A Conceptual Framework of Understanding Social Enterprises

Social entrepreneurship has been the important subject in the entrepreneurship literature. However, there are not clear consensus among academics and practitioners. This paper explores and clarifies the significance of analytical framework of social enterprise. We present a conceptual framework for understanding of social enterprise, presenting theoretical and practical insights into social enterprises and social entrepreneurship. A conceptual framework for understanding the complexity of social enterprises integrates five major perspectives in entrepreneurship; characteristics of the individuals who start the social enterprise focusing on social value creation, organization’s trait which is their identity, performance which creates the social impact beyond the financial performance, sustainability which has a high level of innovation, business model which can be replicable and scalable, and partnership with local organizations. The authors explore the implications of social enterprises’ identity and identification in explanations with comprehensive 5 factors. We conclude by outlining implications for social entrepreneurs, policy makers and practitioners advancing an agenda for further research.