Chapter navigation example

A

Alertness: Attitude of receptiveness to available but hitherto overlooked opportunities and leads people to discover what could add value to the human experience.

Autonomy: Ability to take responsibility to use one’s own judgment as opposed to blindly following the assertions of others.

E

Entrepreneurial mindset: A way of thinking about the business that captures the benefits of uncertainty.

Entrepreneurial thoughts: cognitive processes that lead to the discovery or creation of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Entrepreneurial choices: Decisions related to which opportunities to pursue and which ones to disregard or delay.

Entrepreneurial actions: Set of activities to perform to implement an entrepreneurial opportunity.

Entrepreneurial outcomes: Results of acting on entrepreneurial opportunities, such as the number of successful new ventures, the economic or social value added or the contribution to economic growth.

C

Compassion: An orientation and an emotional connection linking an individual to a suffering community.

E

Entrepreneurial motivation: Willingness to start a new venture.

M

Moral engagement: The extent to which social entrepreneurs are deeply committed to their ideals and feel morally obligated to pursue them.

P

Pull theory: people are attracted into entrepreneurial activities because they seek independence, self-fulfillment, wealth, and other desirable outcomes.

Push theory: A theory that suggests that people are pushed into entrepreneurship by negative external forces, such as job dissatisfaction, difficulty finding employment, insufficient salary or inflexible work schedule.

S

Social entrepreneurial motivation: Willingness to start a new social venture.

Social justice: Perceived fairness among members of a community.

B

Benchmarking: A strategic management technique used to compare a firm’s business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other industries.

C

Competitive intelligence: A strategic management tool used to garner useful information about the competition, the market and the technology that can be utilized by managers to make strategic decisions.

E

Environmental scanning: A strategic management tool used to analyze the external environment of a firm.

F

Formal institutions: Institutions formally created to regulate actors’ behaviors within a society, such as laws, rules, and constitutions.

I

Informal institutions: Institutions, such as norms, beliefs, customs, and traditions that affect individual behavior.

Institutional environment: An environment comprised of relatively stable rules, social norms, and cognitions that guide, constrain, and liberate domestic economic activity.

Institutional profile: Set of characteristics of a country’s institutional environment.

P

PEST model: A model that analyzes the political, economic, social and legal environments of a firm.

Porter’s Five Forces model: A strategic management model that analyzes the influence of five distinct factors (competitors, buyers, suppliers, substitute products, and barriers to entry) on a firm’s actions.

B

Business concept: A set of favorable events involving customers, consideration, connection, and commitment (the 4 Cs) that have the potential to become a successful business.

C

Corridor principle: States that once an entrepreneur starts a firm, he or she begins a journey down a path where corridors leading to new venture opportunities become apparent.

Creation theory: An entrepreneurial theory that assumes that opportunities are created by the actions, reactions, and enactment of entrepreneurs.

D

Design thinking: An iterative, exploratory process involving visualizing, experimenting, creating, and prototyping of models, and gathering feedback.

Discovery theory: An entrepreneurial theory that assumes that opportunities are exogenous, independent of the entrepreneur and represent objective phenomena.

O

Opportunity: Entrepreneurial opportunities are situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, and organizing methods can be introduced and sold at greater than the cost of their production.

S

Signal detection theory: A theory that describes the relationship between perception and reality when it comes to opportunity, and recognizes that people sometimes see opportunities that are not there or fail to see those that are present.

Social utility: Impact on solving a social problem.

Social venture concept: A set of favorable events that have the potential to become a successful social venture.

Social venture opportunity: Situations in which new products and services can be created to address social needs.

T

Type A ideas: Ideas that involve identifying a new market for an existing product or service.

Type B ideas: Ideas that involve the creation of an entirely new product or service.

Type C ideas: Ideas that involve the creation of new processes for producing and delivering existing products and services.

W

Wicked problems: Intractable, complex, difficult to solve problems.

Window of opportunity: Period during which the entrepreneur can provide maximum value to the customer before circumstances change or reduce the value to the customer.

B

Business model: The content, structure, and governance of transactions designed so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities.

Business model design: Process of creating the content, structure, and governance of transactions designed to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities.

D

Design elements: The conceptualization and configuration of the business model.

