Keywords

1 Introduction

Sustainable development involves an activity upholded by projects for the present that will support the community in the future. The main three pillars of sustainable development are: social sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability [1]. Hence, human, economic and natural capital should all be taken into consideration in each action or decision, in order to overcome the severe problems and challenges, to achieve responsible and sustainable development of that community. Appropriate decisions to achieve sustainable development goals can be made either from top down by decisional factors (international, national or local ones) or from the bottom up (through responsible daily choices made by citizens or organizations).

2 Theoretical Framework

Social reality can be analyzed and explained from different perspectives. In the case of social problems, the main frameworks of theoretical analysis on the basis of which they can be defined and explained are symbolic interactionism, functionalism and conflict theory [2]. A more specific approach for understanding social problems is self-determination theory, which suggests that all humans have three basic psychological need (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), that contribute to growth and development [3]. Modern social assistance regards the clients as partners in the change process, being interested in their empowerment. In this context, the existence/the absence of a professional environment generate important consequences in a vulnerable person’s life: co-workers, managers, organizational culture can promote or get in the way of this person’s strivings to grow, by the extent to which they support a person’s basic psychological needs, and contribute to the social integration.

Nonprofit organizations provide certain basic goods and social services (such as education, vocational training, social interactions, and health care) that society believes the market alone will not adequately provide [4]. In a qualitative research carried out with social workers from nonprofit organizations [2], we discovered main problems that Brasov County is facing: poverty, school dropout, lack of education, lack of interest for work, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, the prejudices of employers towards the candidates who are part of vulnerable or risk groups, etc. According to article 6 letter p) of the Social Assistance Law from Romania, the vulnerable group designates persons or families who are at risk of losing their ability to meet daily living needs due to illness, disability, poverty, drug or alcohol addiction or other situations which lead to economic and social vulnerability [5]. These groups are more exposed to experience either a single type of social problem or a mix of them.

In a world where everything changes in a blink of eye, the field of approaching social problems have left no chance but to catch up. The logic of innovation in dealing with social problems is quite simple: knowledge drives innovation, innovation drives productivity; productivity drives economic growth; economic growth drives sustainable complex development. Social innovation is the act of creating new solutions (products, services, business models, industries, or processes) that simultaneously satisfies the social need and enhances the capacity of society to act [6]. And social entrepreneurship is an important context and source of social innovation.

In Romania, the field of social economy is regulated by Law no. 219/2015, with subsequent amendments and additions [7]. Social economy contributes to the development of local communities, the creation of jobs, the involvement of people belonging to vulnerable groups, in social and/or economic activities, facilitating their access to community resources and services. The social enterprises develop a sustainable business model, in order to attain one or more of the 17 sustainable goals developed by the UN; they implement an innovative business models creating social change. Business entrepreneurs are focused on the profit gained by satisfying the needs of their customers to extend the influence of their business to an even greater number of people, while social entrepreneurs, on the other hand, focus on the wellbeing of people and the development of the community they are part of.

3 Methodology

In the current research, the case study method was used to illustrate good practice models in the initiation and development of social economy activities in two organizations from the city of Brasov. According to the typology proposed by Stake [8], the case studies carried out can be considered intrinsic (which aim to understand and investigate a particular case as thoroughly as possible; the cases are chosen because they represent interest in themselves, through their particularities) and instrumental (the chosen cases are used as a tool, being chosen because we expect them to help us in understanding how to create sustainable business models for social development).

The selection of the organizations, presented in the following section as models of good practice in the social economy sector, was made using the following criteria: to be active in Brasov County; to have a legal form that allows the running of social economy activities according to the law; to actually carry out economic activities having as employees or as beneficiaries persons from vulnerable groups; to have notoriety in the community. In Brasov County, in 2023, there are 138 social enterprises, according to “The single record register of social enterprises”, published by the National Employment Agency [9]. After they were qualified based on the criteria, the first randomly selected organization from this list is Ophori Cosmetics SRL [10]—the only social enterprise for insertion in Brasov County and an authorized protected unit, in the production of cosmetics. The second randomly selected organization is Agapedia Romania Foundation [11], which is a well-known organization in the local community, being involved in different networks, projects and partnerships, with a consistent experience in offering social services and educational programs.

