Developing digital impact measurement tools with social enterprises: a situated learning perspective

Social Entrepreneurship and COVID‐19

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards understanding how entrepreneurial learning might be understood as being socially situated, embedded in everyday practice in the context of family business. The study is framed by three main principles drawn from situated learning theory. First, the family and the business are examined as overlapping communities of practice, as sites of practice‐based knowledge. Second, the concept of legitimate peripheral participation is explored in relation to members of the family business. Finally, how practice is both reproduced and transformed over time is examined in the context of two generations' participation in a family business. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an empirical study of two generations from five families, the founders of a business and their successors. The interview approach adopted phenomenological techniques. A thematic analysis identified conceptual frameworks to make sense of the data in a “quasi grounded” approach. Finally, the three main principles introduced from situated learning theory – communities of practice, legitimate peripheral participation, and cycles of reproduction and transformation provided a conceptual framework to analyse the empirical material. Research limitations/implications – This is an interpretive, qualitative study based on a small sample of families based in the North West of England. The findings are not intended to be generalised to a population, but to offer empirical insights that extend theoretical frameworks in order to better understand the entrepreneurial phenomenon. Practical implications – The experience of the second generation both in the family business and in overlapping contexts of learning‐in‐practice brings innovation and change as well as continuity. The study also suggests that the complex process of succession might be informed by the understanding of the importance of the nature and extent of participation in the family business over time. Originality/value – This paper introduces conceptual frameworks that capture the social complexity of intergenerational entrepreneurial learning and contributes an empirical illustration of situated learning theory within the context of family business. The situated learning perspective contrasts with much of the existing entrepreneurial learning literature, which has tended to focus on “the entrepreneur” and individual learning processes. This study demonstrates that applying a learning lens brings theoretical insights to the study of family business.

This paper provides an overview of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise, making reference to pertinent literature. Internationally the distribution of social enterprises is uneven and there are noticeable differences that reflect national differences in welfare, labour market and ideology. Essentially however social enterprises seek business solutions to social problems and in order to do so, we argue, it is necessary for social enterprises to foster innovation. The papers included in this volume present different models and theories of how this might be achieved. All the authors place emphasis on the need to develop a sound theoretical platform and raise methodological problems common to management research. Additionally, the papers raise policy issues, such as how outcomes of social enterprise are valued and prioritised in different societies. The work discussed points to how social enterprise may offer innovative solutions to help solve problems of social integration, socially dysfunctional behaviour and socio-economic development. It indicates the need for further research, especially to test further the models comparatively. Finally this body of work builds on and extends our thinking about entrepreneurship, and the need to tie it into social, cultural, civic and political agenda.

Accountability for social impact: A bricolage perspective on impact measurement in social enterprises

Social enterprises have gained attention in recent decades. Many universities, private institutions, and government agencies promote social enterprises to solve social problems and create social value. Social entrepreneurship can be materialized in two ways: one from social issues to entrepreneurship and the other from entrepreneurship to social issues. The process from social issues to entrepreneurship is mainly concerned with assisting individuals, disadvantaged groups, or communities in addressing social issues in relation to establishing social enterprises. The process from entrepreneurship to social issues leads existing enterprises or entrepreneurs to explore social issues that may reveal economic opportunities and create social enterprises. This study focuses on these two types of social entrepreneurship and attempts to determine differences between the entrepreneurship and business model, characteristics and entrepreneurial spirits, and social impact. This study employs comprehensive thinking, collation, and analysis of different management patterns and content patterns of social enterprises to understand the different entrepreneurial styles. This study found that social enterprises created from social issues to entrepreneurship were more concerned with other people's problems. Their funding appeared less reliant on earning and repayment. The resources were more diverse. Such social enterprises might focus their care on people or communities they missioned to help and not practice profit or surplus distribution to shareholders. On the contrary, social enterprises from entrepreneurship to social issues were inspired by their own issues. A large part of such social enterprises' funding might be from earnings or repayment. Such social enterprises might involve fewer volunteers, make less use of free services, focus on exchanges of products or services for repayment, and distribute profit or surplus to shareholders.

