In the 2000s, scholars and practitioners have debated which individuals or organizations can be considered to be social entrepreneurs. Thus far, there has been no firm consensus on the definition of social entrepreneurship, as so many different fields, disciplines and organization types are associated with social entrepreneurship, ranging from for-profit businesses to hybrid models combining charitable work with business activities, to non-profit charities, voluntary sector organizations and non-governmental organizations.
Social entrepreneur needs to be defined in a way that is consistent with what is known about entrepreneur. There is a need to better define what is meant by the term social entrepreneur. How are social entrepreneurs different from other entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurs are conceptualized as individuals who see the world differently and envision the future better than others do. They seize opportunities that otherwise would go unnoticed. The interest in social entrepreneurs stems from their role in addressing critical social problems and the dedication they show in improving the well-being of society (Zahra et al., 2008).
The ultimate goal of an entrepreneur is to create economic wealth whereas, for a social entrepreneur, the priority is to fulfill their social mission. Social entrepreneurs design their revenue-generating strategies to directly serve their mission to deliver social value. In Figure 1 we can find definitions of “Social entrepreneur”, made by varies authors.
Table 1: Definitions of “Social entrepreneur”
| Definition | Core characteristic | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Social entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial, innovative and transformatory individuals who are also: leaders, storytellers, people managers, visionary opportunists and alliance builders. They recognize a social problem and organize, create and manage a venture to make social change. | Manager, Leader | Leadbeater (1997) |
| A social entrepreneur is a path breaker with a powerful new idea who combines visionary and real-world problem solving creativity, has a strong ethic viber and is totally possessed by his or her vision for change | Mission leader, Persistent | Bornstein (1998) |
Social entrepremeurs play role of change agents in the social sector by:
| Change agent, Dedicated, Socially alert, Highly accountable | Dees (1998) |
The social entrepreneur should be understood as someone who:
| Innovator | Martin and Osberg (2007) |
| Social entrepreneurship encompasses the activities and processes undertaken to discover, define and exploit opportunities in order to enhance social wealth by creating new ventures or managing existing organizations in an innovative manner. | Innovator, Initiative taker, Opportunity alert | Zahra et al. (2008) |
| A social entrepreneur is someone who takes reasonable risk on behalf of the people their organizations serve | Opinion leader | Brinckerhoff (2009) |
| Social entrepreneurs are people who realize where there is an opportunity to satisfy some unmet need that the state welfare system will not or cannot meet and who gather together the necessary resources (generally people, often volunteers, money and premises) and use these to “make a difference” | Emotionally charged, Social value creator | Thompson et al. (2000) |
| Social entrepreneurship ecompasses the activities and processes undertaken to discover, define and exploit opportunities in order to enhance social wealth by creating new ventures or managing existing organizations in an innovative manner. | Innovator, Initiative taker, Opportunity alert | Zahra et al. (2008) |
| Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else | Visionary, Committed | Ashoka (2012) |
Adopted from: Samer Abu-Saifan (2012); Martin and Osberg (2007)
As we see, there are lots of definitions of “Social entrepreneurs”. And their roles are more or less similar, whith roles of entrepreneur, working in business context: manager, leader, innovator. Defineing social entrepreneur we see its congruence with entrepreneur concept. We can say, that both entrepreneur and social entrepreneur perform three functions: 1) Identify equilibrium or “see the context”; 2) Search for opportunity and creatively find a solution 3) Develop a new equilibrium.
Table 2: “Social entrepreneur” vs “Entrepreneur”
| Function | Social entrepreneur | Entrepreneur |
|---|---|---|
| Identify equilibrium (“see the context”) | Identifying a stable but inherently unjust equilibrium that causes the exclusion, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve any transformative benefit on its own | The starting point for entrepreneurship is what we call an entrepreneurial context. The entrepreneur is attracted to this suboptimal equilibrium, seeing embedded in it an opportunity to provide a new solution, product, service, or process. |
| Opportunity identification | Identifying an opportunity in this unjust equilibrium, developing a social value proposition, and bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude, thereby challenging the stable state’s hegemony | The entrepreneur thinks creatively and develops a new solution that dramatically breaks with the existing one. The entrepreneur doesn’t try to optimize the current system with minor adjustments, but instead finds a wholly new way of approaching the problem |
| Creation of new equilibrium | Forging a new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group, and through imitation and the creation of a stable ecosystem around the new equilibrium ensuring a better future for the targeted group and even society at large. | The entrepreneur thinks creatively and develops a new solution that dramatically breaks with the existing one. The entrepreneur doesn’t try to optimize the current system with minor adjustments, but instead finds a wholly new way of approaching the problem |