Old Wolves in New Sheep Skin

Corporate Social Responsibility Vs Social Entrepreneurship

I find it hard to justify the idea that social entrepreneurship should include for-profit businesses. I actually have a problem starting with the very definition of social entrepreneurship. Like it or not, Wiki is here to stay so I will borrow their definition of social entrepreneurship. “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”. And here is my problem. If a social entrepreneur measures performance based on social change, then we do have a conflict of interest here. In order for a business to survive it must turn a profit. But social entrepreneurs are not about profit. Their gig is social change. As someone who has worked in the non-profit sector for 15 years, I find this concept of marrying philanthropy with pure business quite amusing. One of the hardest things to do in a non-profit is to put profit above social change. And these two tend to be in conflict with one another. Now if you are talking profit and social change in the same sentence you must be an expert at oxymora.

My take is that unless social entrepreneurship is entirely non-profit, there is no big difference between this buzz and the old boy called corporate social responsibility (CSR). I will borrow Wiki’s definition of CSR to support my point. “Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business and corporate social opportunity) is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.” This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.” Wiki continues to say that “the practice of CSR is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits.” Now this last part is what really interests me. If corporate social responsibility is good for business, then the so-called social entrepreneurship is really the same old CSR wolf in sheep skin. In my opinion, we must separate wolves from sheep otherwise we will find ourselves feeding wolves with lamb milk. I am okay with social entrepreneurs who plow back profits into their social businesses. But a social entrepreneur who pockets the difference is no different than the old boys. Just in case you can’t read between lines, what I am saying is that all social entrepreneurships should be non-profits. Period.