Pre-paradigmatic Status of Social Entrepreneurship Research: A Systematic Literature Review

Social Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…In so doing, we take a first step in responding to calls for a better understanding of the relationship between social enterprises and their environment (Bacq & Janssen, 2011;Mair & Martí, 2006). Incorporating the environment in social entrepreneurship research can help us better understand why different types of social enterprises seem to exist around the world, and, in the process, maybe help settle ongoing debates about what social entrepreneurship is (Choi & Majumdar, 2014;Lehner & Kansikas, 2013). We take a first step in this direction, as our findings suggest that African social enterprises may be not only different from the implicit view of social enterprises prevalent in the literature, but that they also vary significantly across African contexts.…”

“…Similar ambiguity exists in relation to social entrepreneurship, and as a result, definitions abound, leading authors to characterize it as an essentially contested concept (Choi & Majumdar, 2014) and the field as a whole as pre-paradigmatic (Lehner & Kansikas, 2013). Interestingly, these debates are also important in practitioners' discussions of social enterprises and entrepreneurship (Financial Times, 2013), suggesting that these definitional issues do not only reflect academic concerns.…”

“…Perhaps reflecting the essentially contested nature of the concept and the relative youth of social entrepreneurship as an academic field (Choi & Majumdar, 2014;Lehner & Kansikas, 2013), empirical studies tend to take a more inclusive approach. Many authors let social entrepreneurs self-identify , and thus rely on the entrepreneurs' perception of themselves and their venture, while others analyze their activities on the ground instead.…”

Social Entrepreneurship Avenues for the Field Development Through Research Paradigm Intersection Discussion

“…Kaufman 14 uses a concept of bubbling cauldron of organizational soup -to refer to entrepreneurial activity. This action refers to place understood as social spheres (not only geographically 9 13 These dimensions are very often overlooked in the research on social enterprise organizations.…”

“…More, the discussion on the scope of social aims and problems can also be extended beyond Millennium or Sustainable Development Goals. It has become recognized as societal entrepreneurship, as it may involve social ownership, interactions and relationship involvement with environment -surrounding organizations and actors (in management named as stakeholders), in effect bringing both economic and social impact 13 . Therefore, social entrepreneurship is even more, when compared with conventional entrepreneurship, embedded in the environment, with social aims defined around social problems and opportunities arising from communities, generating value in complex fabric of social interactions and relations that are enacted and negotiated in the process.…”