Social entrepreneurship: An international perspective

Entrepreneurship is an age-old concept, but the recent years have seen several varieties on the traditional entrepreneur. Take, for instance, the independent professional. The common denominator among all of these different types of entrepreneurs is their personal objectives and vision. This paper zooms in on one specific type: the social entrepreneur. This entrepreneur’s primary goal is to generate and realise solutions for social issues. The organisation run by the social entrepreneur justifies its existence by their ideas, ardour and compassion. Social entrepreneurship is often associated with young change-makers who are idealist. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys in 58 countries show that it is the case in Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Europe. However, it is not the case in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, South-East Asia, Australia, and the United States of America [1]. This paper will explore the meaning of the concept of social entrepreneurship, the social entrepreneur’s characteristics, the new working formats that facilitate social entrepreneurship, the power of networking, the positioning of social entrepreneurship, and its organisational design.