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This article investigates social enterprises in terms of their outcomes. Few studies focus on social entrepreneurs that incorporate an impact assessment of their social enterprises. The article responds to calls where it has been noted that the rapidly expanding social enterprise sector of the economy is evolving without effective evaluation tools that can provide reliable measurement and impact assessment.

The study is conducted in two major cities in South Africa, where social entrepreneurship has unequivocal application, considering that traditional government initiatives are unable to satisfy the entire social deficit, and where challenges to non-profit accountability are acute. Social outcomes are measured in terms of the following dimensions: impact/reach, innovativeness of solution, replicability/expandability and sustainability. A survey is used to collect data from 165 social enterprises and is interpreted using descriptive statistics.

Results on sample characteristics indicate that a diverse group of individuals are involved in a wide range of social enterprise activities. Descriptive statistics across the dimensions reflect above-average mean scores suggesting favourable perceptions of social outcomes.

By providing an elementary measuring tool for social outcomes, researchers can test its validity across different contexts. Social enterprises need to demonstrate solid impact and reach of their outcomes, so they can replicate interventions, build partnerships, and remain sustainable by meeting the needs of groups who have been failed by previous government attempts in social redress.

The article provides a much needed account of the evaluation of social enterprise outcomes in an emerging market context.

This paper makes an attempt to estimate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of a social enterprise in Singapore. Following the literature, we measure CSR based on a set of standard questions to gauge how the public values CSR according to these standard questions. The social enterprise being studied is NTUC Fairprice. NTUC is Singapore's labor movement which is a macro-focused union that works well with the government to achieve growth with equity ([Yao, S and SB Chew (2014). A mathematical model of a macro-focused labour union. Singapore Economic Review, 59(4), 1–13] for the theory of the macro-focused union). In this study, we also measure the CSR of Giant, another supermarket which is a commercial firm. A comparative analysis of the estimate of the CSR of these two firms is then made. The main finding is that, based on a field survey, Singaporeans value the CSR of NTUC Fairprice more highly than that of Giant. Our regression analysis reveals that the CSR valuation of NTUC Fairprice is basically determined by how people perceive NTUC Fairprice in terms of their sentiments. On the other hand, the only variable that is statistically significant in explaining changes in the CSR valuation of Giant is Malay respondents. The study also finds that, based on the second field survey, almost 85% of respondents chose to become members of NTUC because of non-collective bargaining benefits and only 10% joined the union because of sentiment. The main conclusion is that it pays for an organization to be known as a social enterprise. As NTUC Fairprice is a social enterprise of the labor movement in Singapore, union members are always supportive of the social effort of its cooperatives, of which NTUC Fairprice is one. An important incentive for workers to become union members is the provision of non-collective bargaining benefits provided by the labor movement.

The last two decades represented a scarce discussion of social capital and its effect on social enterprises’ organizational performance in developing economies like Tunisia. The main objective of this research is to analyze the effect of social capital on the organizational performance of social enterprises working in the context of developing economies. This research tested the mediating role of social innovation in the relationship between social capital and the economic and social performance of social enterprises. A sample of 120 social enterprises was subjected to both a correlational analysis and a regression analysis. The results confirmed that all the predictor constructs significantly elucidated the consequence constructs. Mediation analysis results also confirm that social innovation mediates the association between social capital and organizational performance. This study enriches the available theory by evaluating the mediating role of social innovation, thus making a significant contribution to the prevailing theory contextualizing the social enterprises of developing economies by emphasizing the relations among social capital, social innovation, and organizational performance. The present study encourages managers and policymakers of social enterprises to give their social capital growth major consideration and to consider it an essential aspect of strategic management.

Business can be a for-profit, not-for-profit or hybrid organization. But all these businesses focus on the satisfaction of their stakeholders. Although many businesses adopt a limited perspective of their stakeholders, focusing primarily on the interests of their investors, customers and, in some cases, their employees, it is a fact that the long-term sustainability of any business will depend on its contributions to the society. The long-term objective of all businesses is to serve and support the society and contribute to the socioeconomic development of their people. Therefore, this chapter presents a comprehensive review of the relationship between business and society, with special reference to the three main types of businesses: commercial businesses, social enterprises and non-governmental organizations. As in the case of biological systems, the relationship between business and society may be characterized predominantly by one of the three types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. However, the successful co-existence of business and society, in the long run, would depend on the degree of mutualism in their relationship.

Social enterprises have intense interaction with their local communities and “are explicitly committed to generating social value in perpetuity” (Katz & Page, 2010). They bring cohesiveness and trust to their host communities and they are the civil society’s way of becoming the “primary stakeholders” (Cornwall, 2003) in development agendas. These are the aspects of societal living that Ostrom (2008) demonstrates through her research on local self-reliance and the development of a concerned civil society, which takes initiative for the management of its own resources. The analysis done in this chapter demonstrates the interplay of the social enterprise and public policy. Ostrom’s (2008) framework of seven design principles, which provide a normative reference for local self-governance initiatives, is mapped onto four social enterprise cases, selected for their extent of community engagement and self-regulation. This chapter follows a case-based methodology, with an analysis of four diverse types of social enterprises, within the Indian context. A discussion of the design principles, within the social enterprise framework, is followed by the analysis of these cases. Each of the enterprises has a different level and style of community engagement and we use the design principles to demonstrate the effectiveness of their community participation. The case analysis demonstrates a way for policymakers to integrate and support the social enterprise as a crucial part of participatory development. Moreover, it aids entrepreneurs in evaluating the degree to which their host communities are invested in a truly participatory experience.

Social audit is an effective tool to evaluate the social performance of any social program. It helps in finding out how well the social enterprise is aligned to achieve its social mission by taking a multi-perspective outlook of the key stakeholders. This chapter presents a social audit of Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Mumbai (SMS), which is one of the pioneering social organizations working for the empowerment of underprivileged women. One of its social programs is the Family Counseling Centre (FCC) which provides counseling services to victims of domestic violence. Over the last 32 years, it has counseled more than 25,000 clients who are mostly victims of physical or mental domestic violence. The objective of this social audit was to find out the perceptions of both internal and external stakeholders of this program and make suggestions to improve the same. It is based on an empirical study using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The results show that FCC has been successful in creating awareness about women’s legal rights and has empowered them to tackle the problems by becoming self-reliant and confident. This study also helped SMS to realign its focus on building economic empowerment of women.

Twenty-five years of academic research, consulting experience, and teaching in a business school, along with substantial entrepreneurial experience — as founder and CEO of an enterprise software company and a social enterprise, as an investor in private equity and co-investor with venture capitalists, and as a board member in several startups—have provided me ample opportunity to reflect upon the role and the responsibilities of MBA educators in Operations Management (OM) in our current times. This chapter, on the occasion to celebrate one of my favorite MBA teachers, Joe Thomas, has provided me an opportunity to pen some of my thoughts.