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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2006

Rozilah Kasim and John Hudson

To consider the extent to which the concept of social enterprise fits within facilities management (FM) thinking in helping to create community benefit in the process of…

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Abstract

Purpose

To consider the extent to which the concept of social enterprise fits within facilities management (FM) thinking in helping to create community benefit in the process of delivering housing market renewal (HMR) in the UK. HMR via its HMR pathfinder organisations is part of many strategies in the ODPM (2003), introduced by the UK government to tackle low demand and housing abandonment across the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper considers two key themes. First, it focuses on social enterprise practice within the context of supporting and sustaining the existing economy of the local communities in the most deprived areas in the UK. Second, it discusses the present understanding of FM practices and how far these fit within social enterprise practices in delivering social objectives.

Findings

Social enterprises tackle a wide range of social, environmental and economic issues to achieve public benefit. It is a promising vehicle for the development of community‐based FM.

Originality/value

The paper builds on established literature and generates debate on the role of FM within the context of relevant organisations that offers new ways of operating for public benefit rather than purely maximising profits for shareholders.

Details

Facilities, vol. 24 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 May 2016

Stefanie Mauksch and Mike Rowe

This chapter develops a community perspective on entrepreneurialization and demonstrates the epistemic value of community-based analysis. It focuses on the particularities of…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter develops a community perspective on entrepreneurialization and demonstrates the epistemic value of community-based analysis. It focuses on the particularities of socio-economic settings that shape the emergence of social enterprises and allows for a consideration of diverse groups of actors beyond entrepreneurs.

Methodology/approach

The chapter draws from a literature review on UK policies around social enterprise and an ethnographic study of a deprived community in North-West England. It provides an in-depth account of how competition for scarce funds and the new hope around entrepreneurialism are negotiated and translated into action by policy actors in one local community.

Findings

The review contextualizes the evolution of social enterprise in the United Kingdom and highlights the need for grounded analysis of the effects of policies. A range of themes emerge from the ethnographic case: a misalignment between social workers’ and beneficiaries’ expectations and interests; a tendency to shift from holistic welfare to narrow, time-limited interventions; the importance of spatiality for issues of deprivation; and imbalances in the flows of money and attention between different communities.

Social Implications

The chapter questions the emphasis placed upon social enterprise as a source of innovation. The suggested focus on community redirects scholarly debate to the most important group of actors: the socially, politically, or economically excluded target groups of social innovations.

Originality/value

This chapter contributes to our understanding of the roles being played by social enterprises in a community and raises questions about their value as a vehicle of policy and of innovation.

Details

New Perspectives on Research, Policy & Practice in Public Entrepreneurship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-821-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2023

Piriya Pholphirul, Akkaranai Kwanyou, Pungpond Rukumnuaykit, Teerawat Charoenrat and Kitisak Srijamdee

This study aims to analyze social networking and network centrality in the case of community enterprises, which the existing literature has not addressed. To do so, the authors…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze social networking and network centrality in the case of community enterprises, which the existing literature has not addressed. To do so, the authors use the survey of community enterprises from the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) entrepreneurship program of Nong Khai border province in Thailand as a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

Social network analysis (SNA) is a tool to study and understand the relationship patterns of units of analysis, which can be individual, household, community or production units, and how those units interact through social or economic activities. Network positions are important when identifying the centralization of links in a particular network. If a representative is close to the center of a network, it is possible that the production unit will be able to contact or coordinate with a greater number of other members of the cluster, create knowledge sharing, promote collaboration and then typically demonstrate greater performance.

Findings

The results show that overall, local government agencies play a critical role in the community enterprise relationship network, while private entities are the least active group. Enterprises in partnerships with external agencies are mostly cooperating with branding and marketing dimensions, followed by the design dimension. There is no cooperation regarding production and distribution. Most community enterprises have established at least a one-dimensional network of cooperation with external agencies; only five community enterprises have isolated nodes with no partnerships having been created within this group.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited by the surveys having been conducted in a single area and, therefore, can be used only as a case study for this area. Surveys in larger group sizes and in a wider range of areas would lead to results with greater applicability and reliability.

Practical implications

These results bring to mind policy proposals to increase the competitiveness of community enterprises through the development of social networks as follows: firstly, knowledge should be created with community enterprise operators to understand their supply chains and analyze the strengths and weaknesses and core competencies of their enterprises; and secondly, enterprises should be educated about which agencies can assist businesses at each stage in the value chain system and encouraged to ask for help in adding value at each stage of production.

Social implications

A “OTOP to Business Networking” platform for community and private enterprises should be created with projects/activities that offer venues to exchange business learning and opportunities. Holding meetings among people in a variety of business sectors may help inspire entrepreneurs to innovate to further their businesses, which can lead to networking businesses conducting activities across community enterprises and the private sector for the mutual benefit of producing merchandise for large customers and markets. Learning systems, production techniques and cooperation should be created, as well as opportunities to increase market share and profitability, if this platform is successful.

