Sustainability 12 09736 v2

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 23

sustainability

Article
Social Entrepreneurship Education as an Innovation
Hub for Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:
The Case of the KAIST Social Entrepreneurship
MBA Program
Moon Gyu Kim 1 , Ji-Hwan Lee 1 , Taewoo Roh 2 and Hosung Son 3, *
1 KAIST College of Business, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Hoegi-ro 85,
Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02455, Korea; controlme8@kaist.ac.kr (M.G.K.); jihwanlee@kaist.ac.kr (J.-H.L.)
2 Department of International Trade and Commerce, Soonchunhyang University, Unitopia 901,
Soonchunhyang-ro 22, Sinchang-myeon, Asan-si, Chungchungnam-do 31538, Korea; troh@sch.ac.kr
3 Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Saenari-ro 25, Bundang-gu, Seong-nam, Gyeong-gi 13509, Korea
* Correspondence: hsson79@keti.re.kr or hs_son@kaist.ac.kr; Tel.: +82-31-789-7761

Received: 30 September 2020; Accepted: 19 November 2020; Published: 22 November 2020 

Abstract: As social problems become more extensive and diverse, one of the most critical capabilities
of social entrepreneurs is connecting and aligning various stakeholders. Social entrepreneurs can solve
problems better through collaboration with stakeholders, and this leads to sustainable innovation
of society. Accordingly, social entrepreneurship education (SEE) programs should be designed
and operated to cultivate social entrepreneurs’ abilities to enhance connectivity with all relevant
entities of the social enterprise ecosystem. Consequently, SEE can form ever-growing communities
of social entrepreneurs while functioning as innovation hubs for entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs)
evolving on their own. To this end, this study proposes a design and assessment framework for
SEE. The framework emphasizes strengthening internal connectivity among SEE program members
and external connectivity with outside entities, including universities, firms, government agencies,
civil societies, and natural environments. This framework clarifies how and to whom social
entrepreneurs should connect throughout the SEE process. This paper analyzes the case of an MBA
degree SEE program in Korea using this framework and identifies directions for further improvement
of SEE, contributing to the social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education literatures by
integrating SEE’s key features with social theories of learning and the quintuple helix model for
sustainable innovation ecosystems. Practically, our findings provide a useful benchmark to find
isolated internal and external entities that need more active interactions to achieve SEE’s purposes.

Keywords: social entrepreneurship education; innovation hub; entrepreneurial ecosystem; KAIST


social entrepreneurship MBA program; quintuple helix model

1. Introduction
Social enterprises have been noteworthy as a key solution to a variety of social problems within
current market economy systems [1]. Although enterprises create economic and social value in the
market economy system, they also raise various social problems, such as inequality and environmental
pollution [2]. In response, discussions of corporate social responsibility have been widely held among
management scholars, and social enterprises that seek solutions to address such problems have attracted
considerable interest among policymakers, academics, and practitioners [3]. Social enterprises are
organizational entities that create both economic and social values by solving social problems through
business mechanisms [4–6]. They utilize the economic value that they create as a resource to solve

Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736; doi:10.3390/su12229736 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability


Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 2 of 23

social problems and underpin sustainable development. Unlike traditional business organizations that
create social value by participating in social projects to complement the core objective of economic
value generation, social enterprises focus first on their social mission to create positive social impact
and measure the impact to communicate and collaborate with various stakeholders [6].
Social problems are spreading to a wide variety of areas, and the severity of each area is also
becoming greater [7]. The damage caused by social problems lies not at the level of certain persons or
a particular region but at the level of all humankind, and they threaten not only the convenience of
everyday life but also the survival of the planet. It is not possible to solve these diverse and severe
social problems through the endeavors of one special person, a certain organization, or even a single
country. Accordingly, the most critical factor in the success of social enterprises is the formation of
a consensus and collaboration with stakeholders in the social problems that they are trying to solve [8].
In this sense, one of the essential competencies of a social entrepreneur is the alliance-building
capability [9]. When nurturing future social entrepreneurs or educating incumbent social entrepreneurs,
all of the elements of the curriculum, all extracurricular activities, and all aspects of hardware/software
infrastructure design of education programs should be aligned to form an organic social network [10].
At the same time, the literature on social entrepreneurship education (SEE) has mostly discussed the
effects of SEE from a microscopic perspective and focused on whether an educated person is attempting
to start a social enterprise [11]. Discussions of what makes good SEE, how to maximize the effects
of SEE, and what happens after the establishment of a social enterprise still lack an ecosystem-wide
perspective. Considering all of the relevant entities of the social enterprise ecosystem enables us to
better examine how SEE can cultivate the problem-solving abilities of social entrepreneurs/enterprises,
which could ultimately lead to sustainable development of the ecosystem.
Given this background, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that can be used to
design, analyze, and evaluate SEE programs building upon such an integrative perspective. In order to
design this conceptual framework, this paper builds upon two theoretical bases from previous
studies: social theories of learning, which emphasize the importance of communities of practice,
and the quintuple helix model (QHM), which defines the components of a sustainable innovation
ecosystem and describes the process through which innovation occurs. According to this framework,
SEE should contribute to forming an organic and self-sustaining social enterprise ecosystem by
ensuring connectivity with other major entities that constitute the external environment in which
social problems arise. The traditional role of universities was a knowledge storehouse; this role
later evolved into a knowledge factory and, in turn, a knowledge hub [12]. In this study, we define
the role of SEE as a collaborative hub for the innovation network of social enterprise and startup
ecosystems. SEE is viewed as a promising education platform that fosters entrepreneurs who can
create business opportunities in the process of discovering and solving social problems and, thus,
underpins social sustainability.
In addition, this paper applies this new framework to the case of a SEE program in Korea to check
its usability and contribution. As a forefront attempt of SEE, the Social Entrepreneurship MBA Program
(KSEMP) of the College of Business at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
is a full-time MBA program that provides active support, including full scholarships for two years,
to foster social entrepreneurs. It is a unique MBA program that requires all students to establish and
scale social enterprises to a certain level before graduation and thus aims to contribute directly to
the social enterprise ecosystem. The process and the results of KSEMP case analysis shows that the
framework is helpful in identifying future directions for further improvement of the program.
This study contributes to expanding the literature on the theoretical framework for the design
or evaluation of SEE. The goals and the corresponding roles of SEE can be viewed theoretically
from the overall perspective of the social enterprise ecosystem. This paper contributes to expanding
the literature on social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, and SEE by integrating SEE’s
key features with social theories of learning and the QHM for sustainable innovation ecosystems.
In addition, the framework developed on this basis can be utilized by stakeholders in the government
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 3 of 23

and educational institutions that wish to design new SEE programs or improve existing SEE programs
through systematic assessment and analyses.

2. Literature Review and Theoretical Basis


As interest in social enterprises and social entrepreneurship has increased, academia has
increasingly performed research on SEE. Conducting a literature review on SEE, this section explores
the role that SEE should play to achieve its primary purpose and to contribute to the formation of
a social enterprise ecosystem that continues to grow. In addition, this paper reviews prior studies of the
entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) to examine the definition and meaning of the EE as the ultimate direction
of the social enterprise ecosystem and to investigate what SEE should consider for this purpose.

