Societal Entrepreneurship Research Articles

Societal Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Asian Rural Societies: A Multi-Sectoral Social Capital Approach in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan

The agricultural sector in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan is facing a number of interrelated crises, including aging producers, falling market prices, changing consumer preferences, and biodiversity degradation. Small-scale farmers in these three societies have engaged in diverse collaborative initiatives with actors from the public, private, and third sectors to overcome these challenges. We illustrate these initiatives by combining the concept of societal entrepreneurship with a complex understanding of social capital. Given that these initiatives are formed in distinct ways across these societies, the paper aims to answer the following research questions: What is the nature of the relationships (expressed as types of social capital) underlying the processes of societal entrepreneurship? How does social capital contribute to sustainable community development? How does it facilitate the scaling up of solutions through multi-sectoral collaboration? Using a case study approach, we aim to explore multi-sector initiatives in each context in depth, before identifying common patterns and key drivers for collaboration through thematic analysis. We have found that distinct drivers are involved in each context due to different types of social capital, including solutions, advocacy, and reconciliation.

Transforming corporate governance through effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social entrepreneurship orientation in Nepal

Background: Different studies and development interventions have con­firmed that socio-economic progress of a society is largely influenced by the exhibited level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social entrepre­neurship orientation taken into account. This reality may serve in the same magnitude in context of present Nepalese corporate sector. However, differ­ent studies indicate that only a limited number of organizations are involved in such activities in the present context of Nepal. On the other hand, truthful participation with corporate social responsibility (CSR) related initiatives has been made mandatory in many countries thereby governing the CSR initiatives by defined rules and regulations.
 Objectives: The thrust of this paper was to understand the magnitude and direction of CSR and social entrepreneurial orientation of the Nepalese corporate sector, its current state, issues, challenges and ways forward.
 Methods: Accomplished on qualitative paradigm of study as a blend of guided literature reviews, seminar discourses and general situation ob­servation and analyses, it may be claimed as a developmental discourse.
 Results: The Nepalese corporate sector has been positively inclined to­wards enhancement of brand image, reputation and societal relationship by means of truthful engagement in CSR and societal entrepreneurship initiatives.
 Conclusions: The attainment of socio-economic well-being can be wit­nessed by implementing effective CSR and social entrepreneurship ini­tiatives. Insufficient preparedness of the public agencies with lack of fol­low-up, financing crises, traditional corporate policies and procedures have been the impeding issues affecting the design and execution of CSR and social entrepreneurship initiatives at present in Nepal.
 Implications: Required strict policy regulations at governing level and ef­fective programming at implementation at corporate or industry level.

Entrepreneurial Intention among Postgraduate Students in Nigerian Universities: Conceptual Review

Governments in most developing countries are doing their best to ensure that graduates who are not employed should engage in entrepreneurship activities which can go a long way in reducing the problem of unemployment among the youths. Nigeria is among one of those developing nations with such problem. The government has introduced some many programs and policies which are aimed at reducing poverty and will encourage self-employment among the youths. Yet, students are still lacking the intention of becoming entrepreneur. From this study, there will be need to cover the gap found in the literature and then developed a conceptual framework (from which propositions where developed. The study used factors such as entrepreneurship education, environmental factors and societal entrepreneurship attitude to explore the student’s entrepreneurial intention. These factors where adopted bases on past theoretical and empirical studies which will cover the gap and contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of literature. Finally, this study calls upon researchers and Ministry of Education to examine this propositions on how to design a more comprehensive and benefice entrepreneurship courses and curriculum to these Nigerian universities. This will aim at preparing these students to be self-employed (entrepreneurs) which will reduce and assist the government in overcoming the problem of youth poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.

Management processes and management’s role in customer value creation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study management processes within successful societal entrepreneurship to further understand the role of management in customer value creation.Design/methodology/approachManagement in three successful societal entrepreneurship initiatives has been studied. Data have been collected through interviews, direct observation, participant observation and documentation. Management tasks, activities and behaviours have been identified and analysed from a system view.FindingsThe result presents essential management processes important for societal customer value creation, their input, output and main focus. Some management processes are inter-related and are sometimes part of another management process. The management seems driven by “need”, “opportunity”, “interest” and “demand”, when creating societal customer value. From a system perspective, management has an indirect role in societal customer value creation and is important for possibilities to create societal customer value. Both the initiative and the surroundings have been found to be of importance to the management’s scope for contributing to societal customer value creation.Originality/valueThe study provides the possibility to understand and learn from management, the management processes and their role in societal customer value creation. Thereby, it describes how to successfully provide customer value to society and work with societal, environmental and sustainability issues.

