Social Enterprises in Poland in the Face of Recent Crises

Abstract

Background: The research problem addressed in this study concerns the activities of social enterprises (SEs) within the framework of the social market economy (SME) in Poland during the crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Research objectives: The article aims to verify the hypothesis that SEs situated within the SME can mitigate the negative effects of crises by undertaking additional actions for recipients during the pandemic and Ukrainian refugees. Research design and methods: An interdisciplinary research model helped examine the stated problem. It synthesizes both the concepts of SME and SE. Moreover, part of the research was a nationwide quantitative study using the CAWI method supported by the CATI method and Dilman’s prompting method (mixed mode). Results: During the pandemic in Poland, 56% of SEs took additional actions for recipients, even though the situation worsened for 41% of them. During the war in Ukraine, 68% of SEs took action for refugees, while the situation worsened for 29% of SEs. Conclusions: Social enterprises experiencing the consequences of crises are also able to minimize their effects. Simultaneously, to an equal extent, they support environmental issues and sustainable development.