Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models

Abstract

In this article, we use content and cluster analysis on a global sample of 200 social entrepreneurial organizations to develop a typology of social entrepreneuring models. This typology is based on four possible forms of capital that can be leveraged: social, economic, human, and political. Furthermore, our findings reveal that these four social entrepreneuring models are associated with distinct logics of justification that may explain different ways of organizing across organizations. This study contributes to understanding social entrepreneurship as a field of practice and it describes avenues for theorizing about the different organizational approaches adopted by social entrepreneurs.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Coding Process

We analyzed qualitative data (texts) and proceeded in three large stages, although we moved back and forth in an iterative and systematic process that we will detail to show how we got from the data to the findings. The reliability was calculated at the last phase of content analysis.

First Stage: Creating First-Order Codes

We interrogate SEO’s texts, asking questions along three dimensions: (1) which issues are addressed, (2) who needs to be involved, and (3) how these agents of change are involved. We created categories directly from the texts by applying an open coding procedure/inductive approach. Both authors started reading texts about the 200 organizations to develop categories for the dimensions of social change. First, we used in vivo codes to facilitate identification of general code labels. The words taken from the text formed the basis for generating categories of issues, actors and actions. This stage of analysis produced 210 codes for issues, 266 codes for actors, and 69 codes for actions. Summary sheets were constructed for each dimension and a review was conducted to group codes with a clear similar meaning.

Second Stage: Grouping Codes into Higher Abstracted Categories

In the second stage, codes of each dimension were compared and related to be grouped into higher order categories. We reduced the list of codes into increasingly abstract categories. Elements that were found to be theoretically similar to previously coded elements were given the same name and were grouped into the same code. Authors met several times to discuss and brainstorm how these categories related to one another. During several meetings the tentative categories were compared, discussed and revised by the authors to reach the highest abstraction and were assigned a more abstract name. Each time provisional categories were created we went back to the texts and re-coded data to check if it fitted into the higher abstracted categories. When it did not, coders revised categories. For example, when coding which actions are performed we initially created the category “charity” to reflect the activities where actors were provided with free services such as “free eye care.” However, after re-reading texts the category was dropped because it did not reflect the activity performed but rather the cost of the service. Finally, it was coded into the category of “treating medically.” While cost of the service is an important variable in assessing “business” models it is not the subject of this analysis, especially since our data did not include this information for all SEOs. Disagreements with respect to the allocation of codes and the labeling were solved by discussion between the authors and consulting with experts in the field. After refining categories, a coding scheme was created with definitions, sub-categories, and examples.

Third Stage: Re-coding Original Data

At the third stage, we re-coded all the texts using the defined abstracted categories. We went back to the original text data to code texts once again with respect to the generated categories of issues, actors and actions. Any unit of text that could not be categorized with the coding scheme was given a new code and coding scheme was modified. Some categories were re-named to be comprehensive and representative of all codes. The purpose was to achieve categories mutually exclusive and exhaustive. In the final coding scheme, no data could fall into more than one category (mutually exclusive) and no data could be excluded due to the lack of suitable category (exhaustive).

For issues, we created a draft list of issues that we then refined. An issue was defined as the need or problem that concern the SE. Examples of provisional categories were “poverty,” “discrimination,” “illiteracy,” “environment exploitation,” “lack of job opportunities,” or “no access to justice.” We reduced this list of codes into a comprehensive set of categories. Categories were condensed into broader ones on the basis of the domain where issues occur. By domain we mean the specific sphere of norms and structures in which the SEO operates. This criterion of aggregation facilitates the identification of the opportunity spaces where SEs are located. To illustrate, we identified at first “poverty,” “lack of job opportunities,” and “economic crisis” as different categories of issues addressed. In a next step of abstraction, we decided to integrate them into the single category “economic domain” because all of them share a common environment characterized by the lack/deprivation of economic incomes. This process led to the final 11 categories demarcating the variety of issues addressed by SEOs in our sample.

A similar process of reconciliation was undertaken for actors. We identified 15 distinct categories including individual and collective groups. Categories of actors that applied to <2 % of our sample were aggregated into the category “other target actors.” The analysis of data revealed that SEOs used widely diverse actions to engage the actors, and nine categories of actions were identified. Action categories that applied to <2 % of the SEOs were aggregated in the category “other actions” and cases where texts did not reveal any actions were grouped into the category “no actions.” We discussed and revised categories with research associates and external experts. We also validated these categories by coding an additional sample of SE text from Ashoka.

