Social Entrepreneurship

What does it mean and how useful is

the concept?

Idealisation

too few men and women here in Britain - a third less

than the proportion in the US - have started or grown
a business or become self-employed and so it is time
to remove the financial, cultural and other barriers to
enterprise so that in Britain starting a business
becomes the ambition not just of an elite few but of
many the greatest constraint on the growth of
Britain's productivity and prosperity today is now our
failure to realise the educational and entrepreneurial
potential of our own people.
Gordon Brown, Mansion House speech 2002

And Social Entrepreneurs?

Social entrepreneurship is not a new

phenomenon. Whilst it may represent a
newly coined term, it is hardly a novel
concept. Innovative individuals and
enterprising groups have been addressing
social issues for centuries, as is
demonstrated by the activities of
extraordinary public innovators such as
Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony,
and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as the
collective efforts of groups like the
Rochdale Pioneers, the Tolpuddle Martyrs
and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People

A typical example of blurring

In these examples, the individual or groups
acted as catalysts challenging the status
quo by identifying an apparently insoluble
social problem and tackling it with tenacity
and vision. Their outstanding leadership
towards a social end and their ability to see
opportunities where others saw only
hurdles further single out these charismatic
figures.
(Nicholls, 2005: 2).

A critical view of
entrepreneurship

What do people really think?

The entrepreneur as defined by British TV
comedies: a study in semiotics and
iconography: 'understanding the
entrepreneur as socially constructed'.
Smith, R. (2006), Towards a More Mature
Entrepreneurial Iconology, paper presented
to the 29th ISBE conference in Cardiff, 31
Oct. to 2 Nov.

Arthur Daly as Flash Harry

Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses

Loadsamoney

Chris the Crafty Cockney

Arent they all crafty cockneys?

What can we say about education and

class?
Popular image is associated with
London
Conflation between enterprise and
criminality?
Link between the icon of the
entrepreneur and the barrow boy

How useful is the

management literature?
Burns, P. (2001), Entrepreneurship and Small
Business (Basingstoke: Palgrave)

Attribute
Independence
Achievement

Manifestation (mainstream economy)

Individualism
Profitability and longevity of
business; growth
Profit drive
Maximum financial return
Risk-taking
Borrowing money; moving into new
sectors
Opportunism
Identifying new sectors
Innovation
Exploring new technologies or
management techniques
Confidence
Ability to go it alone sometimes
against expert advice
Energy
Willingness to work long hours, travel
widely
Self-motivation Creating own job rather than seeking
work through application
Vision
Forseeing future business
developments

Attribute

Independence

Manifestation (sustainable economy)

Insulation of community against

destructive forces of globalisation
Achievement
Sustainability
Profitability
Sufficient surplus to ensure
continuation of business activity
Risk-taking
Balancing job survival against
innovation
Opportunism
Identifying new sectors
Innovation
Exploring new forms of organization
structure
Confidence
Based on mutual support
Energy
Willingness to work long hours
Self-motivation Based on mutual support
Vision
Foreseeing and envisioning
environmental sustainability

Williams, C. C. (2006), The Hidden Enterprise

Culture: Entrepreneurship in the Underground
Economy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), chap. 2.

Three classic requirement of the

entrepreneur are:
to prioritise the accumulation of
money;
to spot opportunities;
to innovate.
The inadequacy of the standard view is
demonstrated by the need to develop
sub-categories.

Defining social entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs are change agents in the

economy. By serving new markets or
creating new ways of doing things, they
move the economy forward (Dees, 1998).
Social entrepreneurship reaches the parts
of society other policy initiatives do not
reach, that social entrepreneurs are unsung
heroes and alchemists with magical
qualities who can build things from nothing
(Dees, 2004).
This is largely proselytisingand coming
from US.
Issue of ownership and control ignored

US definition of Dees

Focus of literature on individual characteristics of

people involved in the social economy.
Begins with market-based entrepreneurs who
mobilize the resources of others to achieve their
entrepreneurial objectives.
The social entrepreneur can therefore be defined as
someone who acts as a change agent in the social
sector by:

Adopting a mission

Pursuing new opportunities to achieve that mission

Continually innovating, adapting and learning

Avoiding limitations of current resources

Being concerned with accountability to their clients

and community

Policy focus on development of

social capital

Provision of work and through such activity

empowering people to build up their social
capital
Scottish Executive emphasises this role without
exploring the definition or usage of the concept
Social economy and social enterprise strategies
are directed at providing products, services and
employment to deprived regions and areas
Supposed to assist in producing regional
sustainability in weak development terms
relating to economic growth and strong
development terms in relation to social
cohesion

The entrepreneur as lone hero

Is it an individual decision?

A paper on the characteristics of the

entrepreneurial personality (Littunen,
2000) that has, in its published
electronic form, been downloaded
more than any other in the Emerald
system, begins by stating that
Starting up a new firm is very much
an individual decision, a conclusion
which it is the central purpose of this
paper to challenge

Or iconic local champion?

Associative entrepreneurship?

Based on mutual values

Involves the sharing of skills by groups of
individuals to achieve the best outcomes for
those in their group and the wider community
Central role of ownership and control
Particularly relevant in areas that have
historically been dominated by nationalized
industries and/or single employers, or where
there has been a strong radical tradition?
Prototypical example: co-operatively-owned
coal-mine Tower Colliery in the South Wales
Valleys.

Do Social Entrepreneurs wish to be

identified by this label?

What do you tell people you do?

Obviously, Im a mother! [giggle] I dont know really.
Depends on my mood. I dont mention that Im married to
a vet ever! because then they want to pull in the favours.
If Im on my own, thats the last thing I mention. I just say
I work for the credit union, you know. I dont like titles and
things
How do you feel about the term social entrepreneur?
No, I dont see myself as an entrepreneur.
Why not?
I just dont! [giggle] I dont know, Id have to think about
that.
What springs to mind when you hear the term social
entrepreneur?
ummaking things up, making it a success, you know, out
of nothing and then you make this big thing, and help
people basically.

Howorth, C., Parkinson, C. and Coupland, C. (2006),

Resisting the Identity of Social Entrepreneur, paper
presented to the 29th ISBE conference in Cardiff, 31 Oct.

There was a great deal of resistance to the label of

social entrepreneur. Overall, only two responded
positively to the label and they treated their public
acceptance of it with some caution. Some of the
participants avoided the word social in association
with entrepreneur as if the two did not go together.
The vehement rejection of the term social
entrepreneur by over half the participants is notable.
Explanations might include a greater affinity with the
community collective and seeing entrepreneurs as
individuals; viewing entrepreneurs as heroic other
people; not associating with the popular myth of
entrepreneurship. Alternative identities that emerged
were around community activists, managers and
caretakers.

Questions to think about

Is the label entrepreneur attractive

or unattractive?
Is the term social entrepreneur
helpful or unhelpful to those actually
out there, doing it?
Is the icon and reputation of the
entrepreneur limiting economic
growth and/or social benefit?