Abstract
Social enterprises (SEs) have formed a naturally conscientious atmosphere in Taiwan, which has not only diluted the boundary between society and enterprises, but also transformed the inherent thinking of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). SEs operate under cross-organizational and cross-departmental models. For years, the rapid economic development of Taiwan has focused on the pursuit of profit without focusing on the development of NPOs. Only after the economy began to slow down did society gradually see a new trend based on the concept of SEs and the cultivation of community self-sufficiency to solve social problems. Its successful implementation is of great significance to the sustainable development of Taiwan. Community industry is based on the community and it is people-oriented. From the perspective of sustainable development, community industry is invested in economic activities and creates multiple benefits to a sustainable community and to social, environmental, cultural, financial, and other developments. From the early “production and welfare construction” to the “new hometown overall construction policy”, Taiwan has placed emphasis on inherent local industry activation, such as the establishment of local industrial exchange centers, local industry sustainable mechanism construction, local characteristic small community enterprises, as well as economic plans, including “Sustainable Employment Hope Project” and “Diverse Employment Development Program”, promoted by the Labor Commission since 2001. All of these are focused on building and developing a community industry, and relevant authorities look forward to the vitality of the community industry to create more job opportunities and community interests. Based on literature review of social enterprise, this paper leads small- and medium-sized community industries to meet the development of business models from the economic perspective of commercialization and the social perspective of social innovation in order to solve the quality crisis that is faced by nonprofit organizations and to maintain the sustainable development of the enterprise. By the design of a nonprofit and mutual-assistance mechanism, poverty relief results can be obtained. SEs, which are similar to regular enterprises, can encounter challenging business environments and they must also possess the ability to assume business risks. Specifically, SEs must consider the dual goals of having a social mission while achieving economic goals. This study provides a detailed understanding of the existence and operational characteristics of SEs in Taiwan.
Highlights
Social Enterprise is a newly developed field of study and it has attracted much attention from academic and practical circles (Mair, 2006) [1], which regard to it as a global social issue (Nicholls, 2006) [2]
To gauge the status of Taiwan’s SEs, Kuan categorized them into five types: work integration or affirmative business, local community development organization, social enterprises providing social services and products, venture capital business created for the benefits of nonprofit organizations (NPOs), and social cooperatives [14]
According to a survey that was conducted by Kuan and Wang in 2016, the objectives of SEs that were established in Taiwan are as follows: to create employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups (70.9%), to enhance the self-sufficiency of organizations (62.7%), to increase the income of disadvantaged groups (60.9%), to provide vocational training (56.4%), to enhance the social integration of disadvantaged groups (55.5%), and to increase the funding available for organizations (42%) [23]
Summary
Social Enterprise is a newly developed field of study and it has attracted much attention from academic and practical circles (Mair, 2006) [1], which regard to it as a global social issue (Nicholls, 2006) [2]. The main theoretical ground is often based on business research, and the methodology prefers to highlight certain specific cases of a business strategy or depict the heroic image of social entrepreneurs These studies have helped to highlight the research field of social enterprises, there are few theoretical discourses. Lin (2008) believed that SEs are business ventures that are formed on the basis of “reducing or alleviating social problems or market failures” These enterprises use entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, and market mechanisms to operate and generate social value. To gauge the status of Taiwan’s SEs, Kuan categorized them into five types: work integration or affirmative business, local community development organization, social enterprises providing social services and products, venture capital business created for the benefits of NPOs, and social cooperatives [14]. We could state that starting up a social enterprise is not a sweet dream, but a long journey full of difficulties
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