Whose failure? Learning from the financial collapse of a social enterprise in 'Steeltown'

Scott, Duncan; Teasdale, Simon

doi:10.1332/204080512x649333

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In 2009, just fewer than half of the formally constituted third sector organizations claimed to fit closely the government's definition of social enterprise (Scott & Teasdale, 2012). However, as the ensuing analysis will demonstrate, this apparent "identification" is more complex than would initially appear.…”

Section: Social Enterprise In Englandmentioning

confidence: 95%

Social Enterprise and Dis/identification

Dey

Teasdale

2013

Administrative Theory & Praxis

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Social enterprise has been criticized for discursively transforming third sector organizations and practitioners into economic agents. Such a critique too readily construes the discourse of social enterprise as a deterministic force that encroaches on all aspects of organizational and individual identity. We reintroduce a sense of agency to discursive conceptualizations through an empirical study focusing on whether and how social enterprise infiltrates the third sector at the level of the subject. Drawing from a qualitative study in England, we use Pêcheux's three-part model of dis/identification as an explanatory schema to conceptualize the ways third sector practitioners endorse or reject the inherent norms and principles of social enterprise. The discussion covers how processes of identification, counter-identification, and disidentification, respectively, perpetuate or transgress the discourse of social enterprise and highlights the implications for future research in this developing field.Although the meaning of "social enterprise" is contested, most definitions refer to market-based strategies aimed at achieving a social purpose (Kerlin, 2009). Social enterprise is usually, although not exclusively, associated with the nonprofit or third sector, where it has often been presented as a panacea that brings the efficiency of markets to bear upon social problems that neither the state nor traditional third sectors were able to solve (Sepulveda, 2009). The social enterprise research literature is dominated by functionalist and managerial perspectives that conceal a normative and prescriptive agenda hiding behind the illusion of social enterprise's being inevitable. Critical 248

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Section: Social Enterprise In Englandmentioning

confidence: 95%

Social Enterprise and Dis/identification

Dey

Teasdale

2013

Administrative Theory & Praxis

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“…Many financial products are limited to particular types of projects, and may be linked to specific timeframes and/or outputs. Interestingly, these rules can be creatively interpreted (see Scott and Teasdale, 2012). As one 'successful' social entrepreneur described, "some funders say they don't fund salaries -but I need the team to grow the impact, or business, so I end up creating an elaborate scheme which is actually hiding salaries.…”

Section: Access To Appropriate Financial Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

The playground of the rich? Growing social business in the 21st century

Steiner

Teasdale

2016

SEJ

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Purpose This paper aims to explore how nascent social businesses move beyond the incubation phase and it develops understanding of how early-stage social businesses access finance to achieve growth. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory and inductive study is based on four focus group discussions with early-stage social entrepreneurs, “successful” social entrepreneurs who had achieved growth, and social impact investors. Findings Social capital allows a social business founder to access financial capital to “prove their concept”, or to directly attract investment from family and friends for start-up costs. To gain funding, social entrepreneurs present the desired image of the heroic change-maker. Interestingly, creating the right impression is equally important in securing financial capital as the “hard-work” itself. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted in London, which, like many other “global” cities, has a unique business environment. The study is exploratory in nature. Further work in this area is required to draw more definitive conclusions. Practical implications Financial products offered to social businesses are often dispersed and inappropriate. The study indicates that access to “soft loans” and grants is critical in the early stages of social business growth and that social entrepreneurs use both formal and informal funding sources to develop their businesses. Where a person is not connected to wealthy acquaintances either through family, or through social networks, they may often struggle to access finance in a world where the network’s resources appear to be as important as the entrepreneur’s resourcefulness. This has particular implications for the demographic make-up of “successful social entrepreneurs” operating social businesses, as these may be drawn from the most privileged and/or well-connected members of a group which already appears skewed towards white middle-class males. Social implications This study highlights that current support structures favour relatively privileged social entrepreneurs rather than encompassing and empowering those disadvantaged, social minority groups and those in the greatest need. This is important because social business is often portrayed, possibly incorrectly, as a mechanism for addressing poverty through empowerment of disadvantaged groups. Originality/value Research in social business development has largely neglected the social and cultural dynamics that embed start-ups. This paper tackles this gap and contributes to building knowledge in the area of early-stage social business development.

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“…However, while positive stories from 'silver bullet' social enterprises make discussion about limitations and failure difficult (Ziegler, 2009), exposing these 'silent narratives' counter the sector's depoliticizing grand narrative: its 'image of goodness' (Scott & Teasdale, 2012) and one-sided quasi-religious 'individualised messianic script incorporating a model of harmonious social change' (Nicholls & Cho, 2006, p.87). Key to this is a critical examination of values behind the 'social' unexamined in earlier academic work centred on social enterprise definitions (Cho, 2006;Teasdale et al, 2013).…”

Section: The Politics Of Social Enterprisementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, we must acknowledge the 'dark side' of social enterprise (Brandsen, 2016) to examine whether its individualizing, quasi-religious optimistic script of harmonious social change without tension (Nicholls & Cho, 2006) deflects from political causes of local problems and structural changes needed for genuine social impact. The paper starts by critically examining social enterprise scholarly literature to highlight tensions submerged within its depoliticizing positive grand narrative (Scott & Teasdale, 2012). To reinforce the 'critical turn' within academic literature (Roy, 2016), and overcome the current focus on 'inspiring examples and anecdotes' (Tapsell & Woods, 2010), it then uses this framework to discuss empirical research with a community football social enterprise operating in a deprived area of Edinburgh.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A fairytale narrative for community sport? Exploring the politics of sport social enterprise

Reid

2017

International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

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A fairytale narrative for community sport? Exploring the politics of sport social enterprise With voluntary sports clubs operating within competitive leisure markets and local governments responding to austerity by transferring sport 'assets' to community groups, such organisations are encouraged to become social enterprises. Driven by 'can do' social entrepreneurs embracing 'Robin Hood' business models that take from affluent groups to subsidise the disadvantaged, they apparently deliver innovative solutions to deep-rooted social problems. Such fairytale narratives (Ziegler, 2009) are increasingly popular in Scotland with its culture of humanist values (Roy et al, 2015) and reputation as a 'happening place' for social policy innovation (Mooney & Poole, 2004). Using case study material from an award-winning football social enterprise, this paper outlines how time spent in the deprived community establishing local needs and ownership aided its success. Also, recruiting local youth workers, developing authentic partnerships, creating a safe and non-judgemental environment, and the leadership team's business acumen and social compassion combined to create a positive 'ripple effect' beyond that possible from classblind sport provision (Coalter, 2013). However, 'win win' social enterprise rhetoric ignores stresses caused from meeting loan repayments and the moral dilemmas from inevitable trade-offs between social and business goals. The organisation's 'nonestablishment' nature is partially undermined by emphasising local poverty of aspiration and the psychological thinking within Dweck's 'Growth Mindset' and Duckworth's 'Grit' research. The resulting focus on individual effort and learning from failure chimes with neoliberal establishment thinking (Jones, 2014), ignoring how widening societal inequality and politics causes local problems and the need for structural changes to deliver wider social impact.

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Whose failure? Learning from the financial collapse of a social enterprise in 'Steeltown'

Cited by 32 publications

References 25 publications

Social Enterprise and Dis/identification

Social Enterprise and Dis/identification

The playground of the rich? Growing social business in the 21st century

A fairytale narrative for community sport? Exploring the politics of sport social enterprise

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