Social entrepreneurship: Organisational change to increase social impacts

Social entrepreneurship can be seen as a mode of business that prioritises the solution of social and environmental problems over the maximisation of financial profits. This mode may occur in various organisational settings, including in organisations that are dedicated to it, known as social enterprises; in conventional businesses that embrace elements of the field of charity; and in conventional charities that embrace elements of the field of business. The majority of social enterprises are small and have limited resources, and while conventional businesses and charities may be relatively large and resource-rich, their engagement in social entrepreneurship is often resisted by forces associated with prevailing institutional logics. In my PhD research, I am interested in how the three kinds of organisation change in order to overcome the resource limitations or resistive forces and thereby increase the extents to which they create social value.