Researchers develop tool for measuring social entrepreneurship
The field of social entrepreneurship is expanding globally and is beginning to define itself. A new study from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas seeks to provide a valid, reliable measure of the term. Dr. Shawn Carraher, clinical professor of organizations, strategy and international management, was helping a student with a research project on social entrepreneurship a few years ago. In search of a measurement tool, they examined 210 of the most cited papers, journal articles and books on the topic. Carraher could not find a standardized scale, so he created one, taking the definition of social entrepreneurship from the most cited paper on the topic, breaking it down into components, and converting it to an 11-part scale described as:
To be a social entrepreneur, you are:
• Adopting a mission to create social value (not just private value).
• Recognizing new opportunities to serve your mission.
• Engaging in a process of continuous adaptation related to your mission.
• Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand in the fulfillment of your mission.
• Relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve your mission.
• Caring deeply about the outcomes created by the fulfillment of your mission.
• Seeking to be a ‘world changer’ through the accomplishment of your mission.
• Adopting a mission to sustain social value (not just private value).
• Engaging in a process of continuous innovation related to your mission.
• Exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served by your mission.
• Engaging in a process of continuous learning related to your mission.
