Social Entrepreneurship in South Africa: Context,Relevance and Extent

Abstract

In its broadest context, ‘social entrepreneurship’ refers to individuals and organizations that engage in entrepreneurial activities with social objectives. Whereas this concept and its constituent elements are well-researched and acknowledged in industrialized countries (such as the USA and UK) (Thompson, Alvy and Lees, 2000, p 328) and to some extent in developing economies (for example, in Bangladesh and Venezuela) (Mair and Martí, 2006, p 36), its prevalence and impact in South Africa (and in Africa for that matter) are not contextualized. This article presents an overview of social entrepreneurship in South Africa by analyzing why it has become important and popular, and assesses the role, relevance and extent of social entrepreneurship in a developing economy, concluding with the challenges and the way forward for social entrepreneurship in developing economies.

Keywords

social entrepreneurship social enterprise enterprise development developing economies South Africa

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alvord

S.H.

Brown

L.D.

Letts

C.W.

(2004), ‘Social entrepreneurship and societal transformation’, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol 40, No 3, pp 260–282.

Awethu Project (2011), see http://www.awethuproject.co.za/, last accessed 18 January 2011.

Baumol

W.J.

(1993), ‘Formal entrepreneurship theory in economics: Existence and bounds’, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol 8, No 3, pp 197–210.

Baumol

W.J.

(1990), ‘Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive and destructive’, Journal of Political Economy, Vol 98, No 5, pp 893–921.

Birch

(2009), ‘Social entrepreneurship’, in Deakins

Freel

, Entrepreneurship and Small Firms, McGraw-Hill, London.

Bornstein

(2004), How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Boschee

(1998), ‘What does it take to be a social entrepreneur? National Centre for Social Entrepreneurs’, http://www.socialentrepreneurs.org/whatdoes.html, last accessed 20 January 2011.

Bosma

Levie

(2009), Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2009 Executive Report, Babson College, Boston, MA.

Brock

D.D.

(2008), Social Entrepreneurship: Teaching Resources Handbook, Ashoka, Arlington, VA.

10.

CASE (Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship) (2008), ‘Developing the field of social entrepreneurship’, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business, see http://www.caseatduke.org/documents/CASE_Field-Building_Report_June08.pdf, last accessed 16 January 2010.

11.

Certo

S.T.

Miller

(2008), ‘Social entrepreneurship: Key issues and concepts’, Business Horizons, Vol 51, No 4, pp 267–271.

12.

CIDA (Community and Individual Development Association) (2011), ‘History of CIDA City Campus’, http://www.cida.co.za, last accessed 05 December 2011.

13.

Clinton

(2009), Beyond Profit, Intellectual Advisory Group, Mumbai.

14.

Dees

J.G.

(2007), ‘Taking social entrepreneurship seriously’, Society, Vol 44, No 3, pp 24–31.

15.

Dees

J.G.

(2001), ‘The meaning of “social entrepreneurship”’, http://www.caseatduke.org/documents/dees_sedef.pdf, last accessed 16 December 2010.

16.

Drayton

(2010), ‘What matters: Tipping the world. The power of collaborative entrepreneurship’, McKinsey & Company, http://whatmatters.mckinseydigital.com/social_entrepreneurs/tipping-the-world-the-power-of-collaborative-entrepreneurship, 08 April, last accessed 24 January 2011.

17.

Duke University (2011), ‘Universities driving global change’, http://www.tedashokau.com/, last accessed 25 February 2011.

18.

Giddens

(1998), The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy, Polity Press, Cambridge.

19.

Herrington

Kew

(2009), Tracking Entrepreneurship in SA: A GEM Perspective, University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, Cape Town.

20.

Johnson

S.J.

(2000), Literature Review on Social Entrepreneurship, Canadian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Edmonton.

21.

Klatz

(2011), Telephone interview, 25 January 2011.

22.

Leadbeater

(1997), The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, Demos, London, http://www.demos.co.uk/files/theriseofthesocialentrepreneur.pdf?1240939425, last accessed 24 January 2011.

23.

Light

P.C.

(2005), ‘Searching for social entrepreneurs: Who might they be, where they might be found, what they do’, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research on Nonprofit and Voluntary Associations (ARNOVA), 17–18 November.

24.

Mair

Martí

(2006), ‘Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight’, Journal of World Business, Vol 41, No 1, pp 36–44.

25.

Mair

Martí

(2004), ‘Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight’, Working Paper No. 546, IESE Business School, University of Navarra.

26.

Martin

R.L.

Osberg

(2007), ‘Social entrepreneurship: The case for definition’, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Spring issue, pp 27–39.

27.

Mort

Weerawardena

Carnegie

(2003), ‘Social entrepreneurship: Towards conceptualization’, International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, Vol 8, No 1, pp 76–88.

28.

MSR (Men on the Side of the Road) (2011), http://www.employmen.co.za/, last accessed 25 January 2011.

29.

Nga

J.K.H.

Shamuganathan

(2010), ‘The influence of personality traits and demographic factors on social entrepreneurship start up intentions’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 95, No 2, pp 259–282.

30.

OCS (Office for Civil Society) (2010), Building a Stronger Civil Society: A Strategy for Voluntary and Community Groups, Charities and Social Enterprises, HM Government, Cabinet Office, London.

31.

Parkinson

Howorth

(2008), ‘The language of social entrepreneurs’, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Vol 20, No 3, pp 285–309.

32.

Peredo

A.M.

McLean

(2006), ‘Social entrepreneurship: A critical review of the concept’, Journal of World Business, Vol 41, No 1, pp 56–65.

33.

Pretorius

(2010), ‘Real people doing unreal things: The doors of potential’, Financial Mail, 03 December, p 31, see also http://www.fm.co.za/.

34.

Roper

Cheney

(2005), ‘Leadership, learning and human resource management: The meanings of social entrepreneurship today’, Corporate Governance, Vol 5, No 3, pp 95–104.

35.

Schwab

(2009), Global Competitiveness Report 2009–2010, World Economic Forum, Geneva, https://members.weforum.org/pdf/GCR09/GCR20092010fullreport.pdf, last accessed 03 January 2011.

36.

Short

J.C.

Moss

T.W.

Lumpkin

G.T.

(2009), ‘Research in social entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future opportunities’, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Vol 3, pp 161–194.

37.

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) (2011), ‘A head for business – a heart for the world’, http://www.sife.org/ABOUTSIFE/Pages/Overview.aspx, last accessed 21 January 2011.

38.

Smith

(2010), The Exploration of an Identity-Based Model of Social Entrepreneurship in South Africa: A Phenomenological Approach, discussion document, Institute for Social Development, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town.

39.

Steenkamp

(2007), ‘Fidentia: A strategic and corporate governance analysis’, MBA Thesis, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, see also http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/802?show=full.

40.

Thompson

Alvy

Lees

(2000), ‘Social entrepreneurship – a new look at the people and the potential’, Management Decision, Vol 38, No 5, pp 328–338.

41.

Urban

(2008), ‘Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Delineating the construct with associated skills’, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol 14, No 5, pp 346–364.

42.

UWC (University of the Western Cape) (2011), ‘Office of Leadership and Social Responsibilities’, http://uwc.ac.za, last accessed 23 January 2011.