Social Innovation and Social Enterprises: Toward a Holistic Perspective

This book provides an exhaustive, critical analysis of the challenges and opportunities associated with social enterprises and social innovation. More specifically, it addresses questions such as: What is a social innovation? Which are the best theories that explain how social innovations are generated and propagated in the global society? What is a social enterprise? Which are the theoretical perspectives that best describe the functioning of Social Enterprises, the threats and opportunities? How do social enterprises deal with the profit and non profit worlds and how these interactions affect their capability to be social innovators?The most recent literature has focused on strategies integrating conflicting logic, organizational practices or processes. In all these cases, the hybrid nature of the organization is implemented and sustained through original business models, new organizational arrangements and governance and novel strategies. We believe that the hybrid and institutional perspectives are just one of the many theoretical lenses that can be used to frame social innovation and social enterprises. Along this line, some have highlighted the inherent ethical nature of these phenomena, the critical role played by ethical values whose advancement go well beyond what expected by the corporate social responsibility, business ethics and institutional theorizing.
This book follows these perspectives exploring the link between social innovation and social enterprises, presenting them as a new a new possible field of research that support new ways to understand and theorize individual, organizational and community behaviors.

Antonino Vaccaro is a professor and the Academic Director of the Center for Business in Society at IESE Business School. He has authored over 20 papers in top journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Research Policy, Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, Ethics and Information Technology, etc. He serves as section editor of the Journal of Business Ethics and organizes regularly conferences, thematic symposia, workshops on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Europe, US, Africa and Latin America.

Tommaso Ramus is an associate professor, Fundaçao Amelia de Mello Faculty Fellow in Social Innovation and the academic director of the Center for Ethics in Business and Economics at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. His research focuses on hybrid organizations, social innovation and social enterprises. His publications have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies, the Business Ethics Quarterly, the Journal of Business Ethics and Voluntas.