Abstract
Social entrepreneurship and social innovation are key phenomena in interpreting the change towards a sustainable economy. This chapter aims at exploring geographical differences in the structure and characteristics of social initiatives. After having analyzed the role of social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the Global South and in the Global North, we focus on the Ashoka network, the largest worldwide support organization for social innovators and social entrepreneurs. Triangulating data from the Ashoka network and publications from academia (Yale and Columbia Universities) and international institutions (such as the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum) we compare the two global areas in terms of alignment between the most urgent needs of the countries therein and the actions of the local Ashoka fellows.
Results inform policymakers, social and business actors on the importance of sustaining social innovation and social entrepreneurship initiatives that align with the most pressing needs of the country, especially in economies that belong to the so-called Global South.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Ashoka Fellows are the social entrepreneurs selected by Ashoka.
- 2.
- 3.
The classification is available here: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/definitions/regions.aspx
References
Affleck, A., & Mellor, M. (2006). Community development finance: a neo-market solution to social exclusion? Journal of Social Policy, 35(2), 303–319. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279405009542
Austin, J., Stevenson, H., & Wei-Skillern, J. (2006). Social and commercial entrepreneurship: Same, different, or both? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2006.00107.x
Battilana, J., Sengul, M., Pache, A. C., & Model, J. (2015). Harnessing productive tensions in hybrid organizations: The case of work integration social enterprises. Academy of Management Journal, 58(6), 1658–1685. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0903
Brieger, S. A., Terjesen, S. A., Hechavarría, D. M., & Welzel, C. (2019). Prosociality in business: A human empowerment framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 361–380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4045-5
Burkett, I. (2013). Reaching underserved markets: The role of specialist financial intermediaries in Australia. Foresters: GSGII. Retrieved from https://gsgii.org/reports/reaching-underserved-markets/
Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420670903442053
Di Lorenzo, F., & Scarlata, M. (2019). Social enterprises, venture philanthropy and the alleviation of income inequality. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 307–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4049-1
Doherty, B., Haugh, H., & Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4), 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12028
Fosfuri, A., Giarratana, M. S., & Roca, E. (2016). Social business hybrids: Demand externalities, competitive advantage, and growth through diversification. Organization Science, 27(5), 1275–1289. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1080
Gebauer, H., Haldiman, M., & Jennings Saul, C. (2017). Business model innovations for overcoming barriers in the base-of-the-pyramid market. Industry and Innovation, 24(5), 543–568. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2017.1310033
Haugh, H. (2009). A resource-based perspective of social entrepreneurship. In J. Robinson, J. Mair, & K. Hockerts (Eds.), International perspectives of social entrepreneurship (pp. 99–116). Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.
Jenner, P. (2016). The role of the intermediary in social enterprise sustainability: An international comparative study. The Journal of New Business Ideas & Trends, 14(1), 23–39.
