Creating public value: An examination of technological social enterprise

Abstract

This study proposes that social enterprises address needs that are unmet by markets and government, thereby generating essential public values. I propose that social enterprises fulfill essential public value failures via the search and exploitation of new opportunities-gaps left by markets and governments. I test this proposition through an exploratory qualitative analysis of the mission statements of more than 150 technological social enterprises. The data were acquired from 20 top-ranked online website portals, cataloguing close to 800 social enterprises. In addition to having a technological focus, the vast majority of the social enterprises in the sample also served a specific target population. I present findings by positioning these enterprises in a matrix: target population by public value criteria. Results indicate that most technological social enterprises in the sample address public value failures. This study has broader implications for opportunity-seeking social entrepreneurs, academics, and evaluators interested in social impact assessment.