This study focuses on deriving key issues relating to social enterprises and intellectual property rights using text mining methods, and analysing the co-author patterns of researchers working in these fields. For this purpose, the Netminer program was used to analyse journal papers published by Springer Publishing. As a result of the analysis, the research topics relating to social enterprises and intellectual property rights were, by way of a theoretical framework, classified according to nine issues: the management model of social enterprises; social enterprises and NGOs; the supply chain of social enterprises; the impact of social enterprises; environmental changes in social enterprises; social entrepreneurship; social enterprise and education; the social enterprise ecosystem; and social enterprises and NGOs.. These nine key issues represent areas of great importance in terms of business activities that link social enterprises and intellectual property rights. Contrastingly, examination of the co-author patterns of authors discussing social enterprises and intellectual property rights suggests that those employing multi-disciplinary approaches should engage more actively in joint research activities. Though such authors have achieved notable results to date, their engaging more actively in joint research activities should enhance the success of policies linking social enterprises and intellectual property rights.

This article takes a historical perspective to explain the development of the concept of social entrepreneurship, divergence between the forms of social enterprises (SEs) de jure and de facto in a post-Socialist society and approaches to typical tensions experienced by SEs as hybrid organisations. In this respect, the paper presents a framework of eight contrasting conceptual dimensions (i.e. possible institutional tensions) based on the analysis of prior social entrepreneurship studies and identifies respective tensions experienced by SEs based on data from Lithuania. The data were generated from semi-structured interviews (N = 11) with social entrepreneurship experts and from a survey with a semantic differential method in a sample of the participants (N = 98) in the largest conference on social entrepreneurship in Lithuania. This study concludes that understandings of social entrepreneurship in Lithuania are blurred by a dichotomy between SEs de jure and de facto which is set by current legal acts. The findings also indicate that social entrepreneurship insiders no longer perceive any controversy between social mission and businesslike activities. However, external attitudes as expressed in experts’ interviews may still hinder SEs’ attainment of social impact, one of the three dimensions (founding motives and innovation types being the other two) that is little reflected by social entrepreneurship insiders of a post-Socialist society in which the phenomenon is at a nascent stage. Directions for further research to bring contribution to institutional theory are suggested.

This second volume in the series, Social and Sustainable Enterprise: Changing the Nature of Business, which is edited by Sarah Underwood, Richard Blundel, Fergus Lyon and Anja Schaefer, draws together contemporary research contributions that seek to critically explore a range of issues in the specific context of social enterprise, sustainable entrepreneurship and social responsibility. Collectively, the chapters in this volume consider the challenges facing social enterprises globally, their environmental impact and the difficulties for policy makers in their efforts to tackle complex international environmental problems. The volume contributors draw on a range of research themes, methodological approaches and international contexts to enhance our understanding of the meaning, critical nature and value of social and sustainable enterprise development. Thus, this volume speaks directly to the core objectives of this book series by providing an opportunity for the ISBE [Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship] community of interest to challenge current thinking and create a research agenda for future inquiry.

The circular economy(CE) is a key player in transforming production systems and consumption habits in Western Balkans (WB) countries to tackle the challenges of climate change in a region that includes some of the most polluted capital cities in the world, such as Skopje and Pristina. The circular economy roadmap is one of the main priorities of the Green Transition in the region. Although circular economy practices in the WB countries are still in the early stages of development, there is potential for growth, primarily through the 5Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Recycle). The contributions of the circular economy and social entrepreneurship to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are well recognised, as they provide solutions to social, environmental, and economic challenges. However, there is a need to pair these two concepts more effectively and integrate them. While the circular economy focuses on financial and environmental solutions, social entrepreneurship compensates by offering social solutions. Social enterprises create an inclusive approach to the circular economy. On the other hand, social enterprises that adopt the principles of the circular economy can reduce their operational costs, add value, and create further opportunities for jobs and training. Social enterprises also offer more inclusive business models that prioritise the needs of local communities. Additionally, the transition to a circular economy presents opportunities for social entrepreneurship and social enterprises, including upskilling and reskilling the workforce, developing collaborative business models that target consumers, fostering innovative partnerships, and promoting advocacy opportunities. In the context of WB countries, social entrepreneurship and the circular economy are often studied separately, although research interest in both fields is increasing. Social entrepreneurship has been a crucial driver of social and economic development in these countries. However, the circular economy ecosystem in the WB region remains fragmented. This paper aims to investigate how social entrepreneurship can contribute to building a circular economy ecosystem in the WB region. The approach of this study is qualitative, based on case study methodology, focusing on one particular WB country, Albania. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, including government representatives, academics, NGOs, and social entrepreneurs, between October and November 2024. The study presents a conceptual framework for the circular economy ecosystem, integrating aspects of social entrepreneurship, including social orientation, market orientation, innovation, opportunity recognition, and community orientation. The main contribution of this study is in linking social entrepreneurship with the circular economy. Received: 27 May 2025 / Accepted: 20 July 2025 / Published: 01 August 2025

