Social Entrepreneurship in Theory and Practice—An Introduction

Abstract

The field of social entrepreneurship has grown exponen-tially in recent years and has become a social, economicand cultural phenomenon. In light of the current economiccrisis, the inability of some governments to meet the socialneeds of their constituencies, a widening gap between richand poor in many developed countries, and—for many—aless than appealing, scandal-ridden corporate world, thestories of individuals and groups of individuals who want‘to change the world’ (Bornstein 2004) are inspiring. Theexamples of dedicated and visionary entrepreneurs whodesign solutions for unmet social needs, and whose primaryintention is to help others, are a source of hope in marketswhere traditional forms of capitalism are struggling torebuild their reputation and legitimacy.From a research perspective, Dacin et al. (2011) offer amore muted reception for social entrepreneurship. Asincreasing numbers of researchers venture into the intrigu-ing, interdisciplinary context of social entrepreneurship,‘researchers continue to struggle to delineate boundaries ofthe field and to arrive at a set of relevant and meaningfulresearch questions’ (p. 1203). As a consequence, socialentrepreneurship research is still in an embryonic state and aunified definition is missing (Short et al. 2009, p. 161).However, the most scholars agree that a broad definitionshould be adopted given the cross-sectoral and interdisci-plinarynatureofthesocialentrepreneurshipfield.Inanearlyattempt to bring structure in a nascent field, Mair and Marti(2006, p. 37) define social entrepreneurship ‘as a processinvolvingtheinnovativeuseandcombinationofresourcestopursueopportunitiestocatalysesocialchangeand/oraddresssocial needs.’ Their definition moves beyond the initiallydominating stream of research on social entrepreneurs andthe personalities, qualities, values and visions of individualchange agents (Bornstein 2004). While these often powerfulandinspiring stories helptopopularise thefieldandcontinuetoinspire,scholarshavelatelycalledforabroader,andatthesame time, more focused approach. Short et al. (2009) con-ductedanin-depthreviewofthesocialentrepreneurshipfieldand found only ‘152 relevant articles’. They concluded thatto establish a more unified terminology, researchers shouldembrace key themes in strategic entrepreneurship—such ascontingency theory, discovery theory and resource depen-dency theory. Dacin et al. (2011) suggested five avenues of‘theorybuildingatvaryinglevelsofanalysis:institutionsandsocialmovements,networks,culture,identityandimageandcognition’ (p. 1211) and emphasised the importance ofcontext and outcomes. In particular, Dacin et al. emphasisedthe relevance of social processes in the pursuit of socialentrepreneurship. They located existing research in four keyareas: (1) the characteristics of individual social entrepre-neurs; (2) their sphere of operation and the social needs andconstituencies targeted; (3) the processes and resourcesused—it is in this area where core research questions areidentified and (4) the mission of the social entrepreneur/enterprise.This Special Issue—the first of its kind in the Journal ofBusiness Ethics—seeks to advance the discourse on, andtheory building in, social entrepreneurship. With fewexceptions (e.g. Koe and Shamuganathan 2010; VanSandtet al. 2009; Murphy and Coombes 2009; Sud et al. 2009)social entrepreneurship has yet to be embraced as aresearch domain in this journal. By assembling some of theleading scholars in the field, the Special Issue aims toencourage more relevant research and enhance the under-standing of social entrepreneurship and its ethical, social