In the analysis of each organization, both empirical data, as well as social documents have been used. For the data collected directly from the field, we conducted individual, semi-structured interviews, with one person from the management team of each organization (with B.D., the administrator from Ophori, and with L.G., the executive director from Agapedia). The research instrument was the interview guide, which included the following topics of discussion: the emergence of the social business idea and the motivation for its implementation, stages in the development of the social economy activity, challenges, solutions and lessons learned, results and successes achieved, plans for future. The analysis of the data thus collected was carried out using thematic coding. The method of collecting and analyzing social documents have also been used, which involves searching, identifying, collecting already existing documents and carrying out a content analysis.

Both organizations presented as case studies in the present paper agree to have their names published. This agreement was obtained during the conversations with their representatives.

4 Models of Good Practice in Social Economy from Brasov City

OPHORI—HANDMADE COSMETICS is a laboratory that produces sustainable handmade cosmetics. Their entire production staff is made up of people with disabilities. As a social enterprise for insertion, the company reinvests the entire profit back in the community, directly by creating and adapting jobs for vulnerable people and providing support services to these people. The mission of the protected unit OPHORI is to create jobs for people with disabilities, to support their transformation from the status of socially assisted persons to autonomous ones, but also to adapt these jobs to be competitive on the market and full of satisfaction for employees [10]. The management team also plans to improve some manufacturing processes so that they can be undertaken by people with a wider range of disabilities. B.D., which is a social entrepreneur, co-founder and the administrator of the OPHORI, shares that each step in the development of the company required various forms of financing. In the first stage of a small occupational therapy workshop, they was financed by donations and small private projects. In the next phase, OPHORI was developed as a social enterprise within the financing program “Social Enterprises Accelerator”, implemented by the “Alături de Voi” (ADV) Romania Foundation in partnership with Fonduri-Structurale.ro, co-financed by the European Social Fund.

The promotion of the social enterprise mission and their handmade products is carried out in online environment, on several platforms, among which can be mentioned: their own website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Romanian online trading platform eMAG, platform BINE PRIMIT (for selling products made by social entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations or initiatives with social and environmental impact in Romania), Etsy and so on. And they also participate in local fairs, where they interact directly with potential clients OPHORI have the same issues as other businesses, especially in production: the lack of providers in the area, price increases for raw materials, competition etc., as the interviewed administrator explains. Specifically, one of the biggest difficulties consists in higher production costs compared to the competition: “all people in production have disabilities and a work capacity reduced to at least half. This brings higher costs because fewer products can be made in a set period of time. At the same time, the accompanying measures needed for professional integration come with additional costs” (B.D.). Another issue is represented by the negative mentality of the general public regarding the quality of products manufactured by people with disabilities. Disability is often associated with low quality “we often encounter people who do not trust the Ophori products because they were manufactured by adults with disabilities. Even if the products are appreciated now, we think the local and national market is not ready to purchase products from enterprises such as Ophori” (B.D.).

Among the constraints of a social enterprise, the administrator of OPHORI mentioned: achieving social impact (hiring people with disabilities and selling all products in recyclable packaging); yearly reporting (they have to present a social activity report to the institution that authorities them—The County Employment Agency), allotting at least 90% of the profit to the social cause (which “can take several forms such as creating new jobs, adapting them, offering counseling services for employees etc.”), ensuring equitable salary levels to combat the maneuver of “hiring cheap labor but having big salaries for owners” (“within Ophori there can be no salary differences greater than 1 to 8 between the smallest and the highest salary”) (B.D.).

Some of the company’s achievements are: (a) OPHORI is the first social enterprise for insertion in Brasov County and the only laboratory of personal care, cleaning and aromatic products, handmade by people with disabilities in Romania; (b) among the companies in Brasov with CAEN code 2042 (manufacture of perfumes and cosmetic products), in 2021 OPHORI COSMETICS ranked on 1st place regarding the number of employees and 2nd regarding the income; “The revenues obtained were used for the creation and adaptation of jobs for people with disabilities in their laboratory, as well as in the workshops held in partnership with local NGOs for vulnerable people”; (c) increasing the number of products: “from 5 in 2021 to 25 at the end of 2022, and we will develop at least 5 more by the end of 2023” (B.D.); (d) very satisfied staff and a maximum retention rate at work. Furthermore, Bogdan Dimciu, the administrator of the company, has been mapped on Ashoka Changemaker Map of 2022 and obtained the distinction of being one of the top social innovators of a private organization [12].

