Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises
Lead Research Organisation:
Kingston University
Department Name: Kingston Business School
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Victoria Gill (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | The qualitative empirical research follows a systematic literature review which explored technology adoption theory within the entrepreneurship, social enterprise and ICT-D literatures. This research led to theory development by extending and amending existing conceptual technology adoption models to better fit organisations that have primarily social change goals. Preliminary findings suggest that: 1) existing technology adoption models are technocentric and therefore do not adequately fit organisations driven by social mission, and 2) isomorphic, mimetic and coercive pressures may hinder social enterprises operating within the UK health & social care sector in terms of the ability of these organisations to select and deploy internet-enabled technologies best suited to the goal of achieving their health or social care mission. |
| Exploitation Route | The study may benefit social enterprises and stakeholders, the UK health sector and policy-makers in several ways: 1) to provide independent research into ICT adoption processes in social enterprises; 2) to investigate the business case for adopting ICTs within the health & social care sector, and; 3) to understand the linkages between adoption of ICTs and realisation of social benefits. The study will draw out practical implications that will be of value to social enterprises generally, and particularly to those operating within the UK health & social care sector. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Healthcare |
| Description | The purpose of the Management and Business Development Fellowship grant was to enable career change into research-active academia from a professional career within industry. Specifically, the goal was to build capacity in the academic field of Management and Business. During the period of the grant, the research aim was to develop knowledge about social enterprises and social entrepreneurship. Findings have been used to develop a conceptual conference paper which was presented to academics and practitioners at the 2013 meeting of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) in November 2013. The citation for that paper follows: Gill, Victoria and Kitching, John (2013) Assessing the contribution of ICT to the triple bottom line. In: 36th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Annual Conference: Escape Velocity: Entrepreneurship in an Internationalising Environment; 12-13 Nov 2013, Cardiff, UK ISBN 9781900862264 (received Nomination for Best Paper award in the Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise track, see: http://www.isbe.org.uk/ISBE-2013-Best-paper-awards-nominations). Findings have also been used to inform both undergraduate and masters level teaching within the UK Higher Education sector, thereby potentially impacting the capacity of future business leaders. Furthermore, findings have also been used to shape consultancy services anticipated to assist social enterprises, national governments, multilateral finance organisations and NGOs to adopt, use and measure outputs from the adoption of internet-enabled technologies ('digital') to achieve the social mission of these organisations or their stakeholders. The future development of an impact case study is anticipated prior to REF 2020. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |