BY: TRIBHUVAN SAINI

SOCIAL ENTREPENURSHIP• Social entrepreneurship is the use of the

techniques that start up companies and other entrepreneurs to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.

History• Social Entrepreneurship is relatively a new term. It came in to

notice just a few decades ago. But its usage can be found throughout the history. In fact, there were several entrepreneurs who established social entrepreneurs to eliminate social problems or bring positive change in the society. Vinoba Bhave, the founder of India’s Land Gift Movement, Robert Owen, the founder of cooperative movement and Florence Nightingale, founder of first nursing school and developer of modern nursing practices might be included in this category. They had established such foundations and organizations in 19th century that is much before the concept of social entrepreneurship used in management.

Focus Areas of Social Entrepreneurship

• Enhance a person‘s ability to improve her or his economic well-being and personal dignity through opportunity.

• Harness aid to be more accountable, transparent and solutions-oriented, for lasting development.

• Enable access to and ensure use of reliable, affordable and appropriate healthcare in disadvantaged populations.

• Address issues of sustainable productivity not beneficiary by beneficiary, but system wide.

• Lay the foundation for peace and human security. • Harness the capital and consumer markets that drive change by considering

all costs and opportunities. • Transform the way water is managed and provided, long-term, for both

people and agriculture

Role and Importance of Social Entrepreneurship• Employment Development The first major economic value that social

entrepreneurship creates is the job and employment Estimates ranges from one to seven percent of people employed in the social entrepreneurship sector.

• Innovation / New Goods and Services Social entrepreneurs develop and apply innovation important to social and economic development and develop new goods and services. Issues addressed include some of the biggest societal problems such as HIV, mental ill-health, illiteracy, crime and drug abuse which, importantly are confronted in innovative ways.

• Equity Promotion social entrepreneurship fosters a more equitable society by addressing social issues and trying to achieve ongoing sustainable impact through their social mission rather than purely profit-maximization. Another case is the American social entrepreneur J.B. Schramm who has helped thousands of low-income high-school students to get into tertiary education.

Social Entrepreneur

• A social entrepreneur is somebody who takes up a pressing social problem and meets it with an innovative or path breaking solution. Since profit making is a secondary objective, therefore they are people who are passionate and determined about what they do. They possess a very high level of motivation and are visionaries who aim at bringing about a change in the way things are.

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Qualities of Social Entrepreneurs • Ambitious: Social Entrepreneurs tackle major social issues, from increasing the

college enrollment rate of low-income students to fighting poverty. They operate in all kinds of organizations: innovative nonprofits, social-purpose ventures, and hybrid organizations that mix elements of nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

• Mission driven: Generating social value —not wealth—is the central criterion of a successful social entrepreneur. While wealth creation may be part of the process, it is not an end in itself. Promoting systemic social change is the real objective.

• Strategic: Like business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs see and act upon what others miss: opportunities to improve systems, create solutions and invent new approaches that create social value.

• Resourceful: Because social entrepreneurs operate within a social context rather than the business world, they have limited access to capital and traditional market support systems. As a result, social entrepreneurs must be skilled at mobilizing human, financial and political resources.

• Results oriented: social entrepreneurs are driven to produce measurable returns. These results transform existing realities, open up new pathways for the marginalized and disadvantaged, and unlock society‘s potential to effect social change

Difference Between Entrepreneur and Social Entrepreneur.

Role Of Technology• The Internet, social networking websites and social media have been

pivotal resources for the success and collaboration of many social entrepreneurs.

• Using wiki models or crowdsourcing approaches, for example, a social entrepreneur organization can get hundreds of people from across a country (or from multiple countries) to collaborate on joint online projects

• Having IT (Information Technology) enabled kiosks in rural areas in India wherein those people and the teenagers and the youth in particular can pick up valuable IT skills which would enhance their employability in future.

Problems Facing By Social Entrepreneur

• Funding

• Strategy and Long-Term Focus

• Remaining True to the Mission

• Lack of skilled man force

• Social and Cultural Effect

• Lack of Government support:

Some famous Social entrepreneurs

Muhammad Yunusfounded Grameen Bank 1983. In 2006, Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for creating the Grameen Bank to empower villagers with the funding to pull themselves out of poverty.

Bill DraytonDrayton is recognized as one of the pioneering social entrepreneurs of our time. Drayton founded “Ashoka: Innovators for the Public” in 1980, which takes a multi-faceted approach to finding and supporting social entrepreneurs globally

Sanjit “Bunker” Roy He had a privileged upbringing in India, in contrast to many Indians who live off of less than US $1 a day. He founded Barefoot College in 1972, a solar-powered college for the poor.

GOVERANCE OF SOCIAL ENTEREPRENEURSHIPWhat is governance? Why is it important in social entrepreneurship?Governance is formally defined as “systems and processes that ensure the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of an organization”. Governance mechanisms can include governing boards, monitoring systems and signaling mechanisms like reporting or codes of conduct. Social entrepreneurs address the most pressing problems societies face through employing scalable, self-sustainable and innovative business models. They must balance financial responsibilities and social impact and must coordinate among multiple stakeholder groups, including investors, employees, regulators, clients and beneficiaries. As a result, social entrepreneurs leaders manage complex trade-offs.A carefully selected, well-designed and well-managed board will help the social entrepreneurs to reach its goals.

Why create a board?For social entrepreneurs, governance is key to both overseeing compliance with policies and regulations and to safeguarding the organizational mission while meeting the demands of various stakeholders.Boards can help management teams reach their goals and mission in several ways:• Provide strategic support and expertise: Organizations can compensate for

a lack of in-house competencies or expertise through board members.• Provide access to networks: Board members open doors to valuable

external networks (e.g. fundraising , advocacy and the recruitment of high talent)

• Ensure the vision and legacy: Boards include and empower carefully selected individuals to guide the enterprise. This ensures the organization’s vision succeeds beyond the efforts of the founder or management team.

• Signal credibility to external stakeholders: Investors, contractors and customers may trust the organization more if it has well-regarded board.

How should boards evolve ?No single governance structure fits all social entrepreneurs or even fits the same enterprise over time. Rather, governing boards should be tailored to the organization and be dynamic to the changing needs of the organization over its lifespan. social entrepreneurs should evaluate and modify their governance structures regularly and in particular during the following:• The enterprise reaches the next lifecycle stage• The legal structure of the enterprise changes• The financial structure of the enterprise changes, most

commonly related to the shareholder base• The external environment changes (e.g. new government

regulations)

How do I recruit the right board members? Many early-stage social entrepreneurs build boards out of their network of family and friends. While this may reduce the initial effort, it can be a disadvantage at later stages if board members do not possess the relevant skills, representation, network and reputation to provide strategic guidance and oversight.To search for capable board members, social entrepreneurs can:– Solicit recommendations from investors, foundations and other social entrepreneurs– Search through intermediary platforms– Research, identify and reach out to people with expertise in or passion for the cause– Attend networking events and ask intermediaries for support in making

Contd…Relevant questions to ask potential board members before selecting them include:• What is your understanding of the mission and vision?• How would you measure the success? (expectations of social, financial return)• Where do you see the enterprise and the sector within the

next 5-10 years?• How much time can you devote to attending board meetings?• Which skills or other benefits (like networks) can you provide

to our enterprise?

What are the rights and duties of my board members?The focus of management should be on execution, while the focus of the governance body should be on providing guidance and oversight. Boards should not get involved in day-to-day operations but should oversee the results of these operations. Boards serve two primary responsibilities: support and oversight. While many view these as mutually exclusive, they are complementary in a high-performing

Support Support refers to four areas. First, boards constitute sparring partners that provide strategic guidance and challenge management. This also includes helping to develop innovative and effective business models. Second, board members provide access to their networks, which can help raise awareness of the social entrepreneurs as well as foster fundraising and business development. Third, boards serve as ambassadors for the mission of a social entrepreneurs and thus provide advocacy and legitimization. The fourth area includes aspects of oversight: ensuring cash flows to increase the sustainability of the business.

Contd…

OversightOversight primarily refers to safe guarding the mission of a social entrepreneurship. Boards monitor the performance of manage men against benchmarks that reflect the double bottom line. Thus, monitoring concerns social as well as financial performance. While financial indicators are easy to measure and compare, social performance is often hard to seize. To avoid an inordinate focus on financial performance, social entrepreneurs should pay attention to defining performance indicators for the social mission. Furthermore, boards should emphasize the need for external audits as well as accountability measures to increase transparency towards external stakeholders

Approval of management decisions A task amid support and oversight is the approval of certain management decisions. Board approval should serve to guarantee conformity with the overall mission.Furthermore, board approval constitutes a form of legitimization to communicate certain decisions in front of the team. Topics that require board approval include the following:• Decisions related to the annual budget.• Decisions on financing.• Changes in ownership structure• Remuneration of the chief executive and Succession of the

chief executive and the management team.• Decisions about overall strategy.

How to evaluate the work of a board? Given that board members desire their contributions to be meaningful, social entrepreneurs should communicate regularly with them about what is working well and what is not. • A review at the end of each meeting: It is good practice

to review a meeting at the end, ask everyone for comments, what went well and what went wrong.

• Informal conversations between meetings: The board members should communicate with each other about any outstanding issues or conflicts that are preventing effectiveness affecting the culture of the board.

• Boards should evaluate their effectiveness and identify development potentials.

Conclusion

Social Entrepreneurship holds the key for future development in India. In the days to come, social entrepreneurs will play a crucial role in the advancement of social changes. The best thing about social entrepreneurship is that success is not mentioned by financial gains, but by the number of people these enterprises are able to reach and create a positive impact. In the coming days, social entrepreneurship and Social businesses will be in the mainstream substantially, which will hopefully impact the society positively

REFERENCES• www.wikipedia.com• www.youtube.com• www.collegejoin.org• India.ashoka.org• www.google.com• World economic forum• Schwab foundation For Social Entrepreneurship• International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering

& Management (IJAIEM) • ADB (2009). Asian Development Bank Study on “Institutions And

Governance In The Poverty