Investigating learning in social enterprises: a boundary perspective

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to further theory development in the field of social entrepreneurship by developing a research agenda for examining organizational learning in social enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – This paper anchors in the interpretive paradigm of learning. It draws on social entrepreneurship literature to identify unique features of social enterprises. These characteristics are then investigated from a situated learning perspective to develop research questions around the following themes: social structures enabling learning, boundaries, boundary objects, boundary roles and boundary interactions. Findings – Boundaries are identified as loci around which critical learning interactions occur in social enterprises. The significance of studying implicit and explicit boundaries, knowledge brokering, boundary objects and boundary interactions for gaining novel insights into the social enterprise learning process is highlighted. Originality/value – This paper assists the progression of academic discussion in social entrepreneurship from definitional debates to critical organizational-level phenomena. It brings to attention the importance of studying organizational learning in the unique context of social entrepreneurship for advancing organization theory. It informs practice by highlighting critical social structures, boundaries, agents and objects which need to be identified and managed for promoting learning in social enterprises.

Naturaleza de la innovación y modelo de negocios en el emprendimiento innovador

“…Empero, ese punto ha sido criticado y estudios recientes enfatizan que la creación de valor económico es una condición necesaria para la viabilidad financiera y la sostenibilidad del emprendimiento y su impacto social (Tandon, 2014). Según Conway y Kalakay (2016), los emprendedores/ organizaciones sociales deben buscar un equilibrio entre el impacto social y el éxito de mercado.…”

“…La innovación apenas comienza a estar en el centro del debate. El concepto se retoma desde la noción económico-schumpeteriana como las nuevas formas de hacer las cosas (Dees, 1998;Weerawardena y Mort, 2006;Abu-Saifan, 2012;Tandon, 2014). Pero se omite que la innovación, en Schumpeter Mark 1, está vinculada a emprendimientos/emprendedores/empresas que buscan satisfacer necesidades en el mercado, cuyo principal objetivo es generar ganancia económica e incrementar su competitividad.…”

“…Empresa social [diversidad de formas legales de acuerdo con los fines y bienes y servicios brindados (Tandon, 2014;Popoviciu y Popoviciu, 2011)].…”

“…Autores como Boluk y Mottiar (2013) y Zahra et al (2009), ven los emprendimientos como un campo de la iniciativa empresarial, centrándose en el estudio de las características del individuo emprendedor. Mientras que Tandon (2014) y Popoviciu y Popoviciu (2011), argumentan que la organización o empresa social es el agente innovador y, por lo tanto, la unidad analítica del ESI.…”

Determinants of innovative social entrepreneurship

“…Research has advanced considerably in exploring the characteristics and motivations of the individual entrepreneur (BOLUK;MOTTIAR, 2013;DEES, 1998;ZAHRA et al, 2009), as well as of social enterprises and the main actors of the SE ecosystem (PEREDO; MCLEAN, 2006;WEERAWARDENA;MORT, 2006;TANDON, 2014). However, just a few works provide detailed explanations from a global perspective that contemplates the relation between the individual, organizational and contextual levels, e.g., Popoviciu and Popoviciu (2011) and Puumalainen et al (2015).…”