Appendix 2

Coding Schemes

Issues

Categories	Definition	Provisional categories	Codes	Example
Civic engagement	SEO responds to civic engagement issues	Failure/inefficiency of civil society	Failure of charity, failure of civil sector organizations, inefficiency of volunteer work, inefficient civil sector organizations, there is no grass-roots movement, local conflicts among villagers	Communal rivalries and even interpersonal conflicts were expressed through spurious accusations of sympathy with the PKI. This discrimination, when combined with efforts to block any investigations into the massacres themselves, has long precluded any hopes for transparency and reconciliation (Syarikat)
		Civic disengagement	Community disengagement
		Limited participation in civic life	Lack of participation, low democratic participation
		Discrimination/marginalization	Black stereotypes, blind risks, development projects don’t involve community, difficult integration for prisoners, discrimination against mentally ill and drug addicts, discrimination against Roma, disempowered role of youth, ethnic conflicts, homeless children, homelessness, isolation, tribal divisions in labor force, marginalization, orphans, racial polarization, discrimination against disabled, social discrimination, structural discrimination, vulnerability of children, vulnerability of young girls, discrimination against women, discrimination within labor force, youth stereotypes
		Failure/noninvolvement of government	Failure of government, government cut-off in health system, government cuts off support, lack of government concern, noninvolvement of government
		Failure of social services	Failure of children’s social services, failure of social services, failure of youth social services, no access to child care
Culture	SEO addresses values and culture issues	Repression of traditional values	Cultural repression, traditional culture discouraged, traumas of the past	Young people in particular suffer from a lack of cultural identity (Oficina MUSCUI)
		Contestation	Lack of cultural identity
Economic sphere	SEO responds to economic issues	Economic crisis/unprofitable	Agriculture collapse, agriculture underdeveloped, economic crisis, dependence on handouts, failure of industry, high debts, inefficient land use, socioeconomic devastation, uncompetitive farmers, uncompetitive producers, unprofitable because of intermediaries, unsustainable agriculture	Due to the lack of economic opportunity, many become beggars, prostitutes, collectors/scavengers or vendors of recyclable scraps (Hagar)
		No access to markets/credit unavailability	Credit unavailability, lack of economic opportunity, market void in exports, no access to credit, no access to market, noninvolvement of private sector, no access to land, lack of entrepreneurship
		Poverty	Poverty
		Poor working conditions	Inadequate working conditions, low working conditions, mismanagement of solid waste management, poor communication among agricultural stakeholders, uncompetitive farmers, uncompetitive producers, work exploitation
		Unemployment/lack of job opportunities	Agriculture collapse, lack of job opportunities, unemployment
Education	SEO tackles educational and skill limitations	lliteracy and lack of skills	Illiteracy, lack of skills	Existing educational programs had little effect because they did not reach enough people and the information was delivered in a dry, bureaucratic manner not conducive to learning (Soul City)
		Failure/collapse of educational system	Burnout of teachers, education system collapse, failure of educational programs, failure of formal education, lack of appropriate educational programs for children
		Limited/no access to education	Little public education, no access to formal education
Environment	SEO responds to environmental concerns	Environment exploitation/sustainability	Deforestation, environmental exploitation, environmental pollution, pollution, strain on natural resources, trade in wild animals, uncontrolled commercial forestry	Unfortunately, however, years of uncontrolled exploitation have left a large portion of Indonesia’s coral reefs in an endangered state (Meity Mongdong)
		Lack/failure of environmental programs	Failure of environmental programs, human disconnection from nature, lack of consciousness of environmental problems, low environmental practices, mismanagement of environmental policies, mismanagement of solid waste management, failure of environmental education
Family	SEO focuses on family relationships	Family crisis	Children run away, family crisis	The family unit in Poland suffered during the dramatic social upheaval of the 1990s (Fatherhood Center)
Food and Water	SEO tackles limited access to food and water	Food/water shortage	Food crisis, malnutrition, no access to water supply	Only 35 % of Nepalis have access to adequate, modern water supply systems. Even those who have benefited from these investments, including much of Kathmandu’s population, often do not have reliable, safe supplies (Nepal Water Conservation)
Health	SEO tackles healthcare access and conditions	Diseases/addictions	Diseases, drugs, HIV/AIDS	Mali’s citizens did not have access to sufficient health care (Mutuelle de Santé Communautaire)
		Insufficient infrastructure/human resources in health	Dehumanization of hospitals, failure of traditional medicine, inadequate home health care, inefficiency of healthcare management, lack of delivery of health services, lack of doctors, lack of medical professional help, overcrowded public hospitals, unhygienic, no access to healthcare, unaffordable medicines for poor, lack of information on health, government cut off in health system
Housing	SEO addresses housing access and conditions	Deficiencies in urban housing	Housing crisis, urban slums, urban sprawl	Such housing generally lacks basic infrastructure and services (Community-Based Information Network—Combine)
Law and rights	SEO addresses law access and enforcement	Lack of legal protection/human rights not enforced/no access to justice	Failure of law enforcement, failure of previous public legal services, human rights not enforced, lack of legal protection, low legal protection of workers, can’t afford lawyers, no access to justice	By engaging the legal system he demonstrates the absence of legal protection for the Roma and stimulates public discussion about civil rights (NEKI)
		No political voice/lack of advocacy	Failure of elite women to mobilize, failure of traditional labor unions, lack of advocacy/no political voice, no access to politics
		Violence/abuse/criminal activities	Child abuse, domestic violence, girls forced into prostitution, human rights abuses, violence against women, violence, conflicts, corruption, mistrust of security systems, violent crime
Technology	SEO tackles technology issues	Lack of/inadequate technology	Lack of technology, inadequate technology, limited reach of social innovations	Absence of cheap food-preservation technologies (Jariisu Jama Dema Kafoo—JJDK)

