Social Entrepreneurship

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Introduction

Social entrepreneurship looks beyond simply making money in a business and is driven by the passion to change a current situation for the better. It could be to right a social injustice, empower the marginalised, or support conservation efforts, amongst many other causes. While there are many social enterprises out there, you do not have to be running your own business to be a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneurs can be employed in other businesses, government bodies or non-profit organisations. As a result, social entrepreneurship often comes as an additional responsibility, rather than a personal desire.

Whether you have a burning passion to address a certain social or public issue, or the task of improving the problem has been thrust into your hands, this resource guide lists some resources on social entrepreneurship which are available in the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library and on the Internet. Interested readers are recommended to search the NLB catalogue for more resources. Academic journal and research articles can be found from NLB’s subscribed databases.

Some search terms that readers can use are:

Search Terms	Call Numbers
Social enterprise; social entrepreneur; social responsibility of business	361.765
Social entrepreneurship; social innovation	658.408

Resources

Books

Title	Description
	Business with purpose: Advancing social enterprise From the social enterprise life cycle, the wider support ecosystem, scaling up and internationalisation, to managing resources and measuring impact and success, this book covers 7 relevant key points in each dedicated chapter, illustrated with well-known successful ventures such as TOMS (One for One model), Grameen (microfinancing), and Gavi The Vaccine Allliance (vaccines). All rights reserved, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2020 Melodena Stephens, Business with purpose: Advancing social enterprise. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2020. (Call no. RBUS 658.408 STE)
	Creating sustainable value in social enterprises: Stories of social innovation Tracing its evolution in the Philippines, this book looks at how social entrepreneurship contributes to sustainable development in the economic, social and environmental aspects. Interviews with founders and detailed case studies from various industries provide a wealth of insights. All rights reserved, Quezon City, Philippines: BlueBooks, 2020. Maria Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, Raquel Cementina-Olpoc, and Ana Marina A. Tan, eds. Creating sustainable value in social enterprises: Stories of social innovation. Quezon City, Philippines: BlueBooks, 2020. (Call no. RSEA 361.76509599 CRE)
	Social enterprise in Asia: Theory, models and practice This book looks at the phenomena of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship as well as emerging issues and dynamics as they develop in various Asian countries such as China, Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia. All rights reserved, New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019 Eric Bidet and Jacques Defourny, eds., Social Enterprise in Asia: Theory, models and practice. (New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019). (Call no. RBUS 658.408095 SOC)
	Social innovation and social entrepreneurship: Fundamentals, concepts, and tools While social entrepreneurship is focused on the business side of change, social innovation concerns itself with the processes of change generation. Using case studies and tools, as well as learning objectives, key concepts and reflective questions and exercises, social entrepreneurship and social innovation are comprehensively analysed from the conceptual and practical perspectives. All rights reserved, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 Luis Portales, Social innovation and social entrepreneurship: Fundamentals, concepts, and tools. (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). (Call no. 303.4 POR)
	The emergence of social entrepreneurship: Individuals and social ventures as agents of change What are the most important characteristics of social entrepreneurs, and what are the best practices? Using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, the authors analyse the emergence of social entrepreneurship, with successful cases of social ventures as reference. All rights reserved, Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021 Virginia Simón-Moya and María Rodríguez-García, The emergence of social entrepreneurship: Individuals and social ventures as agents of change. (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021). (Call no. RBUS 658.421 SIM)

Ebooks & E-Audio Books

(myLibraryID is required to access the ebooks from NLB Overdrive)