Emphasizing the specifics of running a social enterprise, the interviewed administrator of the OPHORI company considers that the management of an social enterprise for insertion requires a lot of sacrifice, patience and resilience (“to face the challenges and risks that are much greater than a classic economic company”), and the willingness to learn permanently (“without knowledge it is very easy to go from wanting to help to doing more harm, especially by hiring people who have long wanted a job, only to be fired in a few months because the business is not sustainable or their performance is not as expected by entrepreneurs”) (B.D.). All the difficulties mentioned before, combined with a lack of support from the state, means that “managing a social enterprise of insertion is very difficult, a reason for the small number of them”, underlines the administrator (B.D.). The main challenge has always been related to financial flow: “As a business started from scratch, each stage of development had different needs, but all could be solved by the presence of financial resources” (B.D.).

As future plans, the OPHORI team intends to focus on innovating their sales methods (for example, opening a physical store that allows direct interaction with potential customers, and that contributes to the creation of new jobs for people with disabilities), their promoting strategy for reaching new customers, “because the more we sell, the greater the social impact will be” (B.D.). The social enterprise OPHORI benefited from support from the community, materialized in different forms: partnership with Ana Spa Poiana Brasov, a part of Ana Hotels (their involvement consists in purchasing spa products, with the aim of creating new jobs for these special people); recurrent purchases from loyal customers who support the social mission of the company; the involvement of people from the community in the process of new product development.

AGAPEDIA Foundation Romania is a non-profit organization, which was established in 1995; it has over 25 years of experience in the development of social, medical and educational services for socially marginalized people. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for children and families in difficulty, to contribute to the development of the child protection system and to create effective social and medical services [11]. Recently, a growing number of nonprofit organizations have sought additional income. Through business practices, non-profit organizations have the opportunity to obtain additional resources from the exploitation of products/services from their activities, which can lead to self-sustainability and financial autonomy [4]. This is also the case of AGAPEDIA Foundation Romania, who noticed that after Romania entered the EU, donations from abroad began to decrease. For the sustainability of its mission, AGAPEDIA Foundation Romania carries out economic activities, under the generic name “Agapedia Social Bizz”. The income from the economic activities contributes to the support of the educational program dedicated to children with reduced medical and educational opportunities from the partner schools [11].