Design themes: Describe the sources of the model’s value creation and the holistic gestalt of a firm’s business model and facilitate its conceptualization and measurement.

M

Model: A schematic description of a system, theory or phenomenon.

R

Revenue model: Model that specifies how a firm would generate income.

S

Social business model: Rationale for a social venture to successfully address a social need while remaining sustainable over time.

Social value proposition: Indication of how well a social venture would meet a specific social need.

Social venture sustainability model: Rationale of how a social venture will be financially viable over time while accomplishing its social mission. Synonymous of social business model.

F

Feasibility analysis: The process of collecting and analyzing data to assess an opportunity’s perceived practicability or difficulty.

Financial feasibility: Process of determining whether the entrepreneur has or can garner the financial resources needed to transform an opportunity into a viable business.

I

Industry/target market feasibility: Process of determining the market and industry an entrepreneur intends to enter are attractive.

O

Organizational feasibility: Process of determining whether an entrepreneur has the human capital and other non-financial resources to launch a new venture.

Outside-In/Inside-Out Analysis Model: A strategic management tool used to analyze factors that are both internal and external to a firm.

P

Product/service desirability: Extent to which the product or service addresses a particular need or problem the customer faces.

Product/service demand: The quantity of the product or service that customers will ask for.

Product/service feasibility: Addresses the question of whether the entrepreneur is able to produce and deliver the product to customers.

Q

Quick Screen Model: A three-component strategic management tool used to assess the external environment of a firm.

S

Social Opportunity Assessment Tool: A four-component tool used to determine the viability of a social venture opportunity.

Stakeholder: Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives.

SWOT analysis: A strategic management tool used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a firm as well as the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment in which a firm operates.

A

Assumption sheet: A sheet of paper that includes the statements that an entrepreneur makes about the reasons underlying the need for financial and other resources.

B

Business plan: A written document that describes the current state and the presupposed future of an organization.

E

Executive summary: The summary of the content of a business plan; generally between 1-2 pages.

M

Mission statement: A written statement that describes the ‘raison-d’etre’ of an organization.

R

Risk assessment: Identification of the potential risks that an organization may face.

S

Social venture landscape: The external environment in which a social venture operates.

Social venture plan: A written document that describes the current state and the presupposed future of a social venture.

V

Vision statement: A written statement that describes the long-term goals of an organization.

B

Brand: A set of attributes, positive or negative that customers associate with a firm.

Branding: Process of developing a brand.

Buzz marketing: A form of word-of-mouth communication which emerged as a reaction to the fact that more and more consumers are critical towards traditional advertising.

E

Entrepreneurial marketing: Marketing activities performed in early-stage ventures that are conceived as innovative, risk-taking, and proactive.

G

Guerrilla marketing: An approach to marketing that relies on bootstrapping, creative use of available resources, and a highly targeted mix of innovative communication techniques.

M

Marketing: The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods and services to satisfy customers and accomplish organizational objectives.

Marketing mix: Set of tools a firm uses to produce the response it wants in the target market including the four elements of product, price, promotion, and place.

Marketing orientation: A marketing method based on an understanding of the needs and desires of the market and establishing long-term relationships with beneficiaries and other key stakeholders.

Marketing plan: A written document that describes the marketing strategies of an organization.

Market segment: A particular group of customers that a firm has targeted for its products or services.

Market segmentation: Process of dividing a market into groups of customers based on certain characteristics.

P

Public relations: Creating awareness of a firm’s products, services or activities by informing the public through the media, including journalists, bloggers or radio hosts.

R

Relational marketing: Marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges.

S

Social marketing: The application of marketing knowledge, concepts, and techniques to enhance social as well as economic issues.

V

Viral marketing: A form of marketing that uses social networks, such as social media, family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues to draw attention towards brands, products or campaigns by spreading messages, mostly through word-of-mouth marketing, like a virus.

B

Balance sheet: A financial statement that describes what a firm owns and owes at a specific period in time.

Blended accounting value: A spectrum of disclosure logics used by social entrepreneurs to access resources and realize the mission of their social ventures.

Bootstrapping: A process by which an entrepreneur finds ways to avoid the need for external funding through creativity, ingenuity, cost-cutting, or any means necessary.

