The aim of this thesis is to analyze the current situation of social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic. It emphasizes the importance of social economy, the field between the public sector and the private market sector. This thesis is interested in existing companies which consider themselves as "social" and describes their common features. It presents the social companies' founding years, what their legal forms are, their areas of business and why they consider themselves social. This paper also examines social entrepreneurship in an international context, it endeavours to identify where and how the Czech Republic could inspire itself to improve. Social entrepreneurship in Ireland is analyzed in detail according to the same criteria as social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic. The purpose of this work is to create an overview of social entrepreneurship.

Cette thèse s'intéresse au concept d'entrepreneuriat social qui combine un projet économique et une finalité sociale. Durant les premières étapes de développement du projet, les startups sociales sont souvent confrontées à une évolution de leur business model (BM) pour faire face aux contraintes organisationnelles mais également aux menaces et aux opportunités de leur environnement. Notre objectif dans cette recherche est d'identifier les mécanismes qui permettent de concilier l'« économique » et le « social » à travers la problématique suivante : comment garder l'équilibre entre la dimension économique et la dimension sociale du BM de l'entreprise sociale face à son environnement ? Ainsi, nous avons mobilisé une approche mixte (contenu et processus) pour étudier l'évolution du BM des startups sociales. Cela nous a permis de répondre aux questions subsidiaires du « pourquoi » et « comment » ainsi du « quoi » de l'évolution du BM des entreprises sociales. Pour répondre à cette problématique, nous adoptons une approche qualitative par une étude comparative de startups sociales des TIC (technologies de l'information et de la communication) en France et au Sénégal. Les données collectées par entretiens semi-directifs (55 au total) et lors d'évènements (meet-up, conférences, panels, salons, etc.) sont enrichies de données secondaires (sites web, documents internes, rapports, etc.). Ce corpus de données a fait l'objet d'un traitement avec le logiciel Nvivo 11. Les résultats de ce travail de recherche peuvent être déclinés comme suit : D'abord, notre recherche enrichit la littérature de nouveaux facteurs externes et internes qui influencent l'évolution du business model à savoir la levée de fonds, les subventions, l'augmentation de l'impact social et l'autonomie financière. Ensuite, nous avons identifié les éléments du BM qui évoluent avec les phases de développement des startups de même que leurs logiques d'évolution. Puis, notre principale contribution consiste en l'identification des principaux mécanismes qui peuvent permettre de garder un bon équilibre entre la dimension économique et la dimension sociale du BM lorsque ce dernier évolue. Enfin, nos résultats montrent les différences et les similitudes de l'évolution des BM des cas en France et au Sénégal en analysant leur écosystème entrepreneurial. / This thesis focuses on the concept of social entrepreneurship, which combines an economic project and a social purpose. During the early stages of project development, social startups often face challenges in their business model (BM) due to organizational constraints, but also threats and opportunities of their environment. Our goal in this research is to identify the mechanisms that allow to reconcile the 'economic' and 'social' through the following issue: How to keep balance between the economic and the social dimension of social enterprise's BM in the face of its environment? Thus, we have mobilized a mixed approach (content and process) to study the evolution of the BM of social startups. This has allowed us to meet the ancillary issues of the 'why' and 'how' as well as the "what" of the evolution of the BM of social enterprises. To answer our research question, we have adopted a qualitative approach by conducting a comparative study of social startups of ICT (information and communication technologies) in France and Senegal. Fifty five (55) in-depth interviews supplemented with secondary data (websites, internal documents, reports, etc.) was analyzed thanks to the assistance of the software Nvivo 11. As regards our results : first, our research enriches the literature of new internal and external factors that influence the evolution of the BM like fundraising, grants, the increase of the social impact and financial independence. Second, we have identified the elements of the BM that change with the startups development phases, as well as their logical evolution. On the other hand, our main contribution remains on the identification of main mechanisms that can allow to keep a good balance between the economic dimension and the social dimension of the BM when the latter evolves. Finally, our results show the differences and similarities in the evolution of the BM between the Senegal and France thanks to their entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As an effect of the neoliberalist development, the public sector has outsourced the provision of some public services to the private and the third sector. This has led to the expansion of the latter, and a more central position of the actors related to it; among them the social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur has the objective of creating social impact, while adopting a more business-like approach. This is often a way of achieving financial sustainability or competitive advantage.The aim of this thesis is twofold; first of all, to explore the concept of social entrepreneurship, what it entails and how it is applied. Secondly, it is viewed from the more concrete perspective of the role of a social entrepreneur. In order to operationalise the research, the role of a social entrepreneur is contemplated on in relation to one specific actor, namely Stadsbruk. They are an incubator for commercial urban farmers, with ambition of creating social impact on several levels. The discussion treats how they, as a social entrepreneurial actor, stand in relation to the public sector, the power structure it creates and their position in the urban context, primarily concerning aspects of space and power.The findings of this study indicate that there needs to be a balance between entrepreneurial ambitions and objectives of creating a social impact for an actor to qualify as a social entrepreneur. As the field of research on social entrepreneurship is in a pre-paradigmatic state, it is reasonable to expect that the concept will be more clearly defined if or when the paradigm is set. Moreover, theories on narratives shaping the paradigm of social entrepreneurship suggest that there are different trajectories. However, one might also consider re-evaluating the concept of a traditional entrepreneur; the social entrepreneur could simply be a more holistic approach to entrepreneurship in general. Finally, the activities of a social entrepreneur are often related to that of the public sector. The results of the research imply a power structure, in which the social entrepreneur (in the case of this study Stadsbruk) are subordinate the public sector, due to structures of dependency, etc. This also relates to Massey’s theory on power relations in connection to space; power-geometry. An actor like Stadsbruk are positioned in the urban context, in which to struggles and relations of power and aspects of space are inevitable.

