Abstract
Social enterprises, like other organizations, need to change their business models under uncertain institutional environment, to sustain. All organizations engaged in the social sector are not social enterprises. The difference is important because to social enterprises, the aim is not only value creation and sustainability but also empowerment of its customers and the local community. This chapter demonstrates how social enterprises survive in uncertain institutional environments through a continuous adaptation of their business models through comparative case studies of two organizations working in the social sector trying to address infrastructure gaps of poor access to electricity and open defecation. It also aims to show the difference in the business models of social enterprises and social businesses that gets revealed when organizations are faced with a dilemma.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Corkindale, D. (2010). Towards a business model for commercializing innovative new technology. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 7(1), 37–51.
Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32–53.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550.
International Energy Agency. (2007). World energy outlook. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
International Energy Agency. (2015). World energy outlook. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Linna, P. (2012). Base of the pyramid (BOP) as a source of innovation: Experiences of companies in the Kenyan mobile sector. International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development, 11(2), 113–137.
Lumpkin, G. T., Moss, T. W., Gras, D. M., Kato, S., & Amezcua, A. S. (2013). Entrepreneurial processes in social contexts: How are they different, if at all? Small Business Economics, 40(3), 761–783.
Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2009). Entrepreneurship in and around institutional voids: A case study from Bangladesh. Journal of Business Venturing, 24(5), 419–435.
Mallapur, C. (2016, January 27). 70% of India’s sewage is untreated. The Wire. Retrieved from https://thewire.in/20320/70-of-urban-indias-sewage-is-untreated/
Mohr, J., Sengupta, S., & Slater, S. (2005). Marketing of high-technology products and innovations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc..
More than half of Indian households don’t have a toilet. (2013, November 20). The Hindu. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/more-than-half-of-indian-households-dont-have-a-toilet/article5368906.ece
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Routray, P., Schmidt, W. P., Boisson, S., Clasen, T., & Jenkins, M. W. (2015). Socio-cultural and behavioural factors constraining latrine adoption in rural coastal Odisha: An exploratory qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 880.
Santos, F. M. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 335–351.
Sarkar, R., & Deepika, V. (2016). Marketing ‘potential eco innovations’ successfully: A case study of Banka BioLoo (pp. 188–198). Mumbai, India: ET CASES.
Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2007). Profitable business models and market creation in the context of deep poverty: A strategic view. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(4), 49–63.
Sosna, M., Trevinyo-RodrÃguez, R. N., & Velamuri, S. R. (2010). Business model innovation through trial-and-error learning: The Naturhouse case. Long Range Planning, 43(2), 383–407.
Velamuri, S. R., Anant, P., & Kumar, V. (2015). Doing well to do good: Business model innovation for social healthcare. In Business models and modelling (pp. 279–308). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Verma, D. C., & Sarkar, R. (2017). Analysing eco-innovations: Applying and extending the National Innovation System Framework for specific instances (WPS No. 792). Kolkata, India: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
WHO/UNICEF Joint Water Supply and Sanitation Monitoring Programme. (2014). Progress on drinking water and sanitation: 2014 update. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
Wilson, F., & Post, J. E. (2013). Business models for people, planet (& profits): Exploring the phenomena of social business, a market-based approach to social value creation. Small Business Economics, 40(3), 715–737.
Yunus, M., Moingeon, B., & Lehmann-Ortega, L. (2010). Building social business models: Lessons from the Grameen experience. Long Range Planning, 43(2), 308–325.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Verma, D.C., Sarkar, R. (2018). Towards a Better Understanding of Business Models of Social Enterprise in an Uncertain Institutional Environment. In: Agrawal, A., Kumar, P. (eds) Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Business Models. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74488-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74488-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74487-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74488-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)