Entrepreneurship and sociality in social enterprise: some suggestions for research

Journal title STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI
Author/s Clara Benevolo, Angelo Gasparre
Publishing Year 2013 Issue 2013/1
Language Italian Pages 31 P. 56-86 File size 552 KB
DOI 10.3280/SO2013-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In this article we aim to elaborate and discuss the nature and characters of social enterprise (SE) in its two essential dimensions: entrepreneurship and sociality. Scholars of many disciplines at both national and international levels, in fact, have been nurturing an increasing interest to SE. Research, however, mainly concentrates on the conceptual level - the nature of SE, the many definitions, etc. - while in empirical works a lack of rigorous methodology has been highlighted for many studies, which are often limited to the presentation of selected case studies, whereas SEs are frequently described in laudatory terms, suggesting the idea that this organizational form is intrinsically innovative and socially sounding. Therefore, despite the richness of both analytical and research works on SE, the debate is clearly demanding analytical frameworks that could support rigorous research projects targeted to both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the phenomenon. After a brief presentation of some of the most important works on SE we will outline and discuss a working definition of SE that captures the essence of either national and international literature and Italian regulatory framework on the phenomenon. Its operationalization will lead to the presentation of some specific suggestion for carrying out both quantitative and qualitative research on SE. To this end two different categories of variables will be outlined: those referring to the entrepreneurship side of SE and those referring to its social aspects. Both for entrepreneurship and social variables specific measurement tools are indicated.

Keywords: Social enterprise, nonprofit, social cooperatives, sociality, research frameworks.

  1. Cafaggi, F. (2000), “L’impresa a finalità sociale”, Politica del diritto, 4: 595-661, DOI: 10.1437/3229
  2. Campbell, S. (1998), Social entrepreneurship: How to develop new social-purpose business ventures, Health Care Strategic Management, 16(5): 17–18.
  3. Alter, S.K. (2007), Social enterprise typology, Virtue Ventures, Washington, DC http://www.virtueventures.com/resources/setypology.
  4. Amaduzzi, A. (1936), Aziende di erogazione. Primi problemi di organizzazione, gestione e rilevazione, Milano, Principato.
  5. Benevolo, C. (2003), “L’impresa sociale come «impresa» di «servizi» e alcune sue specificità”, in Campi, S. (a cura di), Impresa sociale: verso un futuro possibile, Genova, De Ferrari.
  6. Benevolo, C., Caselli, C. (2011), “Il contributo del non profit nel sistema delle filiere di creazione del valore”, in Borgonovi, E., Mussari, R., Collaborare e competere per un mercato responsabile e solidale, Bologna, il Mulino.
  7. Borzaga, C. (2009), “L’impresa sociale”, in Zamagni S., Bruni L. Dizionario di economia civile, Roma, Città Nuova.
  8. Borzaga, C. (2000), (a cura di), Capitale umano e qualità del lavoro nei servizi sociali, Roma, Fivol.
  9. Borzaga, C., Defourny, J. (2001), (eds.), The Emergence of Social Enterprise, London, Routledge (trad. it. L’impresa sociale in prospettiva europea. Diffusione, evoluzione, caratteristiche e interpretazioni teoriche, Trento, Edizioni31).
  10. Borzaga, C., Ianes, A. (2006), L’economia della solidarietà. Storia e prospettive della cooperazione sociale, Roma, Donzelli. Borzaga, C., Zandonai, F. (2002), “I contenuti del terzo rapporto sulla cooperazione sociale”, in Centro studi CGM, (a cura di), Comunità cooperative, Torino, Fondazione Agnelli.
  11. Campi, S. (2003), “Impresa sociale e impresa: la ricerca dei tratti distintivi nel modello organizzativo emergente”, in Campi S., (a cura di), Impresa sociale: verso un futuro possibile, Genova, De Ferrari.
  12. Capaldo, P. (1996), “Le aziende non profit tra Stato e mercato”, in Aidea, Le aziende non profit tra stato e mercato, Atti del Convegno svoltosi a Roma il 28-30 settembre 1995, Bologna, Clueb.
