Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37778

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Social entrepreneurship

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the benefits of Social Entrepreneurship in Gauteng, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Azeeemah, Shiraz Ahmed Mahomed; Hlologelo, Malatji
    South Africa, like other Africa countries, is experiencing high rates of unemployment and poverty. In response, the government has introduced various economic and social assistance programmes to uplift marginalised communities and poor people. However, assistance by government is often not sufficient to address all socio-economic issues. As a result, the private sector, through businesses, is undertaking various social projects to help the government meet the needs of poor people. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the practice of social entrepreneurship, in particular how it is practiced, and how it contributes to addressing societal problems such as poverty. The study was in nature a qualitative research study, and employed a case study design. Through the purposive sampling technique, 16 individuals were sampled, drawn from companies that have interests in or that practice social entrepreneurship in the South African context. The data was collected through online one-on-one interviews, while the data was analysed using a thematic analysis method. The study found that social entrepreneurship is a tool for sustainable development, and that it does have an impact in helping decrease poverty, create employment and assist communities. However, several challenges, such as funding, lack of resources and government support, and absence of policy direction are obstacles facing the social entrepreneur on a daily basis. Some of the recommendations are that a central hub is established, for all stakeholders to engage in dialogue, which may lead to policy development that will assist the social entrepreneur, and for learning from other, more experienced social entrepreneurs
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A creative business venture to promote youth development in townships
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Ngidi, Tebogo Lorna; Venter, Robert
    From the apartheid era up until the current state, unemployment has been a challenge in South Africa, especially amongst the young people in underprivileged townships (Hodge, 2009). To try and redress this, profit and non-profit sectors have undertaken a mixture of commercialised and social tasks to respond to changes that occur within the economic and social contexts (Social Enterprise Alliance , 2021). Such tasks include start-up businesses, interactive technologies and constantly evolving demographics that try to reach different aspects of life (Social Enterprise Alliance , 2021). It is through such convergences that social entrepreneurships were established. This social entrepreneurship project investigates whether a more creative business venture can assist with regards to promoting youth development in townships. According to Venter and Urban (2015), government support on its own is not enough to meet societal demands. This is more especially with regards to wicked problems that tend to be more complex to tackle due to its interlocked nature with other issues. Even though social entrepreneurship operates in diverse realms within the community, for the context of this research paper, this project investigates the introduction of newer and more creative business ventures within the Southwest Townships (SOWETO), a township that accommodates close to half of the Gauteng population. The report draws on the findings from reviewed literature and interviews with various stakeholders; entrepreneurs (both new and established), community support institutions and the local government.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Determining the antecedents of social entrepreneurial intention in Madagascar
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Nirina, Marius; Urbani, Boris
    Social entrepreneurship is widely viewed by scholars as a way to address social challenges that governmental and non-governmental agencies have neglected. In the case of Madagascar, a country characterized by corruption, poor governance acute poverty and a victim of recurring natural disasters, the topic of Social Entrepreneurship (SE) appears to be relevant. This research provides a comprehensive understanding on the antecedents that enhance Social Entrepreneurial Intention (SEI) in a unique African context that has been under-researched. The study adopted a quantitative approach and is cross-sectional in nature. With a total sample size of 330, the questionnaires were directly administered to the respondents which constituted the data for the research. Relationships and influences of the independent variables on the dependent variable were tested using correlational analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. With regards to perceived desirability. it was revealed that empathy is the only dimension that had a significant and positive influence SEI. Also, the findings suggested that only social support had a positive and significant influence on SEI. In a context where SE seems to be a necessity, this study has various implications for researchers and practitioners alike. First, it could contribute as a starting point for policy and strategic reforms pertaining to entrepreneurship. Secondly, it highlights the need of social entrepreneurial education and practices in both the academic and organizational contexts, hence, the need for the involvement of all formal institutions. From an academic perspective, it provides a modest contribution towards existing theories and reinforces what previous studies have put forward. Equally, it provides a basis for future researchers to further extend the topic towards the identification of other influential factors of SEI in Madagascar and, perhaps even test for social entrepreneurial activities as a follow up study.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Influence of external funders on social enterprise business models: a causation-effectuation exploratory study
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Njenge, Yandisa Lusapho; Myres, Kerrin; Terri Carmichael