Recently, there has been a growth in digital technology use and an upward trend in the adoption and use of social media by individuals and corporations, changing the way people communicate and interact. Despite this evolution, little is known about how the adoption of online social interaction affects entrepreneurial processes, especially opportunity evaluation. This empirical study sought to fill the gap in the literature by investigating the effect of social interaction via social media on opportunity evaluation. In reviewing the studies done on opportunity evaluation as indicated in the paper by Wood and Mckelvie (2015), it would seem that the effect of online social interaction on opportunity evaluation has not been studied and hence, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, there was no model in the literature to measure the effect. The study used a mixed-method approach. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from a random sample of young entrepreneurs in Ghana. The questions were evaluated with SPSS and later exported to STATA for data analysis. Factor analysis and various normality tests were performed to ensure the accuracy of the data. A total of 383 questionnaires were analysed. This was then followed by key informant interviews with 13 entrepreneurs, and the analysis done using Nvivo 11. The main contribution of this research is the development of a model that measures the effect of online social interaction on opportunity evaluation. The study found that online social interaction helps entrepreneurs build networks which subsequently has an impact on opportunity evaluation either directly, or indirectly through mediation by resource availability. This study has made an important contribution to practice by showing the positive effect that basic tools that aid daily activities, like social media, has on entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation. ii It is recommended that future research understands other factors that may facilitate the opportunity evaluation process and the extent to which those factors facilitate the opportunity evaluation process, as this may lead to better insight with regards to targeting entrepreneurial training for optimum results. The use of the mediation analysis process was adopted for this study because of evidence from other disciplines that suggest the efficacy of targeting interventions at the intermediate process. Using this approach for future studies will help target interventions, taking into consideration mediation mechanisms for more impact. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B. L.

