Editorial

Citation

Doherty, B. (2012), "Editorial", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sej.2012.37308aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Social Enterprise Journal, Volume 8, Issue 1

I am delighted to introduce to you the Social Enterprise Journal’s first edition of 2012 published by Emerald publishers. First, I would like to thank the journal board, the selected reviewers and of course the authors for the papers enclosed. I will also after introducing the papers provide notification of a number of forthcoming events and special issues.

The first inclusion is an excellent book review of Understanding Social Enterprise: Theory & Practice authored by Rory Ridley Duff and Mike Bull (London: Sage, 2011). The review is written by Molly Scott Cato who is Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at Roehampton University. Molly has worked for several years as a green economist. In 2009 she published Green Economics: An Introduction to Theory, Policy and Practice and she has also written widely on themes concerned with mutualism, social enterprise, policy responses to climate change, banking and finance, and local economies. Molly is an active member of the Green Party, standing for election at all levels and currently speaking for the Party on economic issues.

Now to the papers for this issue of SEJ. The first paper is an excellent paper by Dr Helen Haugh from Cambridge Judge Business School titled; “The importance of theory in social enterprise research”. The paper follows on from Dr Haugh’s keynote address at the International Social Innovation Research Conference in September 2011 at London South Bank University. This paper highlights that social enterprise is a vibrant area for theory testing, advances and development. Dr Haugh argues that so far actual theoretical developments in this field have been limited and her paper sets out some key opportunities and suggested approaches to explain the phenomenon of social enterprise. The article is a must read for all those involved in social enterprise research.

Then we have a series of very interesting case study papers in this issue. The second paper is by co-authors Dr Kevin McKague and Dr Sarah Tinsley from York University, Schulich School of Business in Canada. They present a very interesting case study from Bangladesh titled; “Bangladesh’s Rural Sales Program: towards a scalable rural sales agent model for distributing socially beneficial goods to the poor”. The paper discusses a market-based social innovation designed to create income generating opportunities for low income women in rural Bangladesh. The third paper is by Michael Pirson from Fordham University in New York, which takes a critical perspective on shared value creation in three social enterprises. The fourth paper co-authored by Dr Kelly Hall (University of Northampton), Dr Robin Miller (University of Birmingham, Health Services Management Centre) and Dr Ross Millar (University of Birmingham, Health Services Management Centre) is titled; “Jumped or pushed: what motivates NHS staff to set-up a social enterprise”. The article critically examines the motivations behind public sector spin outs in the UK, focusing on the Right to Request policy which enabled NHS (National Health Service) staff to set up their own social enterprises to deliver healthcare services. The different perspectives found are very important considerations for both those in the social enterprise movement and policy makers.

The fifth paper by Professor Fergus Lyon (Middlesex University Business School, UK) and Heather Fernandez (previously Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate of Middlesex University and London Early Years Foundation) is titled; “Strategies for scaling-up social enterprise: lessons from early years providers”. This paper looks at a how social enterprises can scale up their operations? Plus, what are the challenges entailed in these scaling up processes? The paper looks at four childcare case studies, and provides some very interesting findings with regard to social enterprise scale-up in what is an under researched area.

SEJ has also recently further strengthened its editorial board. We would like to welcome Professor Janelle Kerlin from Georgia State University. Janelle is an Assistant Professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. She is currently heading up research on trends in non-profit commercial activity in the US and comparative research on social enterprise across different countries. Among other projects, she is working collaboratively with the Third Sector Research Centre in the UK to compare trends in non-profit commercial revenue in the US, and England and Wales.

SEJ will be present at three key conferences in 2012. First, the Fourth International Fair Trade symposium will be held at Liverpool Hope Business School from the 2-4 April, 2012. The event will be held in conjunction with the GEO Fair Trade Final Conference. The aim of the symposiums is to bring together the world’s leading and newly emerging academic researchers, with practitioners, policy makers and the general public, for the development and consolidation of collective knowledge on the subject of “fair trade”. SEJ will be present and the first issue of 2013 will be a special issue titled, “Where Next for Fair Trade” (call soon to be issued).

SEJ will also be present at the 10th International Society for Third Sector Research Conference titled; “Democratization, marketization and the third sector” from 10-13 July, 2012. Then we have in 12-14 September 2012 the 4th International Social Innovation Research Conference hosted at the University of Birmingham. Each year ISIRC brings together the international academic community focusing on social entrepreneurship, enterprise and innovation. The call for papers and panels is now open; abstract submissions for single papers should be no longer than one page, or c. 500 words. Abstracts indicating the conference stream they should be considered for should be sent directly to the Conference Organiser, Simon Teasdale (ISIRC@tsrc.ac.uk). Abstract submissions for panel sessions should include a 300-word proposal for a co-ordinated set of papers on a particular theme. Abstracts should identify and justify the panel theme, and a full abstract for each panel paper should also be included. Panel abstracts should also be sent directly to the Conference Organiser, Simon Teasdale (ISIRC@tsrc.ac.uk).

Single paper and Panel Abstract submissions are required by 20 April 2012. Acceptance will be confirmed by May 21 2012. Full papers are required by 24 August 2012. Full papers should be no longer than 9,000 words and should be sent directly to the conference organiser. Selected papers will be developed for publication in the Social Enterprise Journal. Conference streams include thus far:

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  the politics of social innovation;

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  governance and stakeholder relationships;

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  towards a critical understanding of social entrepreneurship;

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  starting and scaling up social ventures;

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  impact and performance; and

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  public services and innovation.

The ISIRC conference is in partnership with; Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University; Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies, Queensland University of Technology; Centre for Government and Charity Management, London South Bank University; Co-operatives Research Unit, The Open University; Institute for Business Ethics, University of St Gallen, Liverpool Hope University, Third Sector Research Centre and CEEDR, Middlesex University and the University of Northampton.

Bob Doherty