2.1. Social Entrepreneurship Education (SEE)


Previous studies of SEE have largely addressed educational content, methods, and performance
(Table 1). Studies of educational content have ultimately been linked to the purpose of SEE. In general,
the main purpose of SEE is to help students to develop sustainable business models that enable them
to work with private and public partners to create social value in innovative ways [13]. The literature
sharing this view has focused on educating students in how to start a social enterprise [14], while another
research stream has paid attention to creating social value by reorganizing human and other resources
through social projects, considering the establishment of social enterprises as a secondary concern [15].
In addition, some studies have addressed the differences and challenges of SEE compared to general
entrepreneurship education [14,16].
Studies of educational methods have been conducted based primarily on social theories of learning
and practice-based wisdom theory. Based on social theories of learning, Howorth et al. [1] argued that
learning from peers is more important than formal thinking-based learning. They found that learner
identity and psychological safety were important to fostering social entrepreneurship and insisted
on developing programs to foster reflection and thinking to prepare social entrepreneurs for their
own situations. Hockerts [11] argued that SEE increases the tendency of students to establish social
enterprises through an empirical learning process in which students establish a shared community of
practice. He found that participation in more practical SEE encourages participants to perceive the
need for social support, to foster self-efficacy in entrepreneurship, and to increase students’ intentions
to start social enterprises. He also verified that the more students participate in empirical learning
activities, the greater the learning effects that occur. Zhu et al. [17] addressed the issue of managing
competitive logic in social enterprises and designed a curriculum matrix for developing a sustainable
business model based on practice-based wisdom theory.
Prior studies measuring the educational performance of SEE have primarily assessed the impact
on students’ perceptions, attitudes, and intentions. Kirby and Ibrahim [18] investigated Egyptian
students and argued that it is necessary to improve their awareness of and attitudes toward social
entrepreneurship as a career option. Dobele [19] argued that incorporating SEE into the curricula of
universities has impacts at the individual, organizational, and environmental levels. He noted that
SEE is essential not only for sustainable social structures, but also for the personal development of
individuals. SEE can foster the ability of individuals to respect others’ rights and responsibilities
and to empathize with others’ problems in a competition-based society, providing the basis for
achieving social welfare, inclusive growth, and sustainable development through the establishment of
a strong community. Because personal development leads to benefits for organizations and society as
a whole, universities can confirm the need to provide SEE. Pache and Chowdhury [20] also argued that
SEE extends an individual’s competence in capturing and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities;
SEE draws considerable attention by providing quality education that contributes to innovation in
a student’s life through startup-launching opportunities, leading to the development of society.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 4 of 23

Table 1. Selected previous studies on social entrepreneurship education.

Research Perspectives Authors Findings


SEE teaches students to work with private and public
Jensen [13]
partners to create social value in innovative ways.
Educational SEE deals with how to start a social enterprise and make
Brock and Steiner [14]
content it sustainable.
SEE focuses on creating social value by reorganizing
Tracey and Phillips [15]
human and other resources.
Learning from peers is more important than
Howorth et al. [1] thinking-based learning for fostering social
entrepreneurship.
Educational The empirical learning process is critical to increase the
Hockerts [11]
methods tendency of students to establish social enterprises.
They designed a curriculum matrix for developing a
Zhu et al. [17]
sustainable business model of social enterprises.
SEE can improve students’ awareness of and attitudes
Kirby and Ibrahim [18]
toward social entrepreneurship as a career option.
Educational SEE is essential not only for sustainable social structures,
Dobele [19]
performance but also for the personal development of individuals.
Pache and Chowdhury SEE extends an individual’s competence in capturing
[20] and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities.

The above literature suggests that community building is methodologically important in SEE
to facilitate learning from collaboration and competition between students and that the growth of
individuals, as part of the educational performance of SEE, is linked to the sustainable development
of their society. At the same time, the literature has shown the need for research from a holistic
viewpoint that aligns the contents, methods, and performance of SEE. While previous studies of SEE
performance have discussed the impacts at the individual, organizational, and environmental levels,
most of the research on the contents and methods of SEE has focused on the individual level. However,
the contents and methods of education cannot be viewed separately from the purpose or performance
goal. Therefore, SEE researchers must seek alignment in content and methods that meets the purpose of
such education while maintaining the consistency of the individual, organizational, and environmental
levels of performance that SEE aims to achieve.

