Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship depicted a scenario where making a profit is less important than contributing goodness to the community. Many organizations demonstrated social entrepreneurship in the real-world setting to build a better community and solve collective concerns. Perhaps organizations' agenda in implementing social entrepreneurship is unclear which scholars contend on the inconsistent connotations of the words social and entrepreneurship and that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a more appropriate term to use. Thus, this paper intends to present the suitability of social entrepreneurship in (1) times of crisis and (2) finding solutions for long-term social problems which differentiate CSR.

Social Entrepreneurship

            The contradicting features of social entrepreneurship and CSR garnered attention from scholars and conducted studies to analyze social entrepreneurship and its structures. Social entrepreneurship is considered a multidimensional construct that involves the appearance of entrepreneurially virtuous behavior to attain a social mission which shows coherence between the organization’s purpose and action (Sullivan et al., 2003). However, scholars recognized a critical part of the social concept because the phenomena provide value-creating opportunities for the organization, a salient feature of entrepreneurship (Peredo & McLean, 2006). Crisis and social concerns are both contributors to the implementation of social entrepreneurship. Petrella and Richez-Battesti (2014) acknowledged the crisis's contribution that urges organizations to participate in social entrepreneurship.

Crisis Setting Esteeming Social Entrepreneurship

            The most recent crisis that the world experienced is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations demonstrated their social entrepreneurial behaviors by manufacturing plastic shields, ventilators, and personal protective equipment quickly and offering them below cost (Bacq & Lumpkin, 2020). This scenario indicates the appropriateness of social entrepreneurship to be implemented during a crisis, unlike CSR that can be executed in any social situation. Another example, COVID-19 vaccines were being invented, and organizations strengthen their social entrepreneurship because innovation and invention are involved in providing goodness to the public. The profit is not the focus among the organizations following the social entrepreneurship concepts. The organization's focus is to provide immediate solutions to a crisis without getting profits. Additionally, social entrepreneurship is best applied when society is discovering solutions to social concerns.

Solutions for Social Issues

            A famous example of social entrepreneurship is Volvo's invention of the three-point seat belt, and social innovation is introduced (Cuntz et al., 2020). Volvo did not impose a patent on the invention, allowing other car companies to use the seat belt for the community's safety. Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web (www), which made other digital platforms operate without restrictions. The power of Tim Berners-Lee's invention provided ways for other organizations to operate, which have changed the world (Hendler & Berners-Lee, 2010). These scenarios imposed the critical concept of social entrepreneurship. Innovation and invention are essential aspects of social entrepreneurship and address social concerns and improve social interactions. Social is demonstrated as organizations intend to address social issues and entrepreneurship simultaneously, as innovation and invention create a concrete feature of social entrepreneurship. Profit is not the primary focus of social entrepreneurship, unlike the management implication of CSR as a strategy.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Firms can commence strategic CSR activities that can eventually increase profits, and market value maximization is involved (Mackey et al., 2007). CSR appears to be independent on crisis and social issues. CSR is one strategy that organizations used to strengthen company values without product innovation and invention. The process involves reaching out to public causes that will not require invention, unlike social entrepreneurship, which involves innovation. Werther Jr. and Chandler (2005) argued that CSR strengthens the assurance in an organization's branding. Examples of CSR campaigns include charitable giving, volunteering in the community, and improving labor policies. These campaigns are popular among big companies and intend to build reputation and recognition to become a strategic step to attain maximum returns. TOMS Shoes are known for their CSR initiatives on one for one campaign, which intended to help children who cannot afford to have a pair of shoes. Although there is a social aspect of CSR, it does not appear to be equivalent to social entrepreneurship.

Conclusion

            The correlation between social entrepreneurship and CSR is inevitable because they both address social issues in the community. However, organizations must understand the differences between the two concepts before advocating either one. CSR can be implemented and employed in any situation, while social entrepreneurship required innovation and invention to stop social issues such as crises. The motives and purpose of the organizations must be transparent to the public to determine if the social campaign can be considered as social entrepreneurship or strategic CSR where it builds its brand for maximizing profits. The determining factors on the differences between social entrepreneurship and CSR involve crisis response and the organization's contribution to the public without thinking about profits.

References

Bacq, S., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2020). Social entrepreneurship and COVID‐19. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12641

Cuntz, A., Foray, D., & Mostovova, E. (2020). On the economics of social innovation–a conceptual framework and its policy implications. Innovation, 22(4), 469-487.

Hendler, J., & Berners-Lee, T. (2010). From the Semantic Web to social machines: A research challenge for AI on the World Wide Web. Artificial intelligence, 174(2), 156-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artint.2009.11.010

Mackey, A., Mackey, T. B., & Barney, J. B. (2007). Corporate social responsibility and firm performance: Investor preferences and corporate strategies. Academy of management review, 32(3), 817-835. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275676

Peredo, A. M., & McLean, M. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: A critical review of the concept. Journal of world business, 41(1), 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.10.007

Petrella, F., & Richez-Battesti, N. (2014). Social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship and social enterprise: semantics and controversies. Journal of Innovation Economics Management, (2), 143-156.

Sullivan Mort, G., Weerawardena, J., & Carnegie, K. (2003). Social entrepreneurship: Towards conceptualisation. International journal of nonprofit and voluntary sector marketing, 8(1), 76-88. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.202

Werther Jr, W. B., & Chandler, D. (2005). Strategic corporate social responsibility as global brand insurance. Business Horizons, 48(4), 317-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.009