Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of Culture, Community, Communications, and Leadership on Social Enterprises Effectiveness in Africa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Innovation, Technology, and Market Ecosystems

Abstract

This chapter examines the factors that contribute to enhancing social enterprises effectiveness in African context. Using Identity theory which is based on symbolic interactionism and assumes that society shapes social behavior, this study proposes the four pertinent factors—culture, community, communications, and leadership—that managers need to pay attention in order to enhance social enterprise effectiveness. These factors contribute to literature by offering the promise of empowering marginalized segments of populations in Africa through social enterprises. This study has a few recommendations for social enterprise managers and policymakers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amendola, A., Garofalo, M. R., & Nese, A. (2011). Is the third sector an emerging economic institution? Social preferences versus poverty traps. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(5), 850–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagnoli, L., & Megali, C. (2011). Measuring performance in social enterprises. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(1), 149–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battilana, J., & Dorado, S. (2010). Building sustainable hybrid organizations: The case of commercial microfinance organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1419–1440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berthon, P., Pitt, L., Plangeer, K., & Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Journal of Business Horizons, 55(3), 261–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertotti, M., Sheridan, K., Tobi, P., Renton, A., & Leahy, G. (2011). Measuring the impact of social enterprises. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 17(4), 152–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosman, N., Schøtt, T., Terjesen, S., & Kew, P. (2016). Global entrepreneurship monitor. Special topic report. Social entrepreneurship.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, E. (2012). Working the crowd. London: BCS, Chartered Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, A. (2016). Personal wellbeing of participants of social purpose enterprises: The influence of social support. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, 27(4), 1718–1741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, E., & Pesci, C. (2016). Social impact measurement: Why do stakeholders matter? Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 7(1), 99–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkington, J., & Hartigan, P. (2008). The power of unreasonable people: How social entrepreneurs create markets that change the world. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galvin, M., & Iannotti, L. (2015). Social Enterprise and Development: The KickStart Model. International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, 26(2), 421–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Given, L., Forcier, E., & Rathi, D. (2013). Social media and community knowledge: An ideal partnership for non-profit organizations. In Proceedings of the 76th annual meeting of the association for information science and technology: Beyond the cloud: Rethinking information boundaries (Vol. 50, 1st ed., pp. 1–11). Silver Spring, MD: Association for Information Science and Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gugerty, M. K. (2010). The emergence of nonprofit self-regulation in Africa. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39(6), 1087–1112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansmann, H. (1980). The role of nonprofit enterprise. The Yale Law Journal, 89(5), 835–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, R., Brooksbank, D., Hart, M., Jones-Evans, D., Levie, J., O’Reilly, M., et al. (2005). Global entrepreneurship monitor report. United Kingdom: London Business School. Science and Technology, 50(1), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haugh, H. (2005). A research agenda for social entrepreneurship. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmsing, B. (2015). Conditions for social entrepreneurship. International Journal of Social Quality, 5(1), 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbst, J. (2000). States and power in Africa: Comparative lessons in authority and control. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herskovits, M. J. (1969). Cultural anthropology. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, G., & Finnie, J. (2010). Succeeding at social enterprise: Hard-won lessons for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1983). The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 14(2), 75–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House, R. J., Hanges, R. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, R. W., & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, leadership, and organisations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund. (2013). World economic outlook database. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2013/01/weodata/index.aspx

