How Social Entrepreneurs Enable Human, Social and Economic Development

John Paul — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:47:59 -0500

Session Title:
Civil Society & Social Entrepreneurship

Date of talk or publication:
2005

Speaker Name / Title:
Christian Seelos & Johanna Mair

Organization:
IESE Business School

Description:
Sekem is a social enterprise that was established to make a contribution to Egyptian society on several dimensions, namely, economic, social, and cultural. The setting for Sekem is a poor country context characterized by a lack of political and economic institutions that cater to the needs of the poor and create conditions that foster response to economic opportunity. Central to this case is the story of an entrepreneur with a powerful vision who created Sekem by transforming a piece of desert into fertile land that today houses several commercial companies as well as cultural and social institutions such as a theatre, medical center, and schools. Social entrepreneurs such as Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish overcome the hurdles to socio-economic and sustainable development in poor countries by building necessary infrastructure, creating social capabilities that enable people to respond to economic opportunity, and establishing conditions that support scaling up and financial viability. In exemplifying entrepreneurial value creation along multiple dimensions in a developing country, the Sekem case yields new insights into social entrepreneurship. It demonstrates the nature of social entrepreneurship at different stages (start-up, growth, and consolidation phases) and enables us to disentangle the notions of resourcefulness and innovation. Finally, the case supports an interesting debate on the broader role of entrepreneurship and companies in developing countries around the themes of catering to basic human needs, institutionalizing new rules and norms, and filling voids created by inefficient and corrupt governments.

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How Social Entrepreneurs Enable Human, Social and Economic Development