The two sides of social entrepreneurship

American literature defines social entrepreneurship as a series of strategies aiming to acquire more resources in order to achieve more efficiently social goals. This approach situates the action almost exclusively within the... [ view full abstract ]

American literature defines social entrepreneurship as a series of strategies aiming to acquire more resources in order to achieve more efficiently social goals. This approach situates the action almost exclusively within the public sphere and so doing social entrepreneurship introduces a risk of commodification of the nonprofit sector.

The present communication examines alternatives strategies that nonprofit organizations may adopt. While most scholars drawing in a classical approach to management science promote this first social entrepreneurship pathway, this communication draws on a broader approach of management science based on institutional entrepreneurship, where institutional entrepreneurs are defined as actors who leverage resources to transform existing institutions. In this view, the social economic and political resistance of nonprofit organizations to the current great transformation can be interpreted as a form of social political effectiveness.