Social entrepreneurship is a process that begins with recognition of a perceived social opportunity; translation of that opportunity into an enterprise concept; and identification and acquisition or allocation of resources needed to implement/realize the goals (Kuratko 81). A person or people who lead/captain an organization involved in social entrepreneurship are social entrepreneurs.
Social entrepreneurship focuses on innovation (perception and translation of a social opportunity), risk taking (which is synonymous with entrepreneurs) and large scale transformation [the enterprise when realized, benefits almost everyone by generating “transformative, financially sustainable solutions to social problems that face the nation” (kuratko 82)]. The target of social entrepreneurs is to solve problems that affect the society (especially those at the bottom of the pyramid – the lower class) and at the same time, make profit (they are not charity organizations). Other synonyms for social entrepreneurship include civic entrepreneurship, public entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs are also called social innovators.
An example is Muhammad Yunus, an economist and the founder of the microfinance bank; whereby entrepreneurs who are unable to obtain loans from commercial banks, have access to microcredits at comparatively low interest rates. In 2006 Mohammad Yunus received a nobel prize for his innovation.
The social action and responsiveness of corporations involved in social entrepreneurship has been classified into three groups, they are: social obligation (the corporation responds to social pressure only if the law requires that they do so), social responsibility (the corporation is more active in its response compared to the former, and takes responsibility for social problems), social responsiveness (here, the corporation is most active in its response, in that it not only takes responsibility for social problems, but is open to contributions from members of the society).
A recent development in social entrepreneurship is their involvement in seeking ways to solve environmental problems [such as “the need to preserve and protect natural resources” (Kuratko 83)] in such a way that it benefits the society and the corporation (in terms of profit making). An example of a social entrepreneur involved in solving social-environmental problems is Willie Smith. Through his profession as a microbiologist, conservationist, and animal right activist, he became a social entrepreneur. It all began after he saved and nurtured a baby Borneo Orangutan (a rare species of the ape family). Today, he heads a Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. He is also an advocate for reforestation.
Works cited
Kuratko, F. Donald. Introduction to Entrepreneurship. South-Western Canada.
Cengage Learning, 2009.
"Muhammad Yunus - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 26 Oct 2012 <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/yunus-bio.html>
“Willie Smits.” Masarang.26 Oct, 2012 <http://www.masarang.nl/en/about-masarang/willie- smits- en.shtml>
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