Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The concepts of "social entrepreneurship" and "social enterprise" continue to gain traction both in business and academia.However, definitions of these concepts remain inconsistent and fractured.This Article discusses and analyzes the attributes of common definitions of these terms, arguing that these definitions suffer from the common problems of defining these terms tautologically by using the word "social" in the definition without defining it and creating a false dichotomy between the social and economic functions of business organizations.Largely based on these flawed definitions, many commentators argue that new hybrid business entity forms are necessary to accommodate social enterprise.We argue that a more principled definition of "social enterprise" is found in a valuecreation-based theory of social enterprise from business ethics literature, and that by understanding social enterprise through this theory, we can better evaluate whether new business entity forms, or other changes to corporate law, are in fact necessary to further the growth of the social enterprise movement.
Source: bepress Legal Repository
Authors: Justin Blount, Patricia Nunley
Language: English
Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2811173227