Target constituencies

Category	Definition	Codes	Example
Business sector	SEO engages private corporations	Business sector, corporations, companies, private sector	In addition, founder Safia Minney works to convince conventional companies to sell Fair Trade products and reviews their sourcing strategies (Fair Trade Company)
Communities	SEO focuses on communities	Communities	Using health as an entry point, SA began helping 16 communities to improve their lives through solar-based electrification, environmental education and access to IT (Saúde e Alegria)
Civil society organizations	SE engages civil organizations	Civil sector organizations, nonprofit organizations, voluntary organizations, NGO, local organizations	NGOs from more than 12 countries participated in the Institute’s training (Institute for Human Right Development in Africa—IHRDA)
Children	SEO assists children	Children	The center is Lithuania’s first active network of child psychology and prevention specialists (Ausra Kuriene)
Disabled	SEO assists disabled people	Disabled people, mentally disabled, physical disabled, blind people, visually impaired	Jaime’s first aim is to break this vicious cycle by simultaneously making public spaces more accessible to the visually impaired (Corporacion Red Punto Vision)
Families	SEO targets families	Families	She is helping families join together to help themselves (…) Utis Buddhasud has developed a strategy that supports, educates and nurtures the family unit (Foundation for Rural Child Development)
Farmers	SEO targets agricultural workers and farmers	Farmers	Farouk Jiwa and Honey Care have revitalized Kenya’s national honey industry by focusing on small-holder farmers across the country (Honey Care)
Government	SEO engages politics and government institutions	Government, policy-makers	Ajantha (…) convinced the Ministry of Cooperatives to buy waste from people in rural areas and transport it to recycling industries (Ajantha Perera)
Homeless	SEO focuses on homeless	Homeless	Mel Young founded the Homeless World Cup as an annual street soccer tournament, uniting teams of homeless people from around the world to fight poverty (Homeless World Cup)
Poor	SEO focuses on poor people	Poor people	In 1987, Tasneem Siddiqui conceived of The Khuda-ki-Basti approach because the urban poor, particularly in developing countries, cannot afford to buy “fully serviced land” (land equipped with water, sanitation and electricity) or a completed house (Saiban)
Public	SEO targets the whole population	Public	To achieve this massive national attitudinal change, RENCTAS works on three fronts. First, it raises national awareness of animal trafficking, educating the general public on this issue (Rede Nacional de Combate ao Tráfico de Animais Silvestres—RENCTAS)
Students	SEO engages students	Students, graduates	Ash and Ben have succeeded in getting their pilot Centre certified for purposes of providing law graduates with their “articles,” the final step in the lawyer’s qualification. (Zwane-Sambo Associates)
Teachers	SEO turns to educators	Teachers, educators	The CCE began by helping teachers to learn the active teaching method (Centre For Citizenship Education—CEE)
Women	SEO focuses on women	Women	Constance therefore sees it as her mission of sorts to use her own privilege to benefit the hundreds of thousands of women throughout Cote d’Ivoire who find themselves trapped in webs of regressive, often violent, traditions (Association for Defense of Women’s Rights in Ivory—AIDF)
Youth	SEO targets young people	Youth	César’s work shows that training youth to develop effective voices (Mi Cometa)
Others	Those actors involved in <2 % of the sample	Agricultural stakeholders, animals, artisans, battered women, caregivers, community leaders, doctors, drug addicts, ecosystems, educational institutions, elderly, entrepreneurs, fathers, gang leaders, garbage workers, HIV affected, independent workers, judiciary, land stakeholders, law stakeholders, marginalized, minorities, prisoners, producers, professionals, judges, rural people, scientists, unemployed, victims of crime, volunteers, war victims, widows	Novica works directly with artists and artisans to reduce the effect of the two most significant factors preventing them from earning a living from their craft and keeping traditions alive: geographic distance and multiple layers of middlemen. (Novica.com)

