Social enterprises are organizations and/or institution which provide services and goods with an aim of social economy development. This means that the main objectives of the organization are basically concentrated on empowering the society by developing some of the strategic means in reducing the challenges facing the community. Generally, most of the social enterprises can be characterized into three distinct groups which are “enterprise-oriented, social ownership, and social aim approaches” (Burns, 2016). Enterprise-oriented basically involves the normal process of goods production and redistribution of the product as service to the market. Social ownership involves redistribution of available gain profits and resources to the all the shareholders involved i.e. the community in general. Social aims have direct or certain objectives which they intending to fulfill in the community such as the provision of local services, training, job creation, and many others (Moulaert, 2013).
The main scope and/or aim of this article is to assess how social enterprise has attained recognition in Australia and majorly the challenges, exaggeration, and misrepresentation involved in the provision of sustainable opportunities. The paper will also examine the potential growth capabilities of the social enterprise sector through its integration in the available economic structures in Australia. One of the main limitations of the article is the lack of the needed responses from interviewees due to constraints in time.
Over the past few years, social enterprises have continued to gain popularity and likewise create a very competitive advantage over public, private, and majorly most of the profit sectors. According to the 2016 census on social enterprises in Australia, there is approximately more than 20,000 social enterprise intermediaries, social enterprise practitioners, and policymakers. Most of the economist argues that social enterprise is becoming one the fastest business trends that basically every company or business must be able to adapt in order to compete effectively in the diverse world market (Ridley-Duff and Bull, 2015). Through the social entrepreneurship, most of the businesses strategies are designed as approaches to solving problems in the community. With this, some of the methods used in the application of sustainability include in the business economy, environment, and generally assuring community development and interference of the respective cultures and practices (Crane and Matten, 2016). On the hand, maintaining financial sustainability is considered as one of the main challenges that most of the social enterprises are certainly project to face in their day-to-day operations.
The research was mainly carried out through interviewing involved stakeholders, observation of social enterprise establishments, and reviewing other secondary materials such as articles, journals, and other academic materials focusing on “Social Enterprises in and out of Australia”. With the willing audience, I was able to interview and also offer questionnaires which I later had a comparison of feedback report. The approach of the interviewees was based on factors such as age and social class level thus to be able to assess different cultural perspective and opinion of the social enterprise sector in the country.
The Australian government has been one of the major key players in encouraging and enabling the growth of social enterprises both as a part of community development and welfare service delivery. The emphasis on the development of the social enterprises can be mainly exhibited in various roles they play in the re-evaluation and creating opportunities in the communities. Some of the positive attributes and most of the social enterprise’s approach in Austral include employment and training, rural development, adult care services, childcare and health, renewable energy, financial inclusion, community regeneration, and others (Yakovleva, 2017). Basically, despite the different regions set-ups, there are four main challenges which are mainly involved. These are cultural barriers, poor clarity in the diversity of regions, inadequate number of support specialists (in matters such as taxation or any other legal issues), and financial sustainability (Moulaert, 2013). In order to maintain and boost the growth of social enterprises in Australia, these challenges must be adequately meet and majorly creating a better financial policy that supports the role of the sector in the economic development.
Social enterprises have continued to become a significant element in Australia economy. According to the labor statistics, the sector has employed twice the number of female managers and Australians with a disability. Example, more than 12% of the employees who are employed by Victorian social enterprises were considered jobless (Inyang, 2013). Also, most of the social enterprises have emphasized addressing social issues such as social exclusion or homelessness, through the application of business strategies. This has been majorly observed in most social enterprises operating cafes where disadvantaged youths, homeless people, and other secluded members of the community are trained and offered opportunities to enable themselves (Burns, 2016).
Apart from job creation, social enterprises have also been largely based on environment and social sustainability. Example, CERES Community Environment Park, is one of the major non-profit enterprises which lately lost the government as financial guarantor it to seek other donors. In general, social enterprises can be characterized as a major part of Australia economy, especially with the increasing revenue turnovers (Markman et al., 2016). From the primary data reports, almost 95% of the community member has been pleased by the approaches of social enterprises. Through the vocational training and employment opportunities, the social enterprises have significantly attributed to the increase of innovation, productivity, and opportunities, in the Australian economy.
With the increasing world market competition, social enterprises have established are a platform that not only exploits the community as a source of income but also it creates “an injection system” which allows the community to grow as a part of development. The social enterprises in Australia have portrayed one of the most ‘mature’ forms of business structures with the continuous increase of joint initiatives between Nonprofit sectors and social traders (Nga and Shamuganathan, 2010). Another significant impact of social enterprises is the promotion of high ethical and transformational qualities in Australia. With the growth social enterprises in almost every economic sector in Australia, a significant turnout of events is expected to be witnessed in the remedy of some of the current issues such as carbon gas emission and environmental sustainability. The resource redistribution back to the community is also one of the major impacts that have enhanced the justification of the decision-making process both on business perspective and on a social level (Inyang, 2013). This has created an increase of opportunities in the communities with also enhanced chances of one achieving his or her set goals and objectives.
One of the major misrepresented or misunderstood fact about social enterprises is that they are not after making any profit gain. This has mostly affected most of the social enterprises in the sustainability of competitive advantages over other business rivals (Crane and Matten, 2016). The community as part of the shareholder should be able to be educated on the best approaches to maximizing the advantages offered by the social enterprises. As stated earlier, financial sustainability can be considered one of the main challenges that probably faces every social enterprise organization in delivering sustainable and quality services and products. Both the local and federal governments should be able to implement policies and plans which offer any needed support and aid. According to the research, other business sectors are offered more privileged financial support than compared to most of the social enterprises due to the presence of financial risks and basically lack of the required moral understanding and recognition of corporate social responsibility (Mason and Doherty, 2016).
Conclusion
In summary, despite some of the few criticisms I encountered during interviews on the social enterprises as only part of ‘White Collar Lies’, many people have been contented on the strives that have continued to be seen in helping the community develop. The misrepresentation of the social enterprises is another issue that has influenced the income generation of the companies which has resulted in the stagnant growth of the sector. The government has a vital role in the creation and implementation of better plans and policies that will promote the adaptation promote and the growing social enterprises in Australia. Through this, the Australian governments will also improve the entire economy sustainability by allowing the injection of more resources back to the community and/or social welfare (Mason and Doherty, 2016).
References
Burns, P., 2016. Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Inyang, B.J., 2013. Defining the role engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in corporate social responsibility (CSR). International business research, 6(5), p.123.
Jain, P., Vyas, V. and Chalasani, D.P.S., 2016. Corporate social responsibility and financial performance in SMEs: A structural equation modeling approach. Global Business Review, 17(3), pp.630-653.
Markman, G.D., Russo, M., Lumpkin, G.T., Jennings, P.D. and Mair, J., 2016. Entrepreneurship as a platform for pursuing multiple goals: A special issue on sustainability, ethics, and entrepreneurship. Journal of Management Studies, 53(5), pp.673-694.
Mason, C. and Doherty, B., 2016. A fair trade-off? Paradoxes in the governance of fair-trade social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 136(3), pp.451-469.
Moulaert, F. ed., 2013. The international handbook on social innovation: collective action, social learning, and transdisciplinary research. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Nga, J.K.H. and Shamuganathan, G., 2010. The influence of personality traits and demographic factors on social entrepreneurship start up intentions. Journal of business ethics, 95(2), pp.259-282.
Ridley-Duff, R. and Bull, M., 2015. Understanding social enterprise: Theory and practice. Sage.
Yakovleva, N., 2017. Corporate social responsibility in the mining industries. Routledge.
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