Originality/value

This paper is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to utilize SNA to examine the use of social networking among community enterprises participating in Thailand’s OTOP entrepreneurship program in Nong Khai province. The results show that overall, local government agencies play a critical role in the community enterprise relationship network, while private entities are the least active group. Therefore, the government can play an important role in helping to develop a network of community enterprises with external entities at each stage of the value chain to enhance the competitiveness of each enterprise.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2018

Eilidh Finlayson and Michael James Roy

States and development bodies are increasingly stimulating social enterprise activity in communities as an empowering social and economic development intervention. This type of…

1095

Abstract

Purpose

States and development bodies are increasingly stimulating social enterprise activity in communities as an empowering social and economic development intervention. This type of development initiative is often facilitated by actors who are external to communities, and the role of community members is not clear. This paper aims to explore whether facilitated social enterprise benefits or disempowers communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The focus is a case study of a project based in Scotland designed to stimulate the creation of social enterprises involved in community growing. The case study approach involved a mix of methods, including formal (semi-structured) interviews, participant observation and analysis of documentary evidence. Analysis of findings was undertaken using Muñoz and Steinerowski’s (2012) theory of social entrepreneurial behaviour.

Findings

Findings suggest that social enterprise that originates outside communities and is facilitated by external actors is potentially disempowering, particularly when social enterprise development does not necessarily align with community needs. The paper reiterates findings in previous studies that certain roles in facilitated social enterprise require to be community-led. Projects that do attempt to facilitate social enterprise would benefit from community participation at the project planning stage.

Originality/value

If facilitated social enterprise is increasingly promoted as an empowering development intervention, this paper provides insight about how facilitated social enterprise occurs in practice and gives preliminary information about possible barriers to empowerment using this approach to development.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2013

Sandy Whitelaw and Carol Hill

In light of the contemporary UK policy framework elevating neo-mutualism and communitarian ethics within social policy, the purpose of this paper is to report on the delivery of…

Abstract

Purpose

In light of the contemporary UK policy framework elevating neo-mutualism and communitarian ethics within social policy, the purpose of this paper is to report on the delivery of an EU project Older People for Older People that tested the proposition that older people in remote and rural communities can contribute to providing services for others in their age group through the creation of sustainable social enterprises – either in “co-production” with statutory public service providers or as new, stand-alone services.

Design/methodology/approach

In the context of a literature based theoretical exploration of the nature of “sustainability”, the paper reports on a series of rural community “case study” social enterprises (e.g. community transport schemes, care hubs, cafés and a radio station; “drop in” and outreach services (including alternative therapies and counselling); ITC training, helping, and friendship schemes; volunteering support and history and culture projects).

Findings

From this, the authors highlight both conducive and problematic circumstances that are intrinsic to community led social enterprise and suggest that sustainability is unlikely to be “spontaneous”. Rather, it will require a complex mix of supportive inputs that is at odds with the innate liberalism of entrepreneurship. The authors also offer a more nuanced conceptualisation of sustainability that moves beyond a simple economic or temporal notion and suggest that the “success” of social enterprises, their worth and sustainability, must be assessed in more multifaceted terms. The authors conclude by reflecting on the nature of this ground in the wider context of the “Big Society” movement in the UK and highlight the inherent tension between “Big Society” rhetoric, the support needed to establish and sustain localised social enterprises, and the expected agency of communities.

Originality/value

The paper is original in three respects: it develops an in-depth empirical consideration of social enterprise sustainability; it does this within a broad policy and theoretical context; and it specifically looks at social enterprise development and delivery in relation to older people and rural contexts.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Jane Farmer, Tracy De Cotta, Katharine McKinnon, Jo Barraket, Sarah-Anne Munoz, Heather Douglas and Michael J. Roy

This paper aims to explore the well-being impacts of social enterprise, beyond a social enterprise per se, in everyday community life.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the well-being impacts of social enterprise, beyond a social enterprise per se, in everyday community life.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study was used. The study’s underpinning theory is from relational geography, including Spaces of Wellbeing Theory and therapeutic assemblage. These theories underpin data collection methods. Nine social enterprise participants were engaged in mental mapping and walking interviews. Four other informants with “boundary-spanning” roles involving knowledge of the social enterprise and the community were interviewed. Data were managed using NVivo, and analysed thematically.

Findings

Well-being realised from “being inside” a social enterprise organisation was further developed for participants, in the community, through positive interactions with people, material objects, stories and performances of well-being that occurred in everyday community life. Boundary spanning community members had roles in referring participants to social enterprise, mediating between participants and structures of community life and normalising social enterprise in the community. They also gained benefit from social enterprise involvement.

