Michelle Shumate
Speech Communication, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
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From Whence Do Civic and Social Organizations Come? Antecedents to Social Entrepreneurship
The third sector is growing at an unprecedented rate. However, the organizations that make up this sector, including community organizations, nongovernmental organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and sector-blurring social enterprise ventures, do not simply appear. Social entrepreneurs navigate economic, social and institutional entry barriers to establish organizations addressing a variety of societal needs. What motivates social entrepreneurs to pursue their goals, overcome obstacles, and establish organizations? The proposed research begins to answer this question by examining the context and background from which social entrepreneurs draw: a) previous experience with the social issue and/or market; b) social networks of resources, including social support, economic resources, and volunteer networks; and c) knowledge and confidence about social organization management, strategy and practices. Drawing on Austrian and evolutionary theories of entrepreneurship, the purpose of the proposed research is to generate propositions about the factors that make social opportunity information more accessible to some individuals and motivate social entrepreneurship.
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