Actions

Category	Definition	Codes	Example
Educating	SEO provides educational services or encourages schooling	Educating, schooling, provide education, curriculum, teaching,	…to educate people on the dangers of drugs and bring into the open taboo subjects like premarital sex and conflicts between the older generation and the young (Theater Group)
Training	SEO emphasizes activities to build skills of actors	Training, skill building activities, providing vocational services, building capabilities	Swayam organizes training in types of work where there is demand for workers, including sectors that have traditionally been reserved for men such as electrical services, plumbing and horticulture (Swayam)
Networking	SEO applies methods to connect people and organizations	Networking, interlocking, linking, connecting, bridging, build relationships, exchange programs, facilitate meeting, forums, summits	With just US$ 250,000 a year, he has been able to organize five World Summits that have brought together around 400 participants from 25 countries (World Toilet Organization)
Counseling	SEO advises and guides actors	Counseling, advising	The services Fenestra offers include crisis assistance and consultancy, counseling, legal advice and advocacy (Fenestra ZZZ)
Organizing	SEO develops management services	Managing, organizing	Gram Vikas works with the villagers to create and manage a “village corpus,” a fund that draws cash and in-kind contributions from all families based on ability to pay (Gram Vikas)
Lending	SEO provides loans and financial services	Lending, provide financial services, credits, loans, financing	The mission of BASIX is to promote a critical mass of opportunities for the rural poor and attract commercial funding by proving that lending to the poor can be a viable business (BASIX)
Treating medically	SEO provides healthcare services	Health services, provide healthcare, medical treatment	CEGIN SRL is a completely self-financed and profitable company, which offers accessibly priced health services to mothers, their children and women in poor rural areas (Centro Ginecológico Integral—CEGIN SRL)
Supplying	SEO supplies or commercializes products	Supplying, buying, selling	To date, Freeplay Energy has sold more than 4.5 million products worldwide, the largest markets by far being North America and Europe (Freeplay Energy)
Lodging	SEO provides shelter or lodgings to actors	Lodging, provide shelter	To gain access to these women—a difficult problem, given their very long workdays and scattered housing—she has decided to create a series of self-sustaining safe residential hostels (Nari Uddug Kendra—NUK)
Employing	SEO employs actors or provides jobs	Hiring, employing, provide jobs	Each year, Job Factory offers 250 unemployed young people a six-month internship in one of 15 divisions (Job Factory)
Others	Those actions performed in <2 % of the sample	Certifying, building houses, provide security services, provide translation, editing services, collecting waste materials	They recognize demonstrated growth in student achievement with RISE Rewards, certificates that teachers can redeem for a wide range of classroom supplies (Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators—RISE)

Appendix 3

Categorization Matrix

Principles

Principles	Worth	Typical Behavior	Relationship	Expressions	Key Words
Civic	Collective interest	Mobilizing people for a collective action	Common interest, solidarity	Cooperatives, federations, assemblies	Citizenship
					Collaboration
					Community approach
					Cooperative
					Participatory
					Representative
					Unity: cohesion
Domestic	Trust and respect for tradition, hierarchy and kinship	Preserving and reproducing	Kinship, face-to-face	Household, customs, habits	Culture
					Family: home
					Stability
					Tradition
Fame	Public opinion, opinion of others	Influencing, sensitizing and achieving signs of public esteem	Recognition	Press conferences, media campaigns	Campaign dissemination
					Media
					Public opinion
					Publishing
					Raise awareness
Industrial	Efficiency, productivity and operational effectiveness	Implementing tools, methods and plans	Functional, standardized, measurable	Organization	Efficiency
					Experts
					Functional
					Method: standardize
					Organization: management
					Productive
					Professionalize
Inspired	Creativeness, nonconformity	Dreaming, imagining and rebelling	Emotional, passion	Arts	Arts
					Dreams
					Games
					Innovation: creativity
					Wealth: profits
					Valuable: salable
Market	Mediation of scarce goods and services; price serves as a mechanism to evaluate these scarce goods	Competing and spotting market opportunities	Exchange, competitive	Salable and marketable things	Commercial
					Competitive
					Income-generation
					Ownership

1. Boltanski and Thévenot (2006, pp. 159–210) argue that there is a plurality of modes of justification. People justify situations appealing to principles or “orders of worth”. Justifications fall into these six main principles