Social Enterprise, Impact and Sustainability Using the Logic of Business Models

Social enterprise is an approach that applies business tactics to solving a social or environmental challenge. Social entrepreneurship can be found in any organizational setting: non-profit, business, and government. This Research Project is designed to study innovative social enterprises, with the goal of creating a taxonomy of business models in social entrepreneurship. Taxonomic information is useful in creating shared language in emerging field. Further a taxonomy of existing business models systematically used in order to tackle pressing social problems supports further innovation by providing guidance on the types of models employed in various circumstances. The findings from the proposed research will establish a path to financial sustainability enabling innovative social enterprises to survive and ultimately thrive with minimal or no support / donation dollars. Additionally, practitioners and scholars will glean new insight into how to scale up a successful social enterprise to achieve a wider and deeper impact.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alice de Koning

Student:

Amaka Sanni;Angela Ambrose;Katheryn Abou-Chakra;Mounil Shah;Namista Tabassum;Nastaran Azodifar;Schenley Brown

Partner:

United Way of Calgary and Area

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Calgary