Work, 2003
The paper explores the relevance of social enterprise to social work practice and policy development. Social enterprise refers to a broad set of approaches that use business acumen to address social goals. Long a marginal activity in social work, recently social enterprise has been thrust into the spotlight in debates about the future of social policy and community services. It is important that social workers understand the meaning and implications of social enterprise if they are to apply it critically and reflectively in practice and participate in contemporary debates about its relevance in promoting individual and community empowerment. The paper provides an overview of the meaning of social enterprise, outlines the reasons for the renewed focus on social enterprise and related concepts in social policy debates, particularly community economic development, and examines its underlying values. It concludes with a discussion of questions and concerns surrounding the implementation of social enterprise in Australia.