C

Crowdfunding: Process of soliciting external financing from a large audience, the crowd, in which each individual provides a very small amount, generally through the Internet.

F

Financial vulnerability: Extent to which a firm is likely to be severely affected by financial shocks.

Financial vulnerability index: A measure of the financial vulnerability of a social venture.

I

Income statement: A financial statement that reflects the results of the operations of a firm over a specified period of time.

M

Microfinance: Provision of financial services to populations typically excluded by mainstream banks and represents a social innovation to alleviate poverty.

S

Social finance: The supply of capital to charities, social ventures, and businesses with a social mission.

Social angels: Wealthy individuals who provide funding to social-purpose ventures.

Social venture capitalists: Venture capitalists who fund social ventures.

Social impact bonds: Bonds issued to undertake socially-oriented projects.

Social return on investment (SROI): Monetized social benefits of a social venture.

Statement of cash flow: A financial statement that summarizes changes in a firm’s cash and expenses for a specific period.

A

Agency theory: A theory that assumes that because of a goal conflict between the agent and the principal, the former will not always act in the best interest of the latter.

B

Board of advisors: A panel of experts who are asked by a firm’s managers to provide counsel and advice on an ongoing basis.

Board of directors: A panel of individuals who are elected by a corporation’s shareholders to oversee the management of the firm.

M

Motivational plan: A written statement that describes how an organization intends to motivate its employees.

P

Paid employees: Individuals who are salaried employees in a social venture or a non-profit organization.

Psychic income: The satisfaction of performing a job that makes a difference in the lives of others.

S

Signalling effect: Sending of information about oneself to another.

V

Volunteer management system: A set of policies and procedures aimed at attracting and retaining volunteers in a social business and/or a non-profit organization.

Volunteer resource manager: A manager who hires and oversees the work of volunteers in a social venture or a non-profit organization.

Volunteering: The process of giving time freely without pay to any organization that has the aim of benefiting people in a particular cause.

Volunteers: People performing activities out of free will, without remuneration, and for the benefit of others.

A

Affective commitment: An emotional attachment to the organization.

B

Balanced scorecard: An instrument used to measure the performance of a firm that includes both financial and non-financial elements.

C

Calculative commitment: An attachment to the organization because of tangible benefits, such as pension, salary and the like.

E

Effectiveness: The extent to which an organization accomplishes its core objectives.

Efficiency: The extent to which the organization uses fewer resources to accomplish its core objectives.

N

Normative commitment: An attachment to an organization on moral grounds.

A

Affiliation: The process of creating separate units in other geographic locations that are loosely connected to headquarters.

B

Branching: The process of creating separate units in other geographic locations that are tightly connected to headquarters.

C

Capacity building: The process by which an organization strengthens its internal capabilities.

D

Dissemination: Actively providing information, and sometimes technical assistance, to others looking to bring an innovation to their community.

S

SCALERS Model: A seven-component scaling model that explores the conditions under which a social venture may scale its activities.

Scaling: Increasing the impact a social-purpose organization produces to better match the magnitude of the social need or problem it seeks to address.

Scaling deep: The process of deepening of a social venture’s knowledge of the market and focusing on developing and becoming expert in providing the required services.

Scaling up: The process of expanding a social venture’s products or services, or the extending of its activities to other geographic locations.

Social franchising: A hybrid growth strategy in which a parent social venture’s products or services are franchised and the social franchisee pays some royalties.

Social alliances: Strategic alliances that involve social ventures.

B

Blended accounting value: The combination of economic and social outputs.

Business analytics: Use of data to create value for the organization.

C

Cost-benefit analysis: A method that monetizes the benefits of outcomes of a program along with its costs in order to compare them and observe which are greater.

Cost-effectiveness analysis: A method that compares the relative costs and outcomes of two or more courses of action and is expressed in terms of a ratio where the denominator is a gain from a measure.

S

Shared measurement platforms: Web-based platforms that are aimed at measuring the performance and social impact of projects.

Social accounting and auditing: A concept that is used to capture all forms of accounting that go beyond the economic and takes into account both economic and social impacts.

Social analytics: Extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions.

Social impact: The explicit social benefit that a social venture provides to its intended beneficiaries.

Social impact management: The study of the impact that a given intervention has on society.

Social impact assessment: A methodology used to review the social effects of development projects.