The coagulation and development of the social enterprise phenomenon, corroborated with an increase of its visibility as public policy subject, prompts the need for an analysis of the way these organizational forms are operating.
Social enterprises turn critical societal problems into opportunities by actively involving the community actors. In this respect, social enterprises are innovating largely, both in terms of organizational forms they developed and in the way managerial activities are performed. In this respect, they are solving in new and innovative ways the tasks of planning, organizing, leading, motivating and controlling resources and people in order to achieve effectively and efficiently their purpose and objectives, fundamentally connected to social needs.
From a historical perspective, scholars, like Certo and Miller (2008), state that the distinctive features of social enterprises are deeply rooted in the social, economic, political and cultural contexts in which these organizations emerge.
As social enterprise concept is far from being a mature academic field, it is difficult to generate critical debates on such complex construct in the absence of comprehensive frameworks and systematic empirical research.
After more than thirty years of its emergence, it is a confusing list of socioeconomic and legal interpretations of the social enterprise concept that are used either synonymously or differently. And because concepts implies root metaphors used in different cultures and disciplines (economics, philosophy, sociology, et al.) to describe in a specific way the reality, the concepts are not value-free. Presumption is that scholars and legislators are familiar with the different ways that various disciplines define such concepts. However, fact is that a plurality of overlapping interpretations of the concept with blurry boundaries generates some potential dangers.
The issues considered in this paper will contribute to gaps in theoretical knowledge regarding the management of social enterprises (SE). The capital questions to be explored are: what are the main particularities in the SE management? How do they help to improve existing organizational models and management method? How do those approaches create value for these organizations?
A tentative theoretical model will be developed to create a working definition for SE management. The definition will draw from literature in the fields of organizational development, social economy, social enterprise, and social entrepreneurship.
This paper is concerned with developing a theoretical model and then empirically testing the model with several SE in Romania.
The research methodology includes: documentation (desk and field research), data analysis, analysis of documents and materials, focus groups, and case studies.
3. Governance, employment and human resource management
