Social Entrepreneurship = Social Transformation?

There is no doubt that entrepreneurship in different forms has lead to social transformation. There is invariably a ripple effect on several spheres, including politics and society. Social enterprises are no exception to the power of transformation.

What are the factors that are commonly associated with social enterprises? Do successful enterprises have anything in common at all? Authors Sarah H. Alvord, David Brown and Christine W. Letts of the Kennedy School of Government take a look at seven social enterprises to establish this.

The findings are presented in their paper, “Social Entrepreneurship and Social Transformation: An Exploratory Study.” The study looked at the following enterprises:

1. BRAC, Bangladesh
2. The Green Belt Movement, Kenya
3. The Highlander Research and Education Center, USA
4. Plan Puebla, Mexico
5. SEWA, India
6. Grameen Bank, Bangladesh
7. Six-S, Burkina Faso and France

The study identified several forms of core innovation, including building local capacity, innovative ways of disseminating a group of innovations, and building a movement from grassroots alliances to take on the more powerful. These findings form a part of the first hypothesis for successful social entrepreneurship.

The second hypothesis the study makes is that successful social enterprises involve innovations that mobilize existing assets of marginalized groups. An example of this would be the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which encourages its clients to participate more effectively in local economies.

The third hypothesis for a successful social enterprise is that success is built when there is an emphasis on systematic learning in order to operate at scale.

Read more about the study here.