Social entrepreneurship, social enterprise and the principles of a community of practice

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is defined as a theoretical and practical paradigm based on a specific context, characteristics and outcomes. The entrepreneurial context implies identifying the social factors that determine and sustain poverty, marginalization and exclusion; entrepreneurial characteristics refer to a direct action initiated by a social entrepreneur in the form of new solutions (innovation) for the target population, context or application; the entrepreneurial outcome is a visible and measurable social change that can be either small-scale (local) or large-scale (systemic). While social entrepreneurship starts at an individual level, the social enterprise begins as an organizational movement that applies marketbased strategies in order to achieve social change. This article offers a theoretical perspective on the conceptualization and specific components of entrepreneurship, describes the social enterprise as an organizational movement for providing sustainable solutions and applies the principles of a community of practice to the communication in a social enterprise.