Topics in Social Entrepreneurship: Blending Economic and Social Value, or Doing Well While Also Doing Good

Abstract

This course will expose students to topics and concepts in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship from a comparative perspective, i.e. different countries and sectors. The field of social entrepreneurship is a new arena that requires consolidation among academics as well as with practitioners. Business schools and social scientists are equally uncomfortable in this frontier land where there is a clear blurring of disciplinary boundaries, and obviously more professional risk. In Europe, the language of social entrepreneurship is new, but the phenomenon is not. Social entrepreneurship encompasses the importance of a socially engaged private sector but also entrepreneurial approaches in the social sector that increase its effectiveness. The course combines elements which apparently do not blend easily: social science, business and management; theory and knowledge from practice; experience with both public and private actors; in the business and the NGO sector. Students will learn that this reconciliation of opposites or the emergence of hybrid forms is a desirable outcome to serve social missions. Indeed, the time is ripe for using business models and skills to pursue mission-driven ventures. The social sector is changing from a pure non-profit logic to one of 'blended value' generation. Globalisation encompasses a shrinking of the welfare state. Similarly, the social sector finds increasing difficulties in funding their projects through traditional sources. Finally, corporations are seeing higher pressure from customers to become more responsible citizens. Social entrepreneurs have developed a discourse and methodologies which mobilize resources from these actors who rarely find each other. They see opportunities where others only see problems. This model goes beyond the limitations of each sector in finding unilateral solutions to very complex issues. The problem-solving direction of social entrepreneurs overcomes ideological barriers and mindsets. For the social entrepreneur, the social problem or opportunity determines which particular institutional form will be most appropriate to create social value, and maintain it over time in a sustainable way.