Title	Description
	Entrepreneurship: How to launch a mission-driven company and succeed This is a series of audio lectures recorded in real-time, delivered by professors and experts in their field, elaborating the worlds of religion, government, literature, and social justice. Learn the mistakes to avoid, the economic principles to follow, and the ultimate success of a social enterprise. All rights reserved, Holland : Dreamscape Media, LLC, 2021 Barry Nalebuff, Entrepreneurship: How to launch a mission-driven company and succeed. (Holland : Dreamscape Media, LLC, 2021).
	Social startup success: How the best nonprofits launch, scale up, and make a difference Surveying more than 200 high performing social entrepreneurs and interviewing dozens of founders in the United States, Janus sets out to share her findings, including how these organisations scale up to a sustainable point, and insights gleaned from well known social entrepreneurs, such as Reshma Saujani (Girls Who Code), Raj Panjabi (Last Mile Health), and Charles Slaughter (Living Goods). All rights reserved, New York : Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2018 Kathleen Kelly Janus, Social startup success: How the best nonprofits launch, scale up, and make a difference. (New York : Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2018.
	Sustainable entrepreneurship Gutterman traces the foundations for sustainable entrepreneurship, starting with sustainability, ecopreneurship and social entrepreneurship. It then continues with a review of the key tenets of sustainable entrepreneurship and the how entrepreneurs can incorporate sustainability into their business models. All rights reserved, LaVergne : Business Expert Press, 2018 Alan S Gutterman, Sustainable entrepreneurship (LaVergne : Business Expert Press, 2018)
	The greater good: Social entrepreneurship for everyday people who want to change the world Award winning social entrepreneur for menstrual health Madeleine Shaw shares tips and insights to those just starting out in their entrepreneurship journey. Based on 25 years of personal experience and a host of other successful social entrepreneurs, she shares that one need only mine their own experience, values and passion to carve out a unique vision for the greater good. All rights reserved, LaVergne : Wonderwell, 2021 Madeleine Shaw, The greater good: social entrepreneurship for everyday people who want to change the world. (LaVergne : Wonderwell, 2021).
	The new pioneers: Sustainable business success through social innovation and social entrepreneurship This book explains the key principles of sustainable business success provides tips to navigate the social megatrends by incorporate social responsibility into their businesses, drawing on examples around the world, such as The Body Shop, Patagonia and Whole Foods. All rights reserved, New York: Wiley, 2010 Tania Ellis, The new pioneers: Sustainable business success through social innovation and social entrepreneurship. (New York: Wiley, 2010)

Websites

Lived experience matters: Here’s why

School for social entrepreneurs. (2021, March 21). “Lived experience matters: Here’s why”.
https://www.the-sse.org/news/lived-experience-matters-heres-why/

Many social entrepreneurs address issues they have experienced personally or through people they know, in one way or another. Find out why people whose ideas are directly related to their own lived experiences tend to have stronger impact propositions and achieve long-lasting effective change.

Pioneers Post. (2022). “Pioneers Post: the social enterprise magazine”. https://www.pioneerspost.com/

Founded in 2012, Pioneers Post is an independent news network for social enterprises. Itself a social enterprise, it delivers news, knowledge and insights in a weekly newsletter to help social entrepreneurs, mission-driven business leaders and impact investors create positive social impact in the world and keep abreast of the important updates in the impact economy. With videos, podcasts, and magazine articles, as well as insights in the form of surveys, data reports and conference papers by leading social investors.

Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise. (2020). “Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, raiSE”. https://www.raise.sg/

raiSE is a sector developer and membership body for aspiring social entrepreneurs, and existing social enterprises, as well as individuals and organisations interested in the development of the social enterprise sector. Besides listing social enterprises in various sectors in Singapore, the centre also organises classes and events, as well as resources such as toolkits and grants that may be useful to existing and aspiring social entrepreneurs.

SEE Change. “The magazine of social entrepreneurship”. Accessed March 30, 2022. https://www.seechangemagazine.com/

Inspired by the emergence of social enterprise models, SEE Change was founded in 2009 to inform, educate, and inspire social entrepreneurs. Besides a quarterly magazine publication, SEE Change also has a podcast series In the Business of Change, in which social entrepreneurs are interviewed about how they tackled challenges in their communities across the globe. Other resources include reviews of related book and movies, feature articles and educational programmes that cater specifically to social entrepreneurs.

Videos & Podcasts

TED: Ideas worth spreading

TED Conferences LLC. (2021). https://www.ted.com/search?q=social+entrepreneurship

Hear directly from social entrepreneurs of various industries and professions as they share their experiences and thoughts on their social entrepreneurship journeys and offer nuggets of wisdom gleaned from having walked the path before you over the years. Notable speakers include Jeff Skoll (first president of eBay), Keller Rinaudo (founder of Zipline), and Matilda Ho (founder of Bits X Bites and Yimishiji), amongst others.

Rupert Scofield. (2021). “The Social Enterprise Podcast”. https://socentpodcast.org/

With more than 40 years of experience of social entrepreneurship in developing countries, Scofield, together with invited guests, explores different aspects of the social entrepreneurship world, including what it takes to start and run a sustainable business.

Author

This resource guide was prepared in April 2022 by Rosxalynd Liu, Librarian at the National Library, Singapore. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history on the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.