Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation

Social enterprises can play an important role in reducing inequality within a society and can also contribute to long-term economic development. Using a database based on the responses of 220 Hungarian social enterprises we first identify the business opportunities that they perceive. We conclude th...

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Main Authors: Zoltan Bartha, Ádám Bereczk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Miskolc 2019-12-01
Series:Theory, Methodology, Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.18096/TMP.2019.02.01
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author Zoltan Bartha
Ádám Bereczk
author_facet Zoltan Bartha
Ádám Bereczk
author_sort Zoltan Bartha
collection DOAJ
description Social enterprises can play an important role in reducing inequality within a society and can also contribute to long-term economic development. Using a database based on the responses of 220 Hungarian social enterprises we first identify the business opportunities that they perceive. We conclude that social enterprises operating in different legal forms have different perceptions of their opportunities, and we speculate that this has an effect on their innovation activity as well. It is striking that – with the exception of social cooperatives – none of the Hungarian social enterprises see current or future social and/or market needs and demand as a major opportunity. This suggests that only social cooperatives have the incentive to focus their innovation efforts on social and market needs. Almost all social enterprises, on the other hand, have high expectation for European Union funds; the threat is that social innovation is driven by the targets set by the authorities allocating European funds, instead of the needs of the society.
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spelling doaj.art-d5abb92140e746368a8f82ae03eef1842023-05-25T12:44:38ZengUniversity of MiskolcTheory, Methodology, Practice1589-34132415-98832019-12-01152310Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on InnovationZoltan Bartha 0Ádám Bereczk 1University of Miskolc University of Miskolc Social enterprises can play an important role in reducing inequality within a society and can also contribute to long-term economic development. Using a database based on the responses of 220 Hungarian social enterprises we first identify the business opportunities that they perceive. We conclude that social enterprises operating in different legal forms have different perceptions of their opportunities, and we speculate that this has an effect on their innovation activity as well. It is striking that – with the exception of social cooperatives – none of the Hungarian social enterprises see current or future social and/or market needs and demand as a major opportunity. This suggests that only social cooperatives have the incentive to focus their innovation efforts on social and market needs. Almost all social enterprises, on the other hand, have high expectation for European Union funds; the threat is that social innovation is driven by the targets set by the authorities allocating European funds, instead of the needs of the society.https://doi.org/10.18096/TMP.2019.02.01 business opportunitiesinequalitysocial enterprisessocial innovation
spellingShingle Zoltan Bartha
Ádám Bereczk
Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
Theory, Methodology, Practice
business opportunities
inequality
social enterprises
social innovation
title Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
title_full Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
title_fullStr Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
title_full_unstemmed Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
title_short Perceived Opportunities by Social Enterprises and their Effects on Innovation
title_sort perceived opportunities by social enterprises and their effects on innovation
topic business opportunities
inequality
social enterprises
social innovation
url https://doi.org/10.18096/TMP.2019.02.01
work_keys_str_mv AT zoltanbartha perceivedopportunitiesbysocialenterprisesandtheireffectsoninnovation
AT adambereczk perceivedopportunitiesbysocialenterprisesandtheireffectsoninnovation