  13. Caselli, L. (2012), La vita buona nell’economia e nella società, Roma, Edizioni Lavoro.
  14. Cnel, 2000, Una proposta per la disciplina dell’impresa sociale in Italia, Consiglio Nazionale dell’Economia e del Lavoro, Roma.
  15. Corbetta, P. (2003), La ricerca sociale: metodologia e tecniche, Bologna, il Mulino.
  16. Cornwall, J. (1998), “The entrepreneur as building block for community”, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 3(2): 141–148.
  17. Dacin, P.A., Dacin, M.T., Matear, M. (2010), “Social Entrepreneurship: why we don’t need a new theory and how we move forward from here”, Academy of Management Perspectives, 24:3 37-57.
  18. Dart, R., Clow, E., Armstrong, A. (2010), “Meaningful difficulties in the mapping of social enterprises”, Social Enterprise Journal, 3: 186-193.
  19. Davister, C., Defourny, J., Gregoire, O. (2004), “Work integration social enterprises in the European Union: an overview of existing models”, Emes working papers, n. 4.
  20. Dees, J.G. (2001), “Social Entrepreneurship”, in Dees, J.G., Emerson J., Economy P., (eds), Enterprising Nonprofits: a toolkit for social entrepreneurs, New York, Wiley.
  21. Defourny, J. (2001), “Introduction. From third sector to social enterprise”, in Borzaga, C., Defourny, J., (eds.), The Emergence of Social Enterprise, London, Routledge.
  22. Defourny, J., Kim, S.Y. (2011), “Emerging models of social enterprise in Eastern Asia: a cross-country analysis”, Social Enterprise Journal, 7: 86-111.
  23. Defourny, J., Nyssens, M. (2008), “Social enterprise in Europe: recent trends and developments”, Social Enterprise Journal, 4: 202-228.
  24. DTI (2002), Social enterprise. A strategy for success, London, Department of Trade and Industry.
  25. Dumont G. (2010), “Social Enterprise Knowledge Network”, in Anheier H.K., Toepler S. (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, Springer, US.
  26. Ecotec (2003), Guidance on mapping Social Enterprise, London, DTI.
  27. Emerson, J., Twersky, F. (1996), “Mapping social enterprises: past approaches, challenges and future directions”, Social Enterprise Journal, 7: 83-94.
  28. Ferrante, M., Zan, S. (1994), Il fenomeno organizzativo, Roma, Nis.
  29. Fici, A. (2008), “La nozione e le forme giuridiche dell’impresa sociale”, in Borzaga, C., Fazzi, L. (a cura di), Governo e organizzazione per l’impresa sociale, Roma, Carocci.
  30. Fiorentini, G. (1996), “Il finanziamento delle aziende non profit”, in Aidea, Le aziende non profit tra stato e mercato, Atti del Convegno svoltosi a Roma il 28-30 settembre 1995, Bologna, Clueb. Fiorentini, G. (2006), Impresa sociale e sussidiarietà. Dalle fondazioni alle spa; management e casi, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  31. Galera, G., Borzaga, C. (2009), “Social enterprise. An international overview of its conceptual evolution and legal implementation”, Social Enterprise Journal, 5: 210-228.
  32. Gasparre, A. (2012), Logiche organizzative nel welfare locale. Governance, partecipazione, Terzo settore, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  33. Giorgetti, G. (2003), “Per uno statuto dell’Impresa sociale”, in Campi, S. (a cura di), Impresa sociale: verso un futuro possibile, Genova, De Ferrari.
  34. Giorio, A.C., Ranieri, C., Scialdone, A. (2004), Appunti sull’Impresa Sociale, Collana I libri del Fondo sociale europeo, Roma, Isfol.
  35. Gori, C. (2012), (a cura di), L’alternativa al pubblico? Le forme organizzate di finanziamento privato nel welfare sociale, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  36. Granados, M.L., Hlupic, V., Coakes, E., Mohamed, S. (2011), “Social enterprise and social entrepreneurship research and theory: A bibliometric analysis from 1991 to 2010”, Social Enterprise Journal, 7: 198-218.