Community-based tourism (CBT), according to Dodds, R. Ali, A. & Galaski, K. (2016), has historically been developed based on a host community’s assets and objectives due to the fact that the "core of CBT planning has been to determine how best to use it as a development tool." As a result, the established CBT development model typically prioritizes community potential as supply at the expense of the market potential of tourism (demand), disregarding to a certain extent the commercial aspects of tourism. From this perspective, questions regarding product strategy, idea generation, business analysis, and how cross-sectoral knowledge production and exchange can strengthen the sustainability and viability of the CBT product have not yet been fully answered in academic literature. This paper builds on the academic literature regarding market access and is further supported by interviews and participant observation conducted in Brazil. This research indicates that these analyses should be complemented with additional questions about product development, capacity-building, knowledge co-production, collaborative networking, and more. The business life cycle of CBT could be considered a foundational pillar in understanding the business viability of community-based tourism projects, and therefore, the expected findings of this study include the proposal of an amended CBT model and practical recommendations that may be implemented into existing CBT projects. / Le tourisme communautaire (CBT), selon Dodds, R. Ali, A. et Galaski, K. (2016), a été largement développé sur la base des atouts et des objectifs d'une communauté en raison du fait que le en raison du fait que “le cœur de la planification de le tourisme communautaire a été de déterminer la meilleure façon de l'utiliser comme outil de développement” (p. 16). En conséquence, le développement du CBT a donné la priorité au potentiel communautaire (offre) au détriment du potentiel touristique (demande), sans tenir compte, dans une certaine mesure, des aspects commerciaux du tourisme. Dans cette perspective, les questions concernant la stratégie de produit, la génération d'idées, l'analyse commerciale et les moyens par lesquels la production et l'échange de connaissances intersectorielles peuvent renforcer la durabilité et la viabilité du produit CBT n'ont pas encore trouvé de réponse complète dans la littérature universitaire. Bien que les analyses concernant l'accès aux marchés soient abondantes dans la littérature (Dodds et al. 2016; Mitchell & Hall, 2005; Mitchell & Muckosy, 2008; Forstner, 2004; Iorio & Corsale, 2014), cet article, informé par des entretiens semi-structurés et l'observation des participants menée pendant le séjour de deux ans de l'auteur au Brésil, soutient que ces analyses devraient être complétées par des questions supplémentaires sur le développement de produits, la formation des capacités, la coproduction de connaissances, le réseautage collaboratif et plus encore. Le cycle de vie des entreprises du tourisme communautaire pourrait être considéré comme un pilier fondamental de la compréhension de la viabilité commerciale des projets de tourisme communautaire, et par conséquent, les conclusions attendues de cette étude incluent la proposition d'un modèle CBT modifié et des recommandations pratiques qui pourraient être mises en œuvre. dans les projets CBT existants. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The theme of the social economy is currently very topical at EU level and therefore in its member states. The emphasisis is on supporting development of social economy, because creates new jobs and leads to economic growth. The thesis aim is to describe the forms of promotion the social economy by EU institutions and their bodies, which is provided in the context of EU employment policy in period 2010-2015. The thesis identifies both forms of support and also justificatin in documents of european institutions and the supprort of social economy in Czech Republic.

Bc. Pavla Svobodová: Financial resources of social enterprises - vision and reality (2012) Abstract The theme of my thesis is looking into problems with social enterprise financing. Well set up concept of social enterprise financing is equally maintained with it's importance in foreign countries as well as the Czech republic. Based on research, my aim was to find the ideal concept of social enterprise financing and to test it on a chosen sample of Czech social enterprises. In the section "Social enterprise in the third sector and its funding" I explain the overview of financial definitions of foreign social enterprise and their focus on the funding. In here I am also deciding on my own perception of this issue - well mainly the ideal funding resources for social enterprise. This section also covers a "lighter" version of the ideal concept of social enterprise financing from a Czech point of view and explains various studies focusing on social enterprise financing currently available. The empirical section focuses on analysis of financing of chosen social enterprises and verifies the ideal concept in the Czech republic. The escalation of my thesis is a devised proposal which could seriously support the financial stability for Czech social enterprise.

Dans un contexte où les procédés industriels polluants et mobilisant des ressources non renouvelables sont sans cesse remis en cause, des modifications structurelles en vue de mettre en place des modes de production durables et d’assoir la croissance sur une base pérenne, s’imposent notamment aux pays en développement dans leurs stratégies d’industrialisation.Dans ce contexte, la valorisation de la spiruline, une ressource naturelle renouvelable, à usage multiple et aux propriétés exceptionnelles s’inscrit dans cette logique.Outre ses vertus thérapeutiques et nutritionnelles, la spiruline est non seulement sans danger pour l’environnement, mais elle présente également un intérêt écologique du fait de ses propriétés photosynthétiques.Sur le plan socio-économique, la spiruline pourrait apporter une réponse significative aux problèmes du sous-développement et notamment la malnutrition et la pauvreté. En effet, sa valorisation permet de générer des revenus réguliers aux personnes qui s’y emploient et permet ainsi, l’autonomisation financière des couches vulnérables.Aujourd’hui, la valorisation de la spiruline se répand un peu partout en Afrique mais la viabilité et le succès des projets dépendent de divers défis à relever.L’objectif de notre travail est donc de montrer en quoi, comment et sous quelles conditions les stratégies de développement durable basées sur la valorisation de la spiruline peuvent être un vecteur de développement pour les pays d’Afrique Subsaharienne. / In a context of major questioning about polluting industrial processes and mobilising non-renewable resources, structural modifications in order to set up sustainable production methods and to establish the economical growth in a long-term base, are namely necessary for african countries in their development stratégies.In this way, spirulina valorisation, a renewable resource, for multiple use and with outstanding properties, belongs in this logical.Besides its therapeutic values and nutritional qualities, spirulina is not only safe for environment, but also it presents interest due to photosynthesis.In terms of socio-economics, spirulina could bring significant response to underdevelopment problems, and namely malnutrition and poverty. Indeed, its valorisation permit to generate regular incomes to the persons who work in and also, permit financial empowerment of vulnerable population groups.Nowadays, spirulina valorisation spread accross Africa but continuity and succes of spirulina projects depend on various challenges to be met.Therefore, the aim of this work is to demonstrate in what way, how and under which conditions, sustainable development strategies based on spirulina valorisation can be a vector of development for Subsahara Africa countries.

