DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: CHALLENGE FOR LITHUANIAN RESEARCHERS

Abstract

Research in social sciences is developing rather quickly nowadays because technological and economic progress requires quick response to new challenges. As competitiveness in the world rises, enterprises should try to adapt, react, and change their activity, processes. Pressure of society develops new features of entrepreneurship also. The concept of sustainable development changed a lot of viewpoints in social research also. Entrepreneurship becomes not only socially responsible, but gets a new definition – social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship could be identified differently. Traditional entrepreneurship is kept as economic, as “social entrepreneurship” concept from the first sight makes impression of simply socially oriented business activity. Is it only or really that? Research of social entrepreneurship is actual from several points: it is important researching new dimensions of economic phenomenon; positive economic effect of entrepreneurship makes higher the importance of its research; especially it is important for Lithuanian enterprises get involved in scientific researches for them, improving their activity. So, a scientific problem becomes important: how social entrepreneurship could be identified and described and what role does it play. Research purpose of the article is to analyse social entrepreneurship concept, emphasizing entrepreneurship research development in Lithuania. A research object of the article is social entrepreneurship. Research tasks are: to analyse social entrepreneurship as a phenomenon, to identify its main features; to make analysis of development of entrepreneurship research in Lithuania: does it analyse social entrepreneurship. Research methods are scientific literature analysis, comparative analysis. The results of the article : the research disclosed that traditional entrepreneurship is developing and getting such new dimensions as social; the different definitions and approaches of social entrepreneurship were analysed; the most important result of for-profit social entrepreneurs is economic plus social success; in Lithuania entrepreneurship research is rather fragmented, analysing different aspects, there are rather few scientists working in this sphere; social entrepreneurship is almost not researched in Lithuanian context. It is important to develop entrepreneurship research in Lithuania, because it might help enterprises to become entrepreneurial, initiate new business start-up. New dimensions in entrepreneurship as social entrepreneurship are opportunities for enterprises become competitive in the market. The research in the article gives an answer to the question asked in the title of the article: from research viewpoint, social entrepreneurship is rather new in Lithuania. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.6.1498