    Social entrepreneurship research is a growing research field, growth that can also be seen in the practice of social entrepreneurship. Dominant literature in the field focuses on the definition of social entrepreneurship and the traits of the social entrepreneur and does not look deeply at social entrepreneurship practices and interactions with other institutions. To address these shortcomings in research, this study systematically analyses the dominant definitions of social entrepreneurship and proposes an all-encompassing definition. The study also focuses on the interaction between social enterprises and external funders, exploring how social enterprises implement business models and the influence that external funders have on the business model implementation. A qualitative study was used to answer the research questions by exploring the business model implementation in ten case studies. A total of 26 respondents were interviewed as founding social entrepreneurs, internal staff members or external funders. The study relied on theoretical propositions from the literature review to analyse the data inductively and this process resulted in within-case themes. Further analysis of the within-case themes resulted in five cross-case themes. What was of interest was how operating in a resource-constrained environment impacts business model implementation. The ten case studies interviewed displayed structured or causal mechanisms in implementing their business models, which differs from the view that social entrepreneurs are effectual in behaviour. A theoretical framework with five propositions is put forward by this study. The theoretical framework propositions are: Social enterprises operate in resource-constrained environments and rely on external funding from inception. Social enterprises in resource-constrained environments approach external funders that do not expect a financial return. Social enterprises in resource-constrained environments implement business model dimensions that will lead to the achievement of the social mission. Externally funded social enterprises implement their business models in a causal manner. External funders not expecting financial returns apply limited influence on the business models of the social enterprises they fund. In accordance with the findings of this study, some suggestions for future research are put forward.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Impact investor motives influencing the decision to invest in social impact venture
    (2021) Lehasa, Odifentse Mapula-e
    Underlying socio-economic challenges; slow economic growth; coupled with the COVID-19 global pandemic, have increased the need for resourcefulness, demonstrating a greater demand for social entrepreneurship innovations, and consequently impact investment capital, across the African continent. The growing need for social entrepreneurship, in combating these socio-economic burdens, has made it essential to understand the reasons why impact investors (the primary funders of social enterprises) decide to invest in social impact ventures, over conventional investments. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the decision to invest in a social impact venture is driven primarily by the (i) social impact, (ii) financial return, (ii) social impact and financial dual-return, or (iv) signalling (pseudo altruism) of the investment. This study employed a positivist philosophical paradigm, accompanied by a complementary quantitative research methodology. By means of the convenience and snowball sampling techniques, 78 South African impact investors (from a population of 178) consented to participate in the study, through completing a self-administered online survey. Ultimately, the financial return expected from an impact investment was found to be the most significant determinant of the decision to invest in a social impact venture. The social impact motive was found to have no influence on the impact investor’s investment decision, and the dual-return and signalling motives did not contribute to the findings of this study. The use of financial return as a key decision criterion by impact investors can be attributed to the fact that the majority of these investors (respondents) were investing on behalf of a client, and thus bound by fiduciary duties to seek investment opportunities that preserve or grow their client’s wealth. Using the results of this study as a guide, it is envisaged that social entrepreneurs can better structure their ventures to be more attractive, in terms of both social impact and financial return, to potential impact investors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Social venture acquisition, in the form of strategic alliance building and earnings generation as a means of achieving scalability of social enterprises
    (2021) Bukula, Sanelisiwe
    Social problems continue to persist and large enterprises, together with social enterprises, can play a role incoming up with innovative solutions to these problems. Social enterprises have the potential to implement business-like approaches to expand, scale up and match the needs of the problem, however, they fail and that makes scaling one of the most important phenomenon to study as it is least understood currently. Extending from existing, mostly conceptual research, the study sought to add empirical evidence on a scaling framework that explored only two variables of the SCALERS model, the earning generation and strategic alliance capabilities of social enterprises and their relationship with scaling of the enterprise. The research purpose was to add to the still limited theory on the field of scaling of social enterprises to enable the social entrepreneurial ventures to strategically move their enterprises beyond the start-up phase and scale for greater impact. The study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative research, utilising an on-line self-administered survey, to collect data with random non-probability sampling of social entrepreneurs in South Africa. Findings suggest that strategic alliance building on its own does not have a significantly positive relationship with scaling and earnings generation is positively and significantly related to the scaling of the social enterprise. Findings also suggest more work on the measurement instrument and the validity of constructs in new geographical contexts is needed. Earnings generation which can be leveraged off CSR investments and other related investments can be prioritised by the social entrepreneur when deciding to scale the social enterprise. More value can be derived from such studies to enable strategic decision-making and assumptions derived from empirical research