  37. Iref, 1998, L’imprenditoria sociale, Roma, Aesse.
  38. Irs, 2003, L’impresa sociale in Italia. Dimensioni, nodi critici, prospettive, Secondo Quaderno del programma di ricerca su “Sviluppo locale e impresa sociale: risorse, strumenti, percorsi”, Dicembre 2003.
  39. Istat, 2001, Istituzioni nonprofit in Italia, I risultati della prima rilevazione censuaria -Anno 1999, Informazioni, n. 50.
  40. Johnson, S. (2000), Literature review on social entrepreneurship, Canadian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Edmonton.
  41. Jones, D., Keogh, W. (2006), “Social enterprise: A case of terminological ambiguity and complexity”, Social Enterprise Journal, 2: 11-26.
  42. Kerlin, J.A. (2010), “A Comparative Analysis of the Global Emergence of Social Enterprise”, Voluntas, 21: 162–179.
  43. Lyon, F., Sepulveda, L. (2009), “Mapping social enterprises: past approaches, challenges and future directions”, Social Enterprise Journal, 5: 83-94.
  44. Melé, D. (2009), Business ethics in action, London, Palgrave Macmillan.
  45. Normann, R. (1984), Service Management Strategy and Leadership in Service Business, Chichester, John Wiley&Sons.
  46. Prabhu, G.N. (1999) “Social entrepreneurial leadership”, Career Development International, 4(3): 140-145.
  47. Reid, K., Griffith, J. (2006), “Social enterprise mythology: critiquing some assumptions”, Social Enterprise Journal, 2: 1-10.
  48. Salamon, L.M., Anheier, H.K. (1997), Defining the nonprofit sector. A cross-national analysis, Manchester, UK, Manchester University Press.
  49. Schumpeter, J.A. (1934), The Theory of Economic Development, New York, Oxford University Press.
  50. Short, J., Moss, T., Lumpkin, G. (2009), “Research in social entrepreneurship: past contributions and future opportunities”, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 3: 161-194.
  51. Smallbone, D., Evans, M., Ekanem, I., Butters, S. (2001), Researching social enterprise: Final report to the small business service, Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University, UK, Middlesex University Business
  52. School. Thompson, J.L. (2008), “Social enterprise and social entrepreneurship: where have we reached? A summary of issues and discussion points”, Social Enterprise Journal, 4: 149-161.
  53. UniCredit Foundation (2012), Ricerca sul valore economico del Terzo Settore in Italia, disponibile su www.unicreditfoundation.org.
  54. Venturi, P., Zandonai, F. (2012), Rapporto Iris Network. L’impresa sociale in Italia. Pluralità di modelli e contributo alla ripresa, Milano, Altraeconomia Edizioni.
  55. Viganò, E. (1997), “Il concetto generale di azienda. Appunti introduttivi”, in Viganò, E. (a cura di), Azienda. Primi contributi di una ricerca sistematica per un rinnovato concetto generale, Padova, Cedam.
  56. Viganò, E. (2000), “Il concetto generale di azienda”, in Viganò, E. (a cura di), Azienda. Contributi per un rinnovato concetto generale, Padova, Cedam.
  57. Wallace, S.L. (1999), “Social entrepreneurship: The Role of social purpose enterprises in facilitating community economic development”, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship,
  58. 4: 153-174.
  59. Weerawardena, J., Mort, G.S, (2006), “Investigating social entrepreneurship: A multidimensional model”, Journal of World Business, 41: 21–35.
  60. Wepper von der, J., Cochrane, J. (2012), “Social enterprises in tourism: an exploratory study of operational models and success factors”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20: 497-511.
  61. Young, D.R. (2001), “Organizational identity in Nonprofit Organizations: Strategic and Structural Implications”, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 12: 139-157.
  62. Zamaro, N. (2001), Definizioni e classificazioni delle istituzioni nonprofit, in Istat, Istituzioni nonprofit in Italia, I risultati della prima rilevazione censuaria – Anno 1999, Informazioni, n. 50.
  63. Zappa, G. (1956), Le produzioni nell’economia delle imprese, Milano, Giuffré.

Clara Benevolo, Angelo Gasparre, Imprenditorialità e socialità nell’impresa sociale: alcune proposte per la ricerca in "STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI " 1/2013, pp 56-86, DOI: 10.3280/SO2013-001003