Response to Readings

Our first assignment is to read and respond to a series of articles defining social entrepreneurship in several different ways.

Response to “Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship” by J. Gregory Dees

“What does social entrepreneurship really mean? What does it take to be a social entrepreneur?” These are some of the questions that Dees tries to answer in this article. He first describes the origin of the word “entrepreneur” first used to describe an “undertaker” of a “significant project or activity.” He goes on to differentiate different interpretations of the word focusing on how entrepreneurs strive to make changes rather than just simply creating a business. He also states, “Wealth is just a means to an end” which I strongly agree with because when thinking of social entrepreneurship, thinking of only the money profit can often go against helping the bigger cause. Dees combines several ideals that define social entrepreneurship to come up with this definition.

Social entrepreneurs play the role of change

agents in the social sector, by:

•  Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value),

•  Recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission, 

•  Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning, 

•  Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand, and

•  Exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created.

I agree with all of these aspects and was enlightened by one in particular. “Exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created.” This means that as a social entrepreneur one must be constantly aware of the effects of every decision that one makes. Including the negative consequences that may come from bad decisions. The author also goes on to describe how entrepreneurs should be respected for their typical skills of being a "leader" of change for a bigger cause. I liked the idea of entrepreneurs as a "rare breed" because it is rare to find a business man who is concerned with social issues just as much as with entrepreneurship. However, I must point out that social entrepreneurship is not an individual effort and often requires help from many different fields of studies.

“Reshaping Social Entrepreneurship” by Paul C. Light

Light describes that thinking of a social entrepreneur as an individual is wrong and doesn’t encompass all of the fields covered by a social entrepreneur. Many definitions of social entrepreneurship define attributes of leadership and individual traits, however, after much research they failed to prove that personality traits contribute to entrepreneurial success. One of the things that I agree with strongly is that these individual talents or skills are not as valuable as the skills that can be taught. If these “teachable” skills are found and practiced, more and more people can learn the skills necessary to be a social entrepreneur. Most importantly Light suggests that success requires a variety of specific fields conditional to the project itself, meaning that group work and group thought is crucial in success. I personally feel that this is very true but individual talent is also very useful and completely taking it out of the definition may not be constructive.

“Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition” by Roger L. Martin & Sally Osberg

            In this article, the authors define social entrepreneurship similar to Gregory Dees’ definition in the first article. Social entrepreneurship is a “drive” to fix and change unsatisfied needs of people who are not capable. They describe that the entrepreneur must continuously strive to make their belief and ideas into reality. I find it interesting to see this as a specific trait but I do believe that entrepreneurs must be very passionate and dedicated to their work. In addition to making their ideas come true, the authors state that they must keep it sustainable so that anyone can learn to keep the project alive and up to speed. This part about sustainability is very important to me because I like to think that even after I am gone, something that I made is still effecting and impacting our world.

“The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur” by David Bornstein

            David Bornstein mainly wrote about how the current world today is bringing about the “rise of the social entrepreneur.” He states that even everyday citizens in the world today can become a social entrepreneur if they had the drive and creativity to. In addition, with education globally rising, there are much more people in the world who can bring about changes that the government or other organizations couldn’t solve properly. He goes on to describe the impact of social entrepreneurs. They are not just businessmen but people who deliver products and systems that serve to only help and influence people to improve themselves and the world around them.  

My Own Definition

In light of all the reading, I began to piece together my own definition of social entrepreneurship. Here it goes:

Social Entrepreneurship describes the global ideals of a group or individual with the passion to make their dreams a reality, constantly striving to improve and change the lives of people in need.