Seizing the moment—Strategy, social entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of impact

Abstract

Research Summary

Social entrepreneurship continues to grow as an impactful phenomenon in the world and as a rich stream of research. Given this exciting growth, there is value in proactively exploring how social entrepreneurship scholarship can thrive and “seize the moment” as it matures. This special issue solicited papers at the intersection of strategy and social entrepreneurship in hopes of providing a road map for future scholarship. This editorial introduces and integrates the special issue paper contributions across three emergent themes: (1) diverse actor characteristics, (2) competing environmental factors, and (3) heterogeneous outcomes. We organize a research agenda that extends from the special issue, which we hope will motivate a new wave of research that derives benefits from the integration of strategy and social entrepreneurship scholarship.

Managerial Summary

Social entrepreneurship is increasingly common as business leaders seek to integrate social and/or environmental objectives into its economic activities. With this growth comes the need to examine how social entrepreneurs strategically manage the intertwining of social and economic activities. The papers in this special issue make progress in this regard, examining how differences in actors involved in social entrepreneurship and the environments in which they operate shape social/economic outcomes. The papers in this special issue make important progress in bringing strategy concepts to bear, and lay the groundwork for future research that helps better explain how, why, and to what degree social entrepreneurs have a positive impact. This special issue thus offers insights for researchers, policymakers, educators, and entrepreneurs about how to sustain impactful social/environmental activities over time.