Un nombre croissant d'organisations veut s'engager pleinement dans une pratique plus responsable des affaires, et tente de réformer profondément leur mode de fonctionnement. Pour ceux-ci, ce projet fait l’hypothèse que la société toute entière a le devoir de mettre en œuvre les mesures, attitudes et initiatives qui favoriseront le changement de comportement et de pratique. Alors que le public accroît son exigence quant à l’éthique associée aux produits qu’il consomme et que les gouvernements s’attellent à établir des limites réglementaires pour encadrer les pratiques, ce travail participe à apporter la contribution de la communauté académique en proposant des conseils aux organisations sur la façon de rompre avec les pratiques usuelles pour créer et s'approprier une stratégie d'entreprise qui intègre les paramètres de soutenabilité. À cette fin, il étudie comment les organisations peuvent intégrer efficacement les paramètres de soutenabilité dans leur stratégie d'entreprise, et identifie de nouvelles ressources, processus et incitateurs qui peuvent favoriser le changement vers une pratique plus responsable des affaires. / An increasing number of organizations want to commit fully to a more sustainable practice of business, and attempt to profoundly change the way they operate. For those, it is the assumption of the work that the whole society has a duty to implement measures, attitudes and initiatives that will foster the change of behavior and practice. While people steeply increase their demand for responsible practice and governments draw boundaries within which to operate, this work contributes to fulfilling the academia’s duty, by offering guidance to organizations on how to move out of business – as - usual to create and appropriate a corporate strategy that integrates sustainability considerations. For the purpose, it investigates how organizations can effectively integrate sustainability considerations into their inner corporate strategy, and identifies new resources, processes and incentives that can foster the change towards a more responsible practice of business.

AbstractBackground: Among the biggest threats to mankind are various environmental problems which have been mainly triggered by human interference with the planet. There have been various ineffective efforts to mitigate these detrimental effects. Therefore, another solution might come in the form of social enterprises tackling the aforesaid environmental problems. However, to increase the impact, they need to scale up. It is therefore of paramount importance to understand their major scale-up challenges as well as proposed solutions to scale up successfully. Along with that, we also scrutinize further scale-up opportunities to uncover the hidden potential of scaling up. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between social enterprises and their power to tackle environmental problems. We further build on what social enterprises tackling environmental problems must do to mitigate identified scale-up challenges successfully and to be able to seize any scale-up opportunity that comes their way with the main aim of scaling up their positive environmental impact.Method: Ontology – Relativism; Epistemology – Social Constructionism; Strategy –Qualitative, Exploratory; Approach – Inductive; Design – Grounded theory; Data Collection –10 semi-structured interviews; Sampling – Purposive, snowball; Data Analysis – Grounded AnalysisConclusion: Several factors hinder scaling up and solutions to those lie mainly in four key concepts i.e. business idea, value proposition, competency and collaboration. That has been presented in our proposed model (The Hot Air Balloon Model of Scaling Up). We believe that if these four key concepts are well addressed by SEEPs, they are likelier to overcome challenges as well as are in a better position to attract opportunities. Successful scale-up leads to better financial performance along with the overall objective of scaling up the positive environmental impact.