At the European level there are three main forms of juridical organization as social enterprise: cooperative social enterprises (Italy, France, Portugal, and Greece) commercial enterprises having a social purpose (England, Belgium) and social enterprises by statute claiming. In Romania there is not related legislation but juridical forms as association an foundation can be assimilated as non-profit organizations thus being assimilated to social enterprises or social activities. Following this luck of legislation a frame law of social economy is continuously elaborated from three years ago, but a second law of social entrepreneurship was voted by Romanian senate. In order to be applied the law has to be voted by Deputies Chambers. The clauses inside the law and the rapidity of its elaborations have lead to a very controversial protest of civil organizations. The arguments against it were: lack of civil society consultancy in elaboration of law, neglecting the already existing experience the definition of state and multinational companies as possible entrepreneurship actors, being thus in contradiction with European practices and European parliament recommendations there is no European legislation to define the social enterprise only by a partnership with a multinational company as it was claimed by the law maker creates confusion between social entrepreneurship and social responsibility financial interest of multinational companies was suspected

Whilst we may not have a ‘universal’ definition of a social enterprise, we do have a number that are frequently cited, capture the ethos of social enterprises andwhich are broadly similar (Birch and Whittam 1998; Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 2002 ; Dees 2001 ; Thompson and Doherty 2006 ; Nicholls 2006 ). But if we then look at the key elements of entrepreneurship, whether it is practised in social enterprises or elsewhere (Bolton and Thompson 2004 ), it becomes apparent that an organization can be a social enterprise without being entrepreneurial. Correspondingly, social entrepreneurship is manifest in organizations that are not social enterprises when benchmarked against the popular and prevalent definitions. Therefore, and in turn, social enterprises may not be led by people we might describe as social entrepreneurs. And people we call social entrepreneurs may be active in activities and organizations that are not social enterprises. To ‘complete the circle’, a person who might be described as a social entrepreneur might well be involved in an activity or organization that is not socially entrepreneurial in the way that it behaves.

PurposeSocial enterprises are not purely commercial and philanthropic. They represent a hybrid form of organizations that involve taking business‐like, innovative approaches to deliver public services. Very little research has investigated the role of intellectual capital (IC) in innovation processes in social enterprises. This paper aims to address this.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a critical analysis of current literature in relation to the IC concept within the social enterprise context.FindingsThe paper argues that the IC concept can be utilized as a strategic management framework that assists social enterprises to harness knowledge for the pursuit of innovative social and commercial activities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper contributes to the literature by theoretically arguing that IC can be utilized in innovation processes in social enterprises. It also informs social entrepreneurs that the IC concept is a valid strategic management framework that assists facilitating innovation in social enterprises. An IC conceptual framework is proposed using theoretical arguments from the literature. The framework helps social entrepreneurs to visualize IC and its components in their organizations for the development of effective innovation‐based strategies in social enterprises. The increased awareness of the IC concept in social enterprises, as a result of this paper, is likely to generate further research from both non‐profit practitioners and scholars.Originality/valueThe paper is considered as a starting‐point and serves as a milestone in examining the role of IC in innovation processes in social enterprises.

The article is devoted to social entrepreneurship, i.e. entrepreneurial activity aimed at positive innovative changes in society, namely, mitigating or solving social problems at the expense of income received from one’s own activity. In Ukraine, a separate organizational and legal form is not provided for the implementation of a social enterprise. That is, you can organize a social enterprise in any convenient of various forms (civil society organizations, business entities, etc.), with a wide choice of available taxation regimes. Social enterprises are designed to meet the needs of community members that the public sector cannot meet, and the private sector ignores. This is precisely the niche for the activity of social enterprises. Local communities are the main beneficiaries of the development of social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship helps to provide public services in a new way and meet the needs of the community; create jobs; enrich the professional experience of people working in social enterprises for further employment under modern market conditions; to develop communities by involving them in public life socially vulnerable and marginalized population groups, providing their members with work; to expand the activity of citizens who can independently solve their problems and take responsibility for their lives; increase attention to socially disadvantaged population groups, not so much by providing them with charitable assistance, but by providing them with useful socially significant work; revive rural and urban areas and improve their social infrastructure, etc. It is indicated that social entrepreneurship plays an important role in the mechanism of realization of constitutional rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen, in particular, the right to work, to a sufficient standard of living, to equality, to social protection of a new format. In this case, we believe that the concept of social protection should be interpreted broadly, go beyond exclusively state obligations (pensions, other social benefits), and include a model of responsible entrepreneurship. It can be argued that social entrepreneurship is an important step towards the departure from collectivism and the transition to individualism, where legal entities and natural persons-entrepreneurs create decent conditions for the life of socially vulnerable segmentsof the population through their activities on their own initiative.

