Floating down the river: Vietnamese community-led social innovation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the barriers facing social enterprise-led community energy projects in Vietnam, to understand the barriers and enablers of social innovation in transitioning economies. In doing so, this paper seeks to identify whether the Vietnamese ecosystem is conducive to sustainable community energy projects and social innovation more broadly. Design/methodology/approach This paper used a qualitative, case study-based methodology to explore institutional barriers to social innovation in the context of three community-led energy projects in Northern Vietnam. Interviews and focus groups were undertaken with 17 individual stakeholders within or engaged with the three case studies. The qualitative data used was analysed using constant comparative method, a method of analysis based in grounded theory that allows for iterative analysis of the data gathered. Findings Social enterprises and their beneficiaries are reliant on their ability to network, but with the Vietnamese government actively involved in the markets, there are significant barriers standing in the way of these networking opportunities. Communities with little political capital are alienated from state institutions, whereas enterprises that offer alternative solutions to governmental priorities are seen as competitors by political agents. Originality/value Applying Granovetter’s theory of “embeddedness” and Herold et al.’s (2019) and Popov et al.’s (2016) theories on institutional centrality and power distribution, this paper seeks to add to our understanding on the impact large, hegemonic institutions can have on the networking ability of social enterprises and their beneficiaries.

Building and Strengthening Community at the Margins of Society through Social Enterprise

“…Drawing from the study's findings, the digital platform connects people and nurtures a community, rather than building on a pre-existing community. Recent scholarship has mainly focused on community-led social enterprises or social enterprises rooted in community culture [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. In contrast to these perspectives, this research shows how a social enterprise can foster a strong community and contributes to our understanding of the roles of social enterprise in community creation and support among marginalized individuals.…”

“…However, we did not find studies on the importance of online communities in relation to social enterprise. The social enterprise literature on communities has mainly focused on geographic communities [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], and not on online communities. An exception is Parthiban et al's (2020) study, which acknowledges the importance of "ICT centered institutional work to address institutional voids in the context of marginalized communities" [2] (p. 638).…”

“…Few studies have examined the roles of social enterprise in community creation and support among marginalized individuals. There is considerable research addressing social enterprises and community [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]; however, it focuses mainly on community-led social enterprises or social enterprises rooted in community culture. Conspicuously missing are perspectives on the roles of social enterprise in community creation and support among marginalized individuals.…”

Social innovation: relationships with social and human capitals, entrepreneurial competencies and growth of social enterprises in a developing country context

“…Social innovation can emerge as products/services, marketplaces and/or processes that varies across different national and regional contexts. In Asia, the most prominent development of social innovations often emerge from social enterprises (Maher and Hazenberg, 2020).…”

“…Social innovation can emerge as products/ services, marketplaces and/or processes that varies across different national and regional contexts. In Asia, the most prominent development of social innovations often emerge from social enterprises (Maher and Hazenberg, 2020). Dees and Anderson (2006) are among the earliest researchers who addressed the issue of social innovation in the social entrepreneurship field.…”