Maiolini, R., Mongelli, L., Rullani, F., & Valera, A. (2015). Da dove nasce l’innovazione sociale? La comunità degli innovatori sociali nel network Ashoka: evidenze empiriche tra regioni e settori. In M. G. Caroli (Ed.), Modelli ed Esperienze di Innovazione Sociale in Italia: Secondo Rapporto sull’Innovazione sociale (pp. 229–249). Milano: Edizioni FrancoAngeli. Studi ed esperienze sull’innovazione sociale/CERIIS. Retrieved from http://ojs.francoangeli.it/_omp/index.php/oa/catalog/download/129/16/570-2
Mair, J., Battilana, J., & Cardenas, J. (2012). Organizing for society: A typology of social entrepreneuring models. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 353–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1414-3
Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002
Mair, J., Robinson, J., & Hockerts, K. (2006). Introduction. In J. Mair, J. Robinson, & K. Hockerts (Eds.), Social entrepreneurship. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Margonari, M., Capo, F., Rullani, F., & Mongelli, L. (2018). Everyone is a changemaker, but is every change the right one? Assessing the alignment between Ashoka fellows’ missions and the most urgent issues affecting their countries. Social Innovations Journal, 52, 1–10. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11385/183117
Meyskens, M., Robb-Post, C., Stamp, J. A., Carsrud, A. L., & Reynolds, P. D. (2010). Social ventures from a resource-based perspective: An exploratory study assessing global Ashoka fellows. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(4), 661–680. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00389.x
Mongelli, L., Rullani, F., Ramus, T., & Rimac, T. (2019). The bright side of hybridity: Exploring how social enterprises manage and leverage their hybrid nature. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 301–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4050-8
Mongelli, L., Rullani, F., & Versari, P. (2017). Hybridisation of diverging institutional logics through common-note practices—An analogy with music and the case of social enterprises. Industry and Innovation, 24(5), 492–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2017.1302793
Mongelli, L., Versari, P., Rullani, F., & Vaccaro, A. (2018). Made in carcere: Integral human development in extreme conditions. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(4), 977–995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3821-6
Powell, M., & Osborne, S. P. (2015). Can marketing contribute to sustainable social enterprise? Social Enterprise Journal, 11(1), 24–46. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-01-2014-0009
Prahalad, C. K., & Hart, S. L. (2002). The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. Strategy and Business, 2002, 54–54. Retrieved from https://www.strategy-business.com/article/11518?gko=9b3b4
Saebi, T., Foss, N. J., & Linder, S. (2019). Social entrepreneurship research: Past achievements and future promises. Journal of Management, 45(1), 70–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318793196
Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2005). Social entrepreneurship: Creating new business models to serve the poor. Business Horizons, 48(3), 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.006
Sen, P. (2007). Ashoka’s big idea: Transforming the world through social entrepreneurship. Futures, 39(5), 534–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2006.10.013
Sengupta, S., & Sahay, A. (2017). Comparing mission statements of social enterprises and corporate enterprises in the new and renewable energy sector of India: A computer aided content analysis study. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 7(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40497-017-0079-x
Sengupta, S., Sahay, A., & Croce, F. (2018). Conceptualizing social entrepreneurship in the context of emerging economies: An integrative review of past research from BRIICS. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14(4), 771–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-017-0483-2
Staessens, M., Kerstens, P. J., Bruneel, J., & Cherchye, L. (2019). Data envelopment analysis and social enterprises: Analysing performance, strategic orientation and mission drift. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 325–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4046-4
Teasdale, S., Sunley, P., & Pinch, S. (2012). Financing social enterprise: Social bricolage or evolutionary entrepreneurialism? Social Enterprise Journal, 8(2), 108–122. https://doi.org/10.1108/17508611211252837
Tobias, J. M., Mair, J., & Barbosa-Leiker, C. (2013). Toward a theory of transformative entrepreneuring: Poverty reduction and conflict resolution in Rwanda’s entrepreneurial coffee sector. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(6), 728–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.03.003
Vaara, E., Sonenshein, S., & Boje, D. (2016). Narratives as sources of stability and change in organizations: Approaches and directions for future research. Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), 495–560. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2016.1120963
World Economic Forum. (2017). Global competitiveness report. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-competitiveness-report-2017-2018
World Health Organization. (2018). Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy data by country. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/life_tables/situation_trends/en/
Yunus, M., & Weber, K. (2007). Creating a world without poverty: Social business and the future of capitalism. New York, NY: Public Affairs.
Zahra, S. A., Gedajlovic, E., Neubaum, D. O., & Shulman, J. M. (2009). A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges. Journal of Business Venturing, 24(5), 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.04.007
Acknowledgement
This study was funded by FCT – Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology, Grant: UID/GES/00407/2013. Luca Mongelli has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 795925.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bega, E., Mongelli, L., Rullani, F., Sedita, S.R. (2021). Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Between Global North and Global South: The Ashoka Case. In: Sedita, S.R., Blasi, S. (eds) Rethinking Clusters. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61923-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61923-7_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-61922-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-61923-7
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)