Social entrepreneurship aims to address the social problems through innovative
solutions. The innovative solutions are sustainable in nature through amalgamation of for-profit and not-for-profit organization models. It attempts to achieve social transformation in a sustainable and inclusive way. Although social enterprises operate on business principles, their performance is measured in terms of social value to the society. These enterprises generally address issues related to poverty, education, health, women empowerment, training, and social and economic upliftment of poor. Some of the innovative practices followed by them are microfinance, cost-effective eye surgeries, etc. Thus, social entrepreneurship assumes greater significance in developing and poor countries due to their resource constraints.

The first paper, “Social Transformation Through Social Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study”, by Soumendra Kumar Patra and Subash Chandra Nath, focuses on the factors that contribute to the success of social entrepreneurship. The success of social enterprises is measured in terms of positive changes in economic, social, cultural and technological contexts of poor and marginalized groups. The objective of the study is to develop and validate a scale to measure social transformation effectiveness as an outcome of social entrepreneurship. The newly developed scale can help future researchers to measure the effects of social entrepreneurship in terms of social transformation and expand the literature.

The second paper, “Tackling Unemployment Hurdle in the Nigerian Economy: The Impact of Creative Self-Development”, by Emma I Okoye, Ugochukwu J Nwoye, Justina N Obiorah and Uba Bright O, focuses on the role played by technical entrepreneurship education in Nigeria at the tertiary level to tackle the deteriorating problem of unemployment. The study examines how entrepreneurship education positively affects creative self-development, which in turn affects entrepreneurship orientation among graduates. The results provide evidence of positive influence of entrepreneurship education. The results have implications for government agencies as well as educational institutions in implementing suitable programs and policies to promote entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

The next paper, “A Study on the Entrepreneurial Traits of Commerce Students of Arts and Science Colleges in Theni District, Tamil Nadu”, by G Suresh and S Krishnamurthy, focuses on identification of entrepreneurial traits among the college-going students. It further investigates how socioeconomic factors may influence the entrepreneurship traits. The results have implications in the domain of designing and delivering entrepreneurship courses in educational institutions.
Finally, a case study, “Koutons Retail India Ltd.: Fight for Survival”, by Kirti Dutta, Swati Singh and Smriti Singh, is presented. The case analyzes the strategy adopted by Koutons in transforming it from an apparel manufacturer to a leading retailer with national presence. Koutons had positioned itself as a specialty retailer targeting the value-seeking customers. The case presents the challenges and problems faced by Koutons in operating with a high risk business model.

-- S Senthil Kumar
Consulting Editor