2.2. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE)


The EE concept is the overarching theoretical basis of this paper. It can provide consistency
among the contents, methods, and purposes of SEE to contribute to building a healthier society
(environmental-level performance) by fostering social entrepreneurs (individual-level performance)
and solving social problems by means of the social enterprises that they build (organizational-level
performance). Since the first use of the term “ecosystem” in the entrepreneurship literature by
Bahrami and Evans [21], various studies of the EE have been conducted. An EE is a group of systems,
networks, or interconnected elements formed by the interaction of entrepreneurial communities or
stakeholders with their environment [22]. Spilling [23] similarly used the term “entrepreneurial system”
to describe the environmental, institutional, and individual factors that interact to create entrepreneurial
performance in a region. In other words, the EE is the regional aggregate of economic, political,
cultural, and social factors that support the establishment and growth of innovative enterprises by
encouraging early entrepreneurs and other actors to start their own businesses, raise funding, and take
high-level risks [24]. This ecosystem includes cultural factors (e.g., supportive culture, entrepreneurial
history), social factors (e.g., employees’ ability, financial capital, and human networks), physical factors
(e.g., universities, infrastructure, and markets), and so on.
Similar terms to EE, such as innovation system, innovation cluster, and knowledge ecosystem,
have sometimes been used interchangeably in previous studies. The innovation system concept
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 5 of 23

was proposed by Freeman [25] and consists of economic, social, political, and institutional factors
that affect the creation and diffusion of innovation. In particular, organizations that create and
commercialize knowledge play critical roles in the innovation system [26,27]. An innovation cluster
consists of groups of interconnected enterprises in a specific sector or industry with commonality
and complementarity, which have the advantage of being geographically adjacent to one another [28].
Engel and Del-Palacio [29] further developed this concept to suggest that clusters build a new framework
to support a global network among them, rather than existing like isolated islands. They referred
to Silicon Valley as a prime example, explaining that entrepreneurs and startups can enjoy benefits
from being located near professional institutions that spread best practices for entrepreneurs, such as
intellectual property (IP) brokerage companies and venture capital firms. A knowledge ecosystem is
an expertise-intensive industry cluster that covers a variety of organizational forms, such as shared
values, anchor tenants, and cross-network alignments [30]. In particular, being located close to where
knowledge is created decreases the cost of movement of human resources and intangible resources,
such as information and ideas. It also promotes the recreation of knowledge that comes from collective
knowledge [31,32]. Consequently, participants create and diffuse innovation more rapidly through
collective learning [33]. These concepts all claim that enabling more interaction between components
through structuring networks and strengthening connectivity can promote the operation and expansion
of systems, clusters, and ecosystems.
An EE is an economic community that supports interaction between businesses or individuals,
develops their capabilities and roles over time, and aligns itself with the direction set by key
companies [34]. However, the EE is not under the control of individual leaders or organizations [35].
Although some organizations might have a greater influence on the EE than others, no organization
dominantly controls or governs the EE or its components. In addition, interactions in the EE consist of
collaborations and competitions, and the formation of a value network enables the creation of value that
a single company cannot create alone [36]. In particular, socio-cultural characteristics create a strong
sense of community and implicit rules in the formation of value networks among the constituents
of the EE [37,38]. The components of an EE are diverse and complex and include entrepreneurs,
investors, mentors, and other resource providers. Moreover, the relationships among the components
are dynamic [38].
Universities contribute to the creation and growth of EEs by supporting the establishment of
spin-offs or startups through knowledge transfer mechanisms [39]. In particular, in addition to education
and research, entrepreneurial universities play a role in promoting the production, diffusion, absorption,
and utilization of novel knowledge in surrounding areas by intensively supporting the entrepreneurial
activities of researchers and students with close links to research and development (R&D) centers,
private companies, science and technology complexes, and government agencies [40,41]. In addition,
well-organized entrepreneurial university ecosystems lead to successful business ecosystems [30].
The business ecosystem is naturally built around entrepreneurial universities, since companies utilize
innovative ideas and a high level of human resources [42,43] and governments invest in innovative
startup companies to grow regional economies [44].
The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship assumes that knowledge creation is a driving
force of innovation and economic growth. New knowledge can be formed by reorganizing existing
knowledge, which is related to the ability of members to find, obtain, absorb, share, and use knowledge
effectively and efficiently [45]. Hence, entrepreneurship is a critical means of spreading new knowledge
that ultimately leads to economic growth [46,47]. In explaining the processes of knowledge creation,
transfer, absorption, and application, social networks are also instrumental [48]. In this respect,
universities, as the key constituents of the EE, can play the role of innovation hubs in an EE and expand
the EE by promoting information and knowledge exchange beyond interactions within a specific
regional context [12].
The EE concept discussed thus far indicates the orientation of the network of social entrepreneurs
or the social enterprise ecosystem. The concept is further reinforced from the perspective of social
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 6 of 23

