Social Entrepreneurship: Balancing Social Outcomes and Financial Stability

摘要

This research focused on the strategy decisions of a social entrepreneur balancing financial opportunities and the company's social mission. An embedded single case study approach allowed this study to carefully analyze a social entrepreneurial venture and its decision makers to provide a foundation for further research. The research analyzed the entrepreneurial behaviors of the founder of a design consultancy social venture. As the field of social entrepreneurship is still being defined and emerging, additional research assists in building a better understanding of the differentiating factors and the core defining principles of the field. The research also analyzed the design consultancy's strategies to leverage opportunities to increase financial stability or profitability of the social venture while maintaining the social mission. Three core sources of information were used in this study. The first source was documentation and archival records including but not limited to business plans, financial records, media articles, administrative documents, and proposals. The second source included interviews with founders, key stakeholders and staff for first-person accounts of the organization mission, strategy and organization model. Finally, direct observation of the social entrepreneur provided the final source of information to the case study on the social entrepreneurial experience. The findings of the study indicate that the social mission provides a unique opportunity for a social venture to have an advantage over competitors in the same industry that do not have a social mission. Having an embedded social mission in the company's business model generates goodwill with the added benefit of branding opportunities that come with operating as a social venture. As organizations are pushed more towards ethical practices and socially responsible operations, entrepreneurs can leverage this opportunity by embedding a social mission in their venture's business model.