The literature on social entreprene

The literature on social entrepreneurship and social enterprise, however, is both large
and disparate and, frustratingly, none of it converges around a single definition of the
term. Most of this body of work consists of case studies of individual organizations
operating within the field of development and the decisions they make in order to provide
essential services to their constituents (Alvord, Brown, & Letts, 2004). With the notable
exception of Muhammed Yunus’ work, in which he notes that business and
entrepreneurship fail to take into consideration fundamental human needs beyond
personal gain, the literature seemed to lack a framework through which to analyze and
advance social entrepreneurship (Yunus, 2007). Without a principled approach to the
topic, it seemed as though anything might pass as social entrepreneurship. Is creating a
new manufacturing plant in China social enterprise? It creates jobs, can aid in economic
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growth and provides people with an economic good. Moreover, what makes a social
enterprise ‘social’? Social enterprise seemed to lack a theory to go along with it that
helped to ground it and make it distinct from the traditional hypotheses about the
multiplicative benefits of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It was through this
reading that I came to focus on contributing to a more structured way in which to talk and
think about the field. In order to explore these ideas I looked for groups on the MIT
campus that engaging in what they defined as social entrepreneurship, social enterprise or
social business which I could then recruit into a study.