An exploratory study of the development social entrepreneurship : key concepts, characteristics, roles and success factors of social enterprise in Thailand

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is an emerging global phenomenon. Although much research has been done on this topic, the concept is still hard to define due to the different context and domains within which it operates. Thailand is in the infancy stage of social entrepreneurship. Despite the fact that the concept of social entrepreneurship is relatively new, the practice that integrates economic and social value creation has a long heritage and can be found throughout the Kingdom. In the past, social activities were mostly implemented by non-profit organizations and nongovernmental organizations. Recently, a number of businesses participating in social entrepreneurship have emerged. The study presents the principles and concepts of social entrepreneurship and develops a model of social enterprise which will initiate the direction on the concept’s application to social enterprise in Thailand. Key success factors establishing a thriving social enterprise in Thailand have been identified. Challenges and opportunities of social enterprise in Thailand are addressed and can be used as guidelines in future development. Policy recommendations have been created to call for the implementing agency and national attention to treat this mission as a national agenda and policy. In order to gain in-depth information of social entrepreneurship in Thailand, the qualitative research method is best suited to and applied in this research. This study involves five case studies which were purposively selected. The five cases are AkhaAma Coffee, Green Net SE, Freehap, Farmsook Ice Cream and BE Magazine. The findings of the study are presented as follows: The combined characteristics of social enterprises found in this study provide an explanation as to what they really are and how they operate. It can be seen that social enterprise position is distinct from non-profits with income-generating activities or from businesses with CSR, as it is the combination of both. The resources for social enterprise include both income from trade and services as well as donations, but with the distinction that the proportion of trade and services has to exceed the amount of donations and grants. Owners of social enterprise can be nonprofit organizations or community groups along with private owners. Social enterprise roles found in the study align with basic principles from local and/or community economic development in terms of their focus on the common good and their aims to serve unmet needs. From this study, it was found that the measurement of success of a business cannot be fully applied to all cases examined in this dissertation. This is because social enterprises in the study are in the set-up phase or in the early stages of implementation; therefore, it is too early to detect the success factors. Nevertheless, the study could separate social enterprises into groups or categories to identify success. Social entrepreneurs’ characteristics are based on values, motivation, passion and life experiences which lead to success in the startup of social enterprises. The challenges for social entrepreneurship in Thailand are business issues, financial assistance, social effects, government support and legal forms suitable for social enterprises. Recommendations have been made in order to promote social enterprise practices in Thailand. The following are key findings: collective efforts are needed to push forward reforms of social enterprise practices, the legislation environment needs to be improved, and the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-sector collaboration needs to be increased.