The economic activities carried out currently by the foundation are the following: (a) renting a room for tourist accommodation “Cozy Room AGAPEDIA”, (b) renting a hall for events, in the Agapedia attic, (c) renting an office room. Cozy Room AGAPEDIA is a space for rent, furnished and specially equipped for tourists who want to explore Brasov and its surroundings. The room for rent for tourists is located in the attic of the Agapedia house, the current headquarters of the Agapedia Romania foundation. The location is in the central area of Brasov, a 15-min walk from the historic center. Having a separate entrance with access to the garden and the parking space, the room has its own bathroom, toiletries, towels, mini fridge, kettle, coffee machine. The parking space in the yard and the garden are available to tourists. Reservations are made through the Airbnb and Booking platforms [11]. On Booking Platform, Cozy Room AGAPEDIA has 27 reviews, obtaining a high overall score of 9.4 (superb accommodation). Among the most appreciated elements found in the tourists' reviews are: the warm welcome, friendly and helpful staff, impeccable cleanliness, access to the garden, tranquility, the welcome gift, the proximity to the city center. From the interview conducted with the executive director of the foundation, it emerged that the beginnings of the design of this economic activity are already approximately 9 years old: “The idea of renting a room for tourist accommodation came to us around 2014–2015. We first started through the Airbnb platform, then we started collaborating with the Booking platform” (L.G.). The motivation for starting this type of economic activity is represented by the desire to support the socio-educational activities that they provided at that time. The main aspects taken into account in the design of the room for hosting tourists were: “First of all, we wanted to see what the conditions are to register on the Airbnb platform, what type of furniture is suitable and how we can use the space, what other accommodation spaces are in the area, what are the prices charged for a similar space” (L.G.). The whole team got involved in this process: “Everyone had something to do and it gave us great pleasure when we had the first guests” (L.G.). Every beginning has also some challenges. Those who manage this room for accommodation felt their lack of experience in the tourist field, encountered some discontent from tourists and difficulties in making check in and check out: “At the beginning, we encountered some claims or even complaints from some tourists, opinions that we tried to take into account and adapt according to their request, as we had no experience in the field at the beginning of this activity”, says the executive manager (L.G.). Over time, they discovered that this type of economic activity requires personnel dedicated only to these attributions, in order not to interfere with the basic socio-educational activities of the foundation: “If we want the economic activity to work very well, we need personnel who can effectively organize and carry out only this aspect in the organization” (L.G.), according to the executive manager. In 2021, Cozy Room Agapedia hosted tourists for 137 nights. The next year, in 2022, they hosted tourists for 94 nights of accommodation, and for 3 months, it was home for a volunteer from Thailand, recording a total of 186 nights of accommodation [11]. They also offer for renting the event hall in the attic—which has an area of 77 m2, 2 toilets and 1 buffet for serving snacks, being ideal for creative activities, educational workshops, courses, conferences, meetings, workshops; equipped with video projector, projection screen, flipchart, paper, markers—and an office room, suitable as counseling office; one-on-one sessions; individual office (furnished, equipped with Wi-Fi, printer, copier).

The sources of income obtained by AGAPEDIA Foundation Romania in 2022 and their share of the total are distributed as follows: Agapedia Germany 50%, EU Funds 36.3%, Economic activities 12.8%, Donations, sponsorships 0.8% [11]. In 2021, the revenues from economic activities were at a higher level: “all the income obtained from the economic activities represents a percentage of 23% of the total income” (L.G.), states the executive director of the foundation. The future plans related to economic activity in Agapedia assume the continuation of the rental of the available spaces (attic, offices, garden, the Cozy Room Agapedia) and offer paid educational services for children and adults.

5 Discussion and Conclusions

As it emerged from the presented case studies, social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are people who search and find innovative solutions to the greatest societal challenges (social, economic or environmental), and then develop them to become sustainable social businesses. Social entrepreneurship is an area with significant potential in ameliorating or solving diversity of social problems, not yet exploited enough in Romania. Because nonprofit organizations face more competition for fewer donations and grants, they need to develop new skills for discovering and implementing innovative commercial ways to raise more funds, including skills that involve using immersive and new technologies. The results of the present study cannot be generalizable, instead the presented case studies can serve as a framework to be followed for cases from other counties in Romania or from other countries in EU, which share a similar vision for social economy. A limit of the present study is the small number of case studies. Further research may take place for other companies based on the themes analyzed and emerged from this study. A topic that emerged from the interviews, which deserves to be further explored, refers to the support that the members of a community and public authorities can offer to social enterprises in order to bring added value to the life of the community.

From a practical standpoint, this paper may be useful for management teams from social sector to develop leadership policies and training programs for their employees, with focus on basic and advanced entrepreneurial skills, to create and manage entrepreneurial activities, to improve individual and organizational performance. These ideas may also help university teaching stuff to emphasize to their students the importance of innovation in addressing community social problems and to develop up-to-date and applied curricula on social innovation and social economy fields. Academic entrepreneurship could model younger generations and may contribute to innovation and technology transfer [13]. The training of future specialists, familiar with these aspects of interventional practice in amelioration of social problems, will speed up their integration in the professional space and will bring added value to the development of sustainable social programs. The present analyze can also help opinion makers and decision makers to become more involved in promoting innovative ways to approach social problems within a community sustainable development strategy. The role of the community itself for developing the social economy sector is crucial, by buying products and services from these social enterprises, by encouraging employment of vulnerable people and a more tolerant attitude to them as co-workers.