Social media presence becomes phenomenal at the beginning of the 21st century and currently, social media is the forefront agenda for many enterprises. The influence of social media is also dominant in social entrepreneurship with the ever-increasing influence of the social media. The emergence of social media has changed the way social entrepreneurs undertake their entrepreneurial activities by helping social enterprises to gain access to resources that were otherwise not available to them. Currently, social entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on social media applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to reach diverse audiences, generate more opportunities and promote their entrepreneurial ventures. As a result, it is becoming essential for social entrepreneurs to understand the vital role of social media and how they affect their social enterprises. Despite the fact that social media are being adopted by a growing number of social entrepreneurs, their understandability of how implementing social media may impact their entrepreneurial ventures is still limited because of the diverse possibilities of implementing them into their social enterprises. As a result, still limited scholarly studies have been undertaken so far which explain how social media could benefit entrepreneurial firms. To our knowledge, research which examines the role of social media in social entrepreneurship is scarce if not unavailable. This research provides a detailed literary investigation on current literature on social media and social entrepreneurship. A conceptual framework which depicts the role of social media in social entrepreneurship is developed. Furthermore, an extensive research on the different technology adoption theories and frameworks was conducted in order to identify key factors of social media for social entrepreneurial adoption. A social media adoption model has been proposed that depicts the adoption steps and which also integrates the identified factors as the key for the adoption process. This research provides valuable insights on the role of social media in social entrepreneurship and the social media adoption process in social enterprises. The findings of this research can be used by social entrepreneurs to facilitate social media adoption process in their entrepreneurial ventures and also can be used by academics for further research. The analysis shows that intention to return home induces remittances in terms of amount per year and proportion to income. Having further considered the determinants to return home of workers, income and employment satisfaction seem not to significantly affect their decisions as hypothesized. On the other hand, they are preferably satisfied in legal issues particularly visa regulations and labor protection and they became important negative factors of intention to return. Furthermore, international agreement and some legal instruments such as Agreement between Thailand and Australia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, Fair Work Act 2009 and Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541, are also used to deepen the understanding of the economic outcome.

Purpose In the past, social entrepreneurship (SE) research has focused on what social entrepreneurs are doing; however, research capturing the behavioral orientation underlying social entrepreneurship, termed social entrepreneurship orientation (SEO), is limited in emerging markets. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of SEO on social enterprise sustainability in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach After the extensive literature review and based on the theory of behavioral entrepreneurship, an SEO construct is presented to examine this effect on social enterprise sustainability. The research design of this research paper is a quantitative survey approach and a custom-made structured questionnaire is used to collect data. A total sample of 242 Indian entrepreneurs has been considered for research analysis. Convenient sampling techniques were used and to validate the construct’s model, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used. Findings The findings of the study show that four behavioral dimensions of SEO have a significant positive effect on social enterprise sustainability. Understanding the essential characteristics of SE highlights the importance of entrepreneurs’ behavioral orientation for the long-term viability of SE in emerging markets, thus beneficial to SE research and practitioners. Research limitations/implications This study enhances the academic understanding of social entrepreneur orientation theory by analyzing its attributes through a quantitative methodology in emerging markets such as India. Educational institutions and training firms can leverage this study to cultivate the personality traits of SEO, thereby fostering the growth of sustainable social enterprises. However, the cross-sectional design, reliance on self-reported data and focus on Indian social enterprises may limit the application of the study’s findings. Practical implications Policymakers should allocate resources to social venture incubators. Educational institutions should integrate SEO principles into the entrepreneurship curriculum. Originality/value This research contributes to the existing empirical findings on SE by identifying SEO as a distinct behavioral construct and provides significant insights into what motivates SEO in challenging socio-economic environments. Overall, the study clarifies the factors responsible for sustainable social enterprise, a critical need of our time.