Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities via Distant Socialization and Social Value Creation

Shah Muhammad Kamran,Mahvish Kanwal Khaskhely,Mohamed Haffar,Abdelmohsen A. Nassani,Muhammad Moinuddin Qazi Abro

doi:10.3390/su14063170

Abstract

Social entrepreneurs are catalysts for social change on account of social value creation and opportunity identification, thereby improving the quality of life. Their contribution to society is particularly significant in times of crises and pandemics. Hence, the world health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for social entrepreneurship across the globe. Despite social entrepreneurship’s relevance in social value creation, the studies regarding opportunity identification in times of social distancing are particularly rare. This constructivist-qualitative research fills the gap by employing the EDraw Mind Map tool to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic in general, and social distancing in particular, have shaped entrepreneurial opportunities for social innovation. The findings from content analysis reveal that ICT-based services and industry 4.0 hold a promising future during and post-COVID-19 scenario. They can facilitate a transformation of the threats of social distancing into distant socialization benefits and demand fulfillment. Furthermore, the study contributes to providing a comprehensive depiction of the myriad of opportunities created by social entrepreneurs worldwide. It also guides aspiring social entrepreneurs to adopt such technologies and aim for social integration to ensure quality mental health, education, employment, and manufacturing services in low-resource and developing countries’ contexts, as they are severely impacted by the pandemic.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralCOVID-19 pandemic is currently a colossal threat that has jeopardized the social and economic system, burdening the fragile health systems across the world.The global community is struggling to respond to the threat according to the available resources and understanding of the hazard
The trend and amplitude of the COVID-19 pandemic are unparalleled in recent history; it is estimated that the world will take a decade or more to heal socio-economically from this pandemic [2,3]
This study aims to find out the opportunities for social entrepreneurship (SE) in this time of social distancing caused by COVID-19 and how entrepreneurs can change these hardships into opportunities

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic is currently a colossal threat that has jeopardized the social and economic system, burdening the fragile health systems across the world. The global community is struggling to respond to the threat according to the available resources and understanding of the hazard. The World Health Organization has already characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic leading to a global public health emergency [1]. The trend and amplitude of the COVID-19 pandemic are unparalleled in recent history; it is estimated that the world will take a decade or more to heal socio-economically from this pandemic [2,3]. The pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China, has exposed multifaceted challenges faced by the global communities, ranging from the collapsing health sector and job losses to rising levels of poverty and hunger. As the global economy has been in varying phases of lockdown, those who are hit the hardest are the households who rely on the day-today earnings and self-employed individuals who are mostly the laborers and low-level with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

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Conclusion