  • Kane, G. C. (2017). The evolutionary implications of social media for organizational knowledge management. Information and Organization, 27(1), 37–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanter, R. M., & Summers, D. V. (1987). Doing well while doing good: Dilemmas of performance measurement in non-profit organizations and the need for a multiple constituency approach. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (pp. 154–166). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kastanakis, M., & Voyer, B. G. (2014). The effect of cultural on perception and cognition: A conceptual framework. Journal of Business Research, 67(4), 425–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerlin, J. A. (2006). Social enterprise in the United States and Europe: Understanding and learning from the differences. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 17, 247–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc, R. P., & Herndon Jr., N. C. (2001). Cross-cultural consumer decisions: Consideration sets – A marketing universal? Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 19(7), 500–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch Jr., K., & Walls, J. (2009). Mission, Inc.: The practitioners guide to social enterprise. The social venture network series. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41, 36–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangaliso, M. P. (2001). Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu: Management lessons from South Africa. Academy of Management Executive, 15(3), 23–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeill, L. S., Fam, K. S., & Chung, K. (2014). Applying transaction utility theory to sales promotion – The impact of culture on consumer satisfaction. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 24(2), 166–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michon, R., & Chebat, J. C. (2004). Cross-cultural mall shopping values and habitats: A comparison between English-and French-speaking Canadians. Journal of Business Research, 57(8), 883–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, T. L., Grimes, M. G., McMullen, J. S., & Timothy, J. V. (2012). Venturing for others with heart and head: How compassion encourages social entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Review, 37(4), 616–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirvis, P., & Googins, B. (2018). Catalyzing social entrepreneurship in Africa: Roles for western universities, NGOs and corporations. Africa Journal of Management, 4(1), 57–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moizer, J., & Tracey, P. (2010). Strategy making in social enterprise: The role of resource allocation and its effects on organizational sustainability. Systems Research and Behavioural Science, 27(3), 252–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nebergall, R. E. (1966). The social judgment-involvement approach to attitude and attitude change. Western Speech, 30, 209–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell, S., & Jeong, I. (2000). Marketing standardization within global industries: An empirical study of performance implications. International Marketing Review, 17(1), 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel, L., & Wilson, T. (2004). Civic service in sub-Saharan Africa. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(4), 22–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pless, N. M. (2012). Social entrepreneurship in theory and practice – An introduction. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 317–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rana, D. K., & Sharma, N. (2013). Culture and psychopathology. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 121–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivera-Santos, M., Holt, D., Littlewood, D., & Kolk, A. (2015). Social entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(1), 72–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, D., Piller, F., & Luttegens, D. (2016). Mapping the impact of social media for innovation: The role of social media in explaining innovation performance in the PDMA Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(51), 117–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, A. L. (2009). National versus ethnic identity in Africa: State, group, and individual level correlates of national identification. Afrobarometer Working Papers, 112. Cape Town: Afrobarometer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakarya, S., Bodur, M., Yildirim-Ă–ktem, Ă–., & Selekler-Göksen, N. (2012). Social alliances: Business and social enterprise collaboration for social transformation. Journal of Business Research, 65(12), 1710–1720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, F. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 335–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saxunova, D., & Schurmann (NĂ­zka), H. M. (2011). Slovak businesses dealing with social services and inspiration for Slovakia from abroad. In Change management in a dynamic environment (pp. 39–50). Bucharest: Niculescu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxunova, D., & Schurmann (NĂ­zka), H. M. (2015). The potential of social services. FAIMA Business & Management Journal, 3(3), 60–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2005). Social entrepreneurship: Creating new business models to serve the poor. Business Horizons, 48(3), 241–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (1980). Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin Cummings.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S., & Burke, P. J. (2000). The past, present, and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(4), 284–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanepoel, T., & Thomas, K. (2012). Malicious MXit? South African adolescents’ use of mobile-based communication applications. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 24(2), 117–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorgren, S., & Omorede, A. (2015). Passionate leaders in social entrepreneurship: Exploring an African context. Business & Society, 57(3), 481–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, P. H., Ocasio, W., & Lounsbury, M. (2012). The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure, and process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C. (2001). The study of cross cultural management and organization: The future. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 1(1), 17–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, A. (2004). Enterprise and skills and enterprise learning. The Journal of Futures Studies, Strategic Thinking and Policy, 6(2), 104.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, A. (2014). Ubuntu and business ethics: Problems, perspectives and prospects. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 47–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yunus, M. (2011). Building social business: The new kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate and acknowledge research support provided by Chair Rosalie Harms and Dean Hugh Grant, Department of Business and Administration and Faculty of Business and Economics, respectively, at the University of Winnipeg, Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Satyendra Singh & Kamel Fantazy

  2. Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Darina Saxunova

  3. United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya

    Peter M. Lewa

Authors
  1. Satyendra Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kamel Fantazy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Darina Saxunova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter M. Lewa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satyendra Singh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. EGADE Business School, Mexico City, Mexico

    Rajagopal

  2. International Management Institute, Bhubaneswar, India

    Ramesh Behl

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Singh, S., Fantazy, K., Saxunova, D., Lewa, P.M. (2020). Impact of Culture, Community, Communications, and Leadership on Social Enterprises Effectiveness in Africa. In: Rajagopal, Behl, R. (eds) Innovation, Technology, and Market Ecosystems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23010-4_20

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation