Limits to Social Entrepreneurship:

A Case of CBOs in Iganga District

Presented at the 3rd International Conference Nitte- India 2013

Prof. Waswa Balunywa, PhDMakerere University Business School

International Organizations

Paper StructureO IntroductionO The problemO Objectives of the StudyO Theoretical FrameworkO LiteratureO Methods and SampleO Findings and DiscussionO ConclusionsO Recommendations

IntroductionO An increasing rise in social

entrepreneurship worldwide.O Social entrepreneurship is

complimenting government effort to spearhead development.

O Social problems are world wide but more in the developing countries.

O Social problems go beyond social needs to employment needs.

Introduction con’tO Social entrepreneurship practiced by

international and local organizationsO International include , Oxfam, CARE etc

commonly referred to as non –governmental organizations(NGOs)

O National level NGOs in Uganda include, TASO, Aids Information Centre

O Registered as companies limited by guarantee

Introduction con’tO Local Non-Government Organizations

known as Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Uganda

O Registered at the district levelO Registration renewed annually O May be started by an individual or group

of individuals

The ProblemO In the developing countries, vulnerable

people continue to be marginalized/ exploited

O Government has responsibility and programmes to support them

O The programmes are not sufficient to address problems of vulnerable communities.

O Social enterprises are coming up to address social problems.

Objectives of the study

O Do the founders of CBOs aim at social goals?

O Do the activities undertaken lead to value creation other than appropriation ?

O Are the activities of the CBOs, those that would have been performed by government

O Do social entrepreneurs operate with a target beneficiary in mind?

Theoretical Framework

Theory of Positive Social EntrepreneurshipOSantos (2010) proposes a positive theory of social entrepreneurship to explain the emergence and activities of social entrepreneursOBased on modern economic theory of perfect market conditions and pursuit of profits, that leads to efficient allocation of resources as dictated by economic forces OBut economic units may develop anticompetitive practices or abuse their dominant positions creating need for regulation.

Theoretical Framework

O Government will regulate and address consequences positive or negative that arise from dysfunctional economic systems

O Governments may not be able to do all, hence charitable institutions

O Charitable institutions are motivated by social aims

O All organizations have similar intentions

O They are either value creating or value appropriating

Literature O Social entrepreneurship is entrepreneurial

activity with an embedded social purpose (Austin et.,al 2006)

O Entrepreneurship with a social mission (Dees, 2001)

O Social entrepreneurship is emerging from the need to address social problems that government fails to address (Santos 2010)

O Social entrepreneurship is replacing philanthropy

O Social entrepreneurship may be in profit seeking or non-profit seeking activities

Zahra et., al , Mayir and Marti 2006,

literature cont’d O For the profit seeking activities, the profit will be used for social aims

rather than for the individualO Philanthropy is donations by those who have to those who do not

have.O It is corporate social responsibility in organizationsO Non Government Organizations have emerged to solve social

problems.

O These include international and local NGOs

O Philanthropy is being substituted by social entrepreneurship

O Social entrepreneurship is entrepreneurs addressing social problems through surpluses created from their activities

MethodsO An exploratory study

O Qualitative methods

O Data collected using In-depth interviews

O Data collected using focus groups

O List of registered CBOs obtained from District Community Development Officer

O Selected 6 CBOs from each of the 6 sub-counties in Iganga District.

Study PopulationO Community Based Organizations (CBOs)

in Iganga districtO Obtained lists from district community

officerO Selected randomly 6 CBOs in each of the

6 sub counties in the districtO Conducted in-depth interviews with the

executives of the CBOs and some members

Findings O District has over 400 registered CBOs

O Number of registered CBOs varies from year to year depending on who has registered

O Some continue to operate even if they are not registered in a particular year

Findings Contd…O A total of 28 CBOs were interviewed

O 87 people were interviewed in CBOs

O On average 3 members per group.

O Focus Group interviews were conductedO Average life of CBOs 3 years

Findings cont’dDo the founders of CBOs aim at social

goals?O The following were identified as the

objectives of setting up the CBOsO To occupy oneselfO To tap into financial resources of

government and donorsO To provide educationO To educate people about HIV/AIDS

Findings cont’dDo the activities undertaken lead to value

creation other than appropriation ? O The CBOs render advice to people they

demonstrate activities like agricultural farming

O They distribute seedlings, mosquitoes nets, they conduct training

Findings cont’d

Are the activities of the CBOs, those that would have been performed by government

O The CBOs render advice to people they demonstrate activities like agricultural farming

O They distribute seedlings, mosquitoes nets, they conduct training

O These are activities ordinarily performed by government

Findings cont’dDo social entrepreneurs operate with a

target beneficiary in mind?O The targeted groups include poor

people, women, low income communities, youth

Discussion O The objectives of set up appear to be

primarily to serve interests of founders who wanted to get into employment or were seeking finances form donors and government

O The activities of the CBOs are those that fall in the realm of government activities

O CBOs appear unable to mobilize own resources

O CBOs appear to be short lived and as many do not register annually.

Conclusions O CBOs aim to perform those activities

that are ordinarily performed by government

O CBOs intend to serve vulnerable people who ordinarily would be served by government

O CBO founders exploit social needs in society but have intentions of serving social aims

Recommendations O Need for more regulation especially at

start up and registrationO Registered CBOs should demonstrate

abilities to perform activities planned