Societal Entrepreneurship – a Cross-Boundary Force for Regional and Local Development


 
 
 This paper is based on results from the findings in the cross-disciplinary project on societal entrepreneurship in sparsely populated areas (SESPA). Studies within this project that take their point of departure in the societal or community-based entrepreneurship literature demonstrate how different contextual aspects as well as different perspectives enhance the understanding of why societal entrepreneurship is important for regional and local surroundings and development. The analysis of the studies within the SESPA project reveals societal entrepreneurship as a multifaceted and complex phenomenon interrelated with the local context as well as with national and even global developments. It is a cross-boundary force for local and regional development. The sub studies emphasize different aspects in which societal entrepreneurship in conclusion can be understood as local responses to local challenges, the multiplication of organizational missions, as well as collective solutions to diverse goals. The analysis emphasizes an intertextual vision of a ‘positive development’ in which societal entrepreneurship combines entrepreneurial drives with societal aims. Furthermore, the analysis reveals different, even multiple, reasons why societal entrepreneurship is cherished by different actors engaged in or related to the development – in this case of a sparsely populated region.
 
 

Societal Entrepreneurship and its Impact on the Creation of Value Locally

Authors explain that entrepreneurship is a phenomenon with not only one category; by contrast, there are various types of entrepreneurships (Steyart & Hjorth, 2003). In this research we pay particularly attention to discuss around the concept of societal entrepreneurship. Under this theoretical framework approaches and methodologies have been developed which seek to have a better understanding of how entrepreneurship can contribute to societies. We are studying how societal entrepreneurship can conduct the creation of shared value locally. We pay particularly attention micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to find out the interactions both theoretical and practical that societal entrepreneurship and shared value could have at the firm level.

Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting edited by Karin Berglund, Bengt Johannisson and Birgitta Schwartz * Social Entrepreneurship: To Act as if and Make a Difference by Bjorn Bjerke and Mathias Karlsson

Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting edited by Karin Berglund, Bengt Johannisson and Birgitta Schwartz * Social Entrepreneurship: To Act as if and Make a Difference by Bjorn Bjerke and Mathias Karlsson

Creation of value to society – a process map of the societal entrepreneurship area

Both science and those active within the societal entrepreneurship area need further knowledge and understanding about the phenomenon. By identifying and mapping out processes within societal entrepreneurship, opportunities to create knowledge and understanding are created. The purpose of this study has been to empirically study processes within societal entrepreneurship initiatives and compare them with a theoretical process map. The purpose has also been to confirm and develop this map. Three cases of societal entrepreneurship have been studied. Several data sources have been used to find activities and tasks within the initiatives. These have then been analysed using the process map. The empirical studies have confirmed and developed the theoretical process map that shows how societal value is crated within societal entrepreneurship. A process map of the societal entrepreneurship area that seems to cover general principles is presented.

Social values, societal entrepreneurship attitudes and entrepreneurial intention of young people in the Finnish welfare state

The article is focused on Finnish youth's social values, societal entrepreneurship attitudes and entrepreneurial intention. The study addresses how the relationship between social values and societal entrepreneurship attitudes becomes visible among Finnish young people. What is the relationship between social values and entrepreneurial intention? What is the relationship between societal entrepreneurship attitudes and entrepreneurial intention? We also analyze the relationship between different social values of the Finnish welfare state. Survey data (N = 873) were gathered in electronic format from secondary and vocational schools in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, and questions were based on a multiple-choice Likert scale. The analysis was undertaken using statistical methods. We found that Finnish young people consider entrepreneurship first and foremost a pragmatic career option, which is not supported by ideological arguments or assumptions. On the other hand, the connection between social values and entrepreneurial orientation remains largely at the level of attitudes. On a practical level, entrepreneurship is not thought to be an attractive career option. (original abstract)

A Process Towards Societal Value within a Community-Based Regional Development Project

Processes, activities and tasks of a community-based area development project are described. The main process has been used three times and a model is presented. An earlier developed process map has been verified. The description of the project can help other communities to plan development projects. The illustration can be valuable for entrepreneurs who are planning a societal value initiative and for decision-makers and stakeholders who can contribute to, are concerned with, or may be affected by societal entrepreneurship. Observation, participating studies, dokumentations and an interview with the project leader has been carried out. Data have been analyzed and compared with the previously developed process map to achieve a deeper understanding of the processes within societal entrepreneurship. The purpose was to study and describe the processes of a community-based area development project and to compare it with a previously developed process map and to verify the process map.

Social Entrepreneurship: Action Grounded in Needs, Opportunities and/or Perceived Necessities?

The interest in social and/or societal entrepreneurship has increased rapidly during the past decade. Yet, the field is still young and fragmented and its heritage includes tensions and shortcomings. The theories grounded in entrepreneurship research tend to address the entrepreneurial ventures’ ability to recognise, explore and/or exploit opportunities. Other research argues instead that social entrepreneurial ventures respond to needs in society. However, none of these lines of research extensively problematise the issues of opportunities and needs. Furthermore, the discussion in this paper is related to a third concept, perceived necessities, as a suggestion to nuance our understanding of social entrepreneurship. The analysis in this paper is based on four social entrepreneurship cases.

