Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden - Literature review Example

Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden Contents Introduction 2 Social Entrepreneurship and Governments 3 Marxism, Capitalistic Businesses and Social Entrepreneurship 4 Social Entrepreneurship and Societal Strength 4 Social Responsibility and Economic Development 5 Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden 6 Partial Industrialization and Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden 7 Governmental Support and Social Entrepreneurship 8 Soul of Social Entrepreneurship 8 Findings 9 Conclusion 11 References 12 Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden Introduction Social Entrepreneurship is referred to as a business activity that has been initiated in order to benefit the public at large (Mort, Weerawardena, & Carnegie, 2003). The traditional and conventional goals and objectives of the business are not served but social entrepreneurs look to serve public interests and attempt to better and enrich life in a particular region, country and society (Peredo & Mclean, 2006). However, social entrepreneurship is considered exact opposite of capitalistic commerce (Alvord, Brown, & Letts, 2004). The former form of business tend to decrease economic differences in the community by paying higher wages to employees whereas, it also participates in other informal activities to cause the society to grow (Weerawardena & Mort, 2006). The latterly mentioned one is the business typology that has been conceived in order to flare up economic and political differences in the communal systems of the world. The communal difference aggravate as traditional businesses work to serve the needs and wants of a few capitalists at the expense of pressing and suppressing needs and privileges of the majority respectively. The whole idea behind social entrepreneurship is to assist less fortunate population to emerge and attain respectable social positions in the economy. The modern companies urge to become socially active organizations by incorporating the noble notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (Baron, 2007). The CSR is no doubt a concept that considers an organization as a citizen of the society and requires more valiant contributions from it due to its size and volume of resources that organization usually have on its disposal (Seelos & Mair, 2005). There is a distinct differentiation between usual type of business and social entrepreneurship and that lies within the ability of the company to fulfill its promises and pledges of working for the betterment of the society. In major number of cases, social entrepreneurial activities occur in those sorts of socio-political systems where governments fail to do their job of bettering the living standards of the local citizens. Social Entrepreneurship and Governments In response to lethargic behavior of political leadership, business community step forward in order to help the poor in raising their living standards (Korosec & Berman, 2006). Traditionally, corporate sectors of those nations with weak governmental social strength do not pay taxes and evade tax policies in order to save money and the saved amounts are then used to provide services to the general public. However, the companies that evade taxation and provide welfare to the public are more like Robin Hood of the modern times (Franko, Tolbert, & Witko, 2013). The companies which provide social services to the disadvantaged population argue that governments work only to protect the interests of the capitalists and therefore, cause economic and social disparity to enhance in the society. The works of Max Weber are known to back the fundamental logical grounds of social entrepreneurship (Thompson, Alvy, & Lees, 2000). The sociologist and foremost economist of his era profoundly established the fact that governments throughout the world exert themselves to help capitalistic hands in terms of meeting their goals and objectives of becoming richer but the money is often earned by making the unfortunate more poor. Marxism, Capitalistic Businesses and Social Entrepreneurship Nevertheless, Marxism is used to support the mindset which states that governments must assist the capitalist in the process of making more money and then the capitalist will eventually expend his or her money for the benefit of the society (Shaw, 2009). The allegations of Max Weber were carried forward by Theodor Arondo who claimed that government must have the power and authority which must supersede those of the capitalists. The message of Thedores work was welcomed by the developed nations of the world and that was why, they tightened their tax policy in order to forcibly and legally compel the capitalists towards playing their due role in the betterment of the community. Theodor viewed government as a mechanism that must work for the betterment of the society. The modern economists stood by the abovementioned philosophical description of governmental role in the process of national development and growth (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2000). Little number of governmental systems did not get the message of Theodor and they continued the old and conventional regime in which they were supposed to meet their own political and economic agendas while helping the capitalist in the journey of accumulating more wealth. These societies provided an ideal avenue for the growth of social entrepreneurship where tax funds were not utilized on helping the poor and they were also illegally deployed in order help the cause of the capitalist. Social Entrepreneurship and Societal Strength Social entrepreneurial endeavors are sponsored by people who want their society to flourish (Hemingway, 2005). They take charge of the national situation and attempt to balance financial power amongst various social classes of the society so that communal differences can be minimized. The social entreprenuership is not an easy business to engage in and therefore, one must have strong monetary position along with social status before emerging as socialistic business-professional. Social Responsibility and Economic Development The community of nations is divided into two distinct types. The first sort contains country which have effectively deployed views of Theodor and transformed their governments into public-serving systems. These systems work day in and day out in order to better the living standards of the community. The successfulness of developed nations in terms of lifting living standards of the local population is strongly evident in the form of exceptional literacy and employment rates in the societies. The commitment to law and order in people of advanced nations is also a commendable and praiseworthy phenomenon (Arnolda & Sikkab, 2001). The second typology of nations include national systems which turned a blind eye in the direction of suggestions and recommendations made by Theodore and failed to make their taxation net effective regarding its ability and power to force capitalist into contributing in the process of national development. The lower literacy and employment rates are evident of local governments incapability of bettering living conditions of the local population. The formerly mentioned type of nations do not provide ideal conditions for the propagation of social entrepreneurship but the latterly discussed ones do because duty of public welfare is most significantly performed by private parties in that sort of economic setting. Based on the previous discussion, social entrepreneurship happens when private parties step forth in order to take up the responsibility of serving public interests and that usually take place after governments cannot keep their promises of providing positive living conditions to the public. Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden The economic conditions of Sweden are not flourishing and due to this reason, the country is not considered a developed one despite having a modern infrastructure (Spear, 2006). The corporate sector of the nation and governmental offices are working together in order to better the community. The tax regime of the Swedish nation is extremely relaxed and the political leadership is counting on corporate sectors ability to serve the public interest (Aaberge, Colombino, & Strøm, 2000). The Swedish government has effectively privatized its duty of helping the general public. Sweden is using the notion of social entrepreneurship to its advantage but other governments around the world are not so conducive towards the concept. In other parts of the world, social entrepreneurship is considered equivalent to challenging the rid of the government and therefore, the trend is met by due force. Usually, the socially active businesses are taxed on a higher so that their practices can be regulated strictly. The strictness of tax regime is used against social entrepreneurships in national systems where governments are working in order to benefit the capitalist from under the table. The governments of developed and advanced nations are known for trying to impress the local businesses to work for the development of the society under the head of Corporate Social Responsibility (Gjølberg, 2010). The Swedish society remained a developing one because of its inability to transcend industrialization within its very fabric. The country lagged behind even further from other nations when it has to work with the neglected trend of industrialization. Partial Industrialization and Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden Nowadays, Swedens destiny is about to change because Western countries are running out of production capacity on a growing basis and it is only a matter of time before they have to outsource production facilities to other nations (Johannisson, 1991). The existing international production hub of India is a difficult place to work with due to notable and significant cultural differences and the multinationals have to train the locals before actually shifting their production to the country. Sweden does not have these kinds of problems and in addition, it has excessive production capacity to offer to the international community of nations. All Sweden needs to do is to invest in mass production technologies in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment in the form of outsourced production facilities (Ivarsson & Jonsson, 2003). The country is surely engaged in the effort of developing its industries and government is planning to seed outsourced production units of multinationals in the near future. The first step has already been taken as interest rate in the local economy is being driven down in order to attract as much foreign investment as possible. The social entrepreneurship is on the rise in the country because local government has taken the bold measure of inviting local businessman to play his role in the process of national development but the change that is taking place in the economy is of long term nature and its success is dependent on the power of local government to attract investments from other nations. The goal of social entrepreneurship is to work for the betterment of the society by the removal of social and economic differences in the society. The key concern of socially active business is to challenge the preexisting mindset of corporate culture that states that societies must work to help the capitalist in the process of achieving his or her goals (Turley, 2001). The social entrepreneurship tends to cast its spell in such a way that less fortunate factions of the economy are benefitted. Social entrepreneurs purposely hire females and people belonging from religious minorities in order to help in getting through rough times. Governmental Support and Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship works best when government and private corporate sectors of the economy exert their energies on serving the masses in a particular geographical region (Kokko, 2007). The ideal example of social entrepreneurship can be found somewhere in the current efforts of Swedish government that involve collaboration with corporate sector as well. Additionally, other developing nations can also learn a thing or two from Swedish government about stimulating social entrepreneurship in their local national system. Soul of Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is just a big name for integrating increased concern for the society in the traditional concepts of business. Furthermore, it is important to note that social entrepreneurs must learn to remain calm while training the less developed human resource of the society (Modén, 1998) because they will commit mistakes in early days and may not serve the conventional business purposes but again a social entrepreneur cannot afford to focus on traditional objectives (Greve & Salaff, 2003) because if he or she starts to do that then, he or she will end up losing the fundamental identity altogether. The government of Sweden is suggested to keep a close eye on so-called social entrepreneurs because the title has the potential of wrongful usage as well. The government must ensure that entrepreneurs of the newer breed must indeed meet their promises and pledges and should not use the novel type of business to disguise both government and public. The government on the other hand must offer new and relaxed fiscal conditions to social entrepreneurs so that others might become part of the change’s tide. The growing importance of CSR is going to help most businesses to become more socially responsible but in current times, the application of modern organizational concept is limited to developed parts of the world. However, the use of CSR and other techniques of serving the society will become more common in the near future as literacy rates will grow in all parts of the world. Finally, customers’ commitment towards business ethics and environmental organizational initiatives has caused companies to become more concerned about the society in recent years. Findings Social Entrepreneurship is referred to as a business activity that has been initiated in order to benefit the public. Social entrepreneurship is considered an exact opposite of capitalistic commerce. The featured form of business tends to decrease economic differences in the community. The communal difference aggravate as traditional businesses work to serve the needs and wants of a few capitalists. The whole idea behind social entrepreneurship is to assist less fortunate population The CSR is no doubt a concept that considers an organization as a citizen of the society. There is a distinct differentiation between usual type of business and social entrepreneurship. Traditionally, corporate sectors of those nations with weak governmental social strength do not pay taxes and evade tax policies in order to save money. The works of Max Weber are known to back the fundamental logical grounds of social entrepreneurship. Marxism is used to support the mindset which states that governments must assist the capitalist in the process of making more money. The allegations of Max Weber were carried forward by Theodor Arondo. The message of Theodore’s work was welcomed by the developed nations of the world. Little number of governmental systems did not get the message of Theodor and they continued the old and conventional regime Social entrepreneurial endeavors are sponsored by people who want their society to flourish. The social entrepreneurship is not an easy business to engage in. The commitment to law and order in people of advanced nations is also a commendable and praiseworthy phenomenon. The lower literacy and employment rates are evident of local governments incapability of bettering living conditions of the local population. Social entrepreneurship happens when private parties step forth in order to take up the responsibility of serving public interests. The economic conditions of Sweden are not flourishing. The corporate sector of the nation and governmental offices are working together in order to better the community. The tax regime of the Swedish nation is extremely relaxed. The Swedish government has effectively privatized its duty of helping the general public. Sweden is using the notion of social entrepreneurship to its advantage The Swedish society remained a developing one because of its inability to transcend industrialization within its very fabric. Swedens destiny is about to change because Western countries are running out of production capacity on a growing basis The existing international production hub of India is a difficult place to work with due to notable and significant cultural differences The country is surely engaged in the effort of developing its industries and government is planning to seed outsourced production units. The social entrepreneurship is on the rise in the country because local government has taken the bold measure of inviting local businessman to play his role in the process of national development. The social entrepreneurship tends to cast its spell in such a way that less fortunate factions of the economy are benefitted. Social entrepreneurship works best when government and private corporate sectors of the economy exert their energies on serving the masses and it is important to note that social entrepreneurs must learn to remain calm while training the less developed human resource of the society. The government of Sweden is suggested to keep a close eye on so-called social entrepreneurs. The government must ensure that entrepreneurs of the newer breed must indeed meet their promises and pledges and should not use the novel type of business to disguise both government and public. The growing importance of CSR is going to help most businesses to become more socially responsible. Customers’ commitment towards business ethics and environmental organizational initiatives is making businesses more socially responsible throughout the world. . Conclusion This paper has reviewed the practices that are considered fundamental parts of social entrepreneurship and found that the construct is a multidimensional one but its soul reside in its ability and power to help the unfortunate factions of the society into becoming respected part of the societies all around the world. Sweden is a developing nation and thus provides an ideal venue for the enrichment of social entrepreneurship. The corporate sector and government have to join hands in order to cause social entrepreneurial activities to flourish in the economy as argued in the preceding sections of the report. Additionally, social entrepreneurship is becoming a norm in all parts of the world as modern organizational philosophy urges companies to consider themselves as citizens of the society and as their size is immense compared to individual residents and because of this reason, they are more obligated to work in order to better the surrounding community. 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