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Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is about applying practical, innovative and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and poor.

Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society.While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.

The main aim of a social entrepreneurship as well as social enterprise is to further social and environmental goals. Although social entrepreneurs are often non-profits, this need not be incompatible with making a profit. Social enterprises are for ‘more-than-profit,’ using blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating structure or component

In 2009, BusinessWeek publishing a review of American's 25 most promising social entrepreneurs, defined as "enterprising individuals who apply business practices to solving societal problems.

Why "Social" Entrepreneur?

Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industries, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale.

India is a key country to look for leading social entrepreneurs, says Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum, as his Schwab Foundation prepares to shortlist a winner for the Indian Social Entrepreneur Award for the second year.

"India has some of the most advanced and innovative social entrepreneurs. We believe and already see that many of the models developed in India, for instance rainwater harvesting for schools pioneered by Barefoot College, are exported around the world. India is therefore a key country to look for leading social entrepreneurs," Klaus Schwab told IANS in an exclusive interview.

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Dr. V. V. S. K. Prasad holds B.Com. from Andhra University, M.Com. (Accounting & Finance) from Acharya Nagarjuna University and MBA (Finance) from Ambedkar Open University. He also finished his Doctoral Research on "Leadership Styles & Organizational Effectiveness" from Ranchi University in 1992. Since then, he has been in teaching profession. He is currently serving as Professor & Head - MBA at The Hindu College, Machilipatnam.