Originality/value

This paper uses relational geography and aligned methods to reveal the intricate connections between social enterprise and well-being realisation in community life. There is potential to pursue this research on a larger scale to provide needed evidence about how well-being is realised in social enterprises and then extends into communities.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2007

Fikret Berkes and Iain J. Davidson‐Hunt

The goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to understand the processes by which rural communities are using commons‐based social enterprises to engage global…

2220

Abstract

Purpose

The goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to understand the processes by which rural communities are using commons‐based social enterprises to engage global actors and forge local places.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a four‐step conceptualization of commons‐based social enterprises within a complex world: deal with communities as complex systems embedded in larger complex systems, understand cross‐scale linkages between communities and other levels of organization, identify drivers of change, and build adaptive capacity to increase the resilience of communities in the face of globalization. The paper draws upon an international set of cases undertaken by the Centre for Community‐based Resource Management to illustrate each step.

Findings

Social enterprises are one means by which rural communities are negotiating with global actors through recent processes of globalization. The social enterprise provides a mechanism for rural people to secure tenure for common‐pool resources and allows them to make direct decisions regarding their management.

Research limitations/implications

To further develop the understanding of commons‐based social enterprises will require further integration of theory regarding commons and social enterprises.

Practical implications

States and development agencies lack enabling policies for commons‐based social enterprises that support the multiple goal strategies of rural communities for natural resources.

Originality/value

Commons and social enterprise literature have tended to exist in separate domains and this paper makes a first step toward their integration.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2012

Robert Smith

Socio‐economic decline in rural areas is a pervasive and debilitating phenomenon in terms of regional development, particularly when former models of economic growth which once…

Abstract

Purpose

Socio‐economic decline in rural areas is a pervasive and debilitating phenomenon in terms of regional development, particularly when former models of economic growth which once stimulated business generation and regeneration can no longer be counted on to do so. In these austere times, models of social and community enterprise are becoming more important. This corresponds to the emergence of theories of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise as explanatory variables. Such theories are used to label enterprising behaviour enacted within our communities, even when the theoretical arguments underpinning these re‐conceptualisations require to be stretched to permit this. Often the resultant explanations are not entirely convincing. The purpose of this paper is to challenge existing conceptualisations of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a case study methodology, the paper reports on the activities of the Buchan Development Partnership (BDP) – a community‐based project situated in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland – demonstrating how individual and community enterprise can be utilized to develop enterprising individuals and communities by growing enterprises organically. The case articulates this process, as it occurred in a rural development partnership using a narrative‐based case study methodology to examine activities and growth strategies.

Findings

The case bridges issues of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial process, community and regional development and tells a story of community regeneration through the process of “Community Animateurship”.

Research limitations/implications

Research, practical and social implications are discussed but in particular the need to adopt a more holistic “bottom up” approach.

Originality/value

This case challenges existing conceptualisations of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2017

Katy Gordon, Juliette Wilson, Andrea Tonner and Eleanor Shaw

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focusses on community food initiatives, their impact…

1677

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focusses on community food initiatives, their impact on the social determinants of health and the influence of structure on their outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an interpretive qualitative approach through case studies focussed on two community food social enterprises, the research team conducted observations, interviews and ad hoc conversations.

Findings

Researchers found that social enterprises impacted all layers of the social determinants of health model but that there was greater impact on individual lifestyle factors and social and community networks. Impact at the higher socio-economic, cultural and environmental layer was more constrained. There was also evidence of the structural factors both enabling and constraining impact at all levels.

Practical implications

This study helps to facilitate understanding on the role of social enterprises as a key way for individuals and communities to work together to build their capabilities and resilience when facing health inequalities. Building upon previous work, it provides insight into the practices, limitations and challenges of those engaged in encouraging and supporting behavioural changes.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a deeper insight of the use, motivation and understanding of social enterprise as an operating model by community food initiatives. It provides evidence of the impact of such social enterprises on the social determinants of health and uses structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) to explore how structure both influences and constrains the impact of these enterprises.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2005

Bob Allan

To apply a consumer‐based approach to the study of the underlying concepts involved in social enterprises.

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Abstract

Purpose

To apply a consumer‐based approach to the study of the underlying concepts involved in social enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

The report aimed to examine social enterprises from the consumer’s point of view and address the question of how social enterprise can make its case for consumer support. Pays particular attention to market segmentation, including: the ethical marketplace; under‐served markets; companies; public sector; voluntary sector; and consumer agents.

Findings

It is suggested that there are three schools of thought on how social enterprises should be promoted: the first focusing on social enterprises as “ethical businesses”, with the term used as an umbrella term for a wide range of firms practising corporate social responsibility (CSR); the second emphasising the role of social enterprise in trading for a social purpose; and the third focusing on social ownership.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may be directed towards further investigating the market analysis and testing of the concept, identifying the core brand and value proposition of a label, and identifying business plan models for viable growth, including its impact on social enterprise development and growth.

Originality/value

Provides a valuable contribution to the social enterprise literature which tends not to take a consumerist viewpoint.

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