Using pictures and artefacts in a PAR process to disclose new wor(l)ds of entrepreneurship

Drawing on Freire, this article elaborates on how pictures and artefacts benefit processes of ‘prise de conscience’ and ‘conscientization’ among those with powerful voices. Wor(l)d-making was unfolded in the Swedish think-and-do tank, ‘the Smithy’, emphasizing the intrinsically political nature of promoting ‘societal entrepreneurship’ (SE). New words for SE were formulated and a more inclusive world was discerned where all had a role, not just as ‘helpers’, but as equal members of SE practices. Pictures and artefacts enabled hitherto silenced stories to be told and created a common understanding of how SE contrasted with traditional entrepreneurship. When new words were added to entrepreneurship, it was possible to reflect on the actions taken within the Smithy in a deeper sense, not only focusing on actions for the entrepreneurs ‘out there’, but also initiating self-reflection on the roles all had in the Smithy, or in other settings, to promote SE.

Making a difference? Societal entrepreneurship and its significance for a practical theological ecclesiology in a local Western Cape context

This article is concerned with the question of whether and how a local church or congregation can, as indissoluble dimension of its vocation as a Christian faith agent, make a difference by influencing the dynamics of social and economic change that are transforming the face and structures of ‘traditional’ social and religious life in its community. Based upon the authors’ own interest in the specific context of the Dutch Reformed congregation of Simondium in the Western Cape and the case study work that they have conducted in this context, an argument about the potential role of this congregation is developed through the conceptual lens of ‘societal entrepreneurship’. After exploring some recent thoughts on this concept in the literature, the authors use the results of their recently conducted case study work to show how the dynamics of a new entrepreneurial drive amongst long-established residents and newcomers in the Simondium region shape the social reality of both the region and the congregation in a forceful way. This insight leads the authors to develop a sociologically and theologically motivated argument about the way in which this changing reality offers newfound opportunities to the Simondium congregation to fulfil its Christian calling. As such, the notion of becoming an ‘entrepreneurial church’ is introduced and a more detailed perspective is offered on those factors that a contextually orientated practical theological ecclesiology should take into account in building the entrepreneurial model in the congregation.

Promises of societal entrepreneurship: Sweden and beyond

PurposeSeveral types of entrepreneurship with a societal purpose coincide in Sweden today, some stemming from older domestic traditions, others being more recent foreign influences. This paper aims to interrelate social, civic, community, and other entrepreneurships in search of a more unifying concept of societal entrepreneurship for Sweden and beyond.Design/methodology/approachAs part of a larger study, Swedish researchers and practitioners promoting some kind of entrepreneurship with societal purpose, are interviewed and asked for examples and literature references. Altogether 176 actors are identified and 59 are interviewed. The main distinguishing factors between different discourses of entrepreneurship are accounted for as well as results from workshops where actors representing different discourses partook.FindingsSeven societally oriented entrepreneurship discourses are distinguished, with different foreign or domestic origins. Key characteristics for interrelating different discourses are the type of actor (individual and/or collective) and purpose (social/ecological and/or economic) emphasized in a discourse. Interactions documented from workshops indicate a potential in unifying different entrepreneurships within a widened understanding of societal entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsThe field of entrepreneurship emphasizing societal utility is fragmented with many parallel discourses. The conceptual analysis and empirical findings imply that there is potential in a more unifying concept. Furthermore, in the limited Swedish setting, collective dimensions of entrepreneurship stand out. This nevertheless implies that collective engagements into entrepreneurship of any kind are worthy of more research and recognition.Practical implicationsImplications are primarily limited to societal entrepreneurship within uncontested welfare states, such as Sweden, where most established societal needs are taken care of through taxes utilized by a public sector. Societal entrepreneurship in such a setting becomes a mechanism for renewal and experimentation.Originality/valueThe paper is original in its approach to identifying and interrelating current discourses in Sweden.

Societal entrepreneurs in the health sector: crossing the frontiers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore societal entrepreneurship in the turbulent health‐care sector in a changing welfare state, Sweden. Empirically oriented questions about the businesses explored in this paper are: how do the entrepreneurs see combining “health‐driven” and profit‐driven enterprises? What mindset and strategies guide their enterprises? What organizatorial solutions are used?Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on two case‐entrepreneurs, selected due to the author's perception of them as successful both as businesses and as societal change agents. The entrepreneurs have been interviewed by means of unstructured dialogues.FindingsBoth entrepreneurs prove to be frontier crossing combiners in several dimensions; they unite ideological commitment with economically sound businesses, they bring together their medical professions and complementary methods of treatment, they combine bridge building with challenging and they reconcile part‐time entrepreneurship with employment.Research limitations/implicationsWith regard to the long‐term preconditions for societal entrepreneurship, it is concluded that these two entrepreneurial processes have traits of both opportunity‐ and self‐exploitation. The long‐term social sustainability of enterprises of this kind is an issue for further research.Originality/valueThe paper goes beyond non‐profit research by exploring societal entrepreneurship in the for‐profit sector, with focus on entrepreneurship which crosses sectoral borders.