Abstract
Due to rapid evolution of new technologies and the accelerated economic and social change, many organizations have realized in recent years that in order to survive in this turbulent and competitive global environment it is necessary to take into account the needs and expectations of their stakeholders, as well as to make the labour relationships more flexible and to adopt a socially responsible behaviour. Social enterprises may be the solution as they represent a business model adapted to the 21st century, which through their activity create a balance between economic, financial, cultural, social and environmental needs. In fact, last decades have witnessed the emergence and development of concepts such as social economy and enterprise, social entrepreneurship. As a driver of innovation, job creation and economic growth, social entrepreneurship can and should contribute to economic well-being and social progress. On this line, it is worth to emphasize that the activities of social entrepreneurs may have an appreciable impact on the quality of life of people around the world. Also, social entrepreneurship represents a complex and multidimensional concept that has constituted a topic of great significance for numerous researchers in the past decades. The paper aims to define the concepts of social entrepreneurship and quality of life, and to illustrate their relationship in the case of TOMS company. The descriptive and quantitative research method used by the authors was based on secondary data found in the electronic databases, international journals and corporate reports. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the two concepts, namely social entrepreneurship and quality of life. Also, it shows that they are two related concepts as the first one has a positive impact on the second one through various actions, such as ensuring the basic material conditions, increasing the level of education, or improving the health system. Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Quality of Life, Entrepreneurship, TOMS Company.
Highlights
The living standard of human beings is influenced, on the one hand, by the increase of social costs caused by the aging population, people migration, and the higher share of inactive people, and, on the other hand, by the globalization phenomenon, respectively the interconnection between countries, regions or cultures and the connecting levers represented by the political, economic or social systems which are permanently changing
Based on the literature review, the authors showed a relationship between social entrepreneurship and quality of life
Social entrepreneurship uses market-based methods and techniques for solving society's and/or community's problems. It represents a key driver for improving the quality of life of people and communities, considering the economic and social accelerated changes, as well as the survival of companies in a turbulent and competitive global environment
Summary
The living standard of human beings is influenced, on the one hand, by the increase of social costs caused by the aging population, people migration, and the higher share of inactive people, and, on the other hand, by the globalization phenomenon, respectively the interconnection between countries, regions or cultures and the connecting levers represented by the political, economic or social systems which are permanently changing. Job creation and economic growth, social entrepreneurship and social enterprises, irrespective of their size, can and should contribute to economic well-being and social progress (Hoek, 2018) On this line, it is worth emphasizing that social entrepreneurs’ activities may have an appreciable impact on the quality of life of people around the world (e.g., the widespread of the initiatives of Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank) (Kumar Jain, 2009). Starting from the fact that the role of any enterprises is essential within an economic system (Santos, 2012), a wide range of public policies have been implemented aimed at stimulating and developing entrepreneurship in general (Álvarez et al, 2012), and social entrepreneurship, in particular The success of these policies is based on various factors such as the involvement of all stakeholders, an efficient way of using the financial instruments and a thorough collection and interpretation of the national and international statistics data.
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