entrepreneurship, in which the formation of an ecosystem that connects various entities of society and
the natural environment to communities of entrepreneurs and groups of interconnected enterprises
creates continuous innovation. Social entrepreneurs need a broader range of stakeholder collaboration
compared to ordinary entrepreneurs, who seek unmet consumer needs and recognize them as
opportunities, because social entrepreneurs also aim to address the unmet needs of local communities
or society [49–51].
By synthesizing the theoretical considerations above, we can present and investigate the
connectivity of SEE from two angles.
Internal Connectivity of SEE. From the SEE methodological perspective, building a community of
social entrepreneurs that facilitates learning from collaboration and competition among students will
contribute to their performance. In addition, the personal performance generated through SEE will
lead to the sustainable development of society.
External Connectivity of SEE. The core of an EE is connectivity, which promotes interactions,
usually in the form of cooperation and competition among different entities. The SEE of universities,
a source of new knowledge creation, can serve as an innovation hub for an EE, being organized by
close connections among members of society and enabling the EE to create additional value that each
entity cannot create separately [36]. In addition, the value creation capability of the EE continuously
grows and evolves.
The link between entrepreneurial universities and business ecosystems is a meaningful research
topic that scholars have recently noted [30,52]. Previous studies have made great progress in identifying
the individual components of EEs and exploring the connections between them. However, there remains
a lack of research on how the SEE of universities, as an innovation hub, interacts with other components
to form and develop an EE from a holistic perspective. Shedding light on the role of SEE and analyzing
it from the EE perspective will help us to synthesize scattered fragmentary studies and increase
understanding of SEE from a holistic perspective.

2.3. SEE Design Framework


The QHM provides an important foundation for determining how and to whom SEE should
be connected to function as an innovation hub that constitutes an EE. The QHM, which is
an extended version of the triple helix model, is a useful theoretical model for analyzing systems and
ecosystems from a macroscopic viewpoint [53]. The triple helix model emphasizes the importance
of university–industry–government interactions to create an innovation ecosystem, and the QHM
extends the scope of interactions to civil society and the environment [54].
According to the QHM, there is collective interaction and exchange of knowledge among
five sub-systems called helices: the education system, the economic system, the political system,
civil society, and the natural environment [54]. In the first helix, the education system, in the form of
academia, universities, or higher education systems, develops human capital, such as students, teachers,
researchers, and academic entrepreneurs, through the spread of knowledge and intellectual exploration.
The second helix, the economic system, which consists of industries, companies, service firms, banks,
and others, formulates economic capital, such as money, products, technology, entrepreneurship,
and the means of production. Third, the political system defines where society is headed and organizes
and administers the overall conditions of society with political and legal capital, such as laws, plans,
and politicians. As the fourth helix, civil society plays a role in initiating bottom-up innovation in the
QHM and supplements the top-down decision making of other social systems. Citizens are involved in
the innovation process as lead users and co-creators of new products, services, and solutions. Finally,
the natural environment is crucial because it coordinates the priority and urgency of sustainable
development by offering environmental capital.
Ultimately, the QHM aims to connect universities, industry, the government, civil society, and the
(natural) environment more closely, to encourage active interactions among these five sub-systems
and eventually to build a more sustainable society. In particular, knowledge is a core and driving
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 7 of 23

Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 23


force expanding the connectivity of these sub-systems for innovation in the QHM [54,55]. Thus,
university education programs that create and spread knowledge can act as focal points for connecting
Thus, university education programs that create and spread knowledge can act as focal points for
the five sub-systems and facilitating interactions among them.
connecting the five sub-systems and facilitating interactions among them.
Based on this theoretical background, a framework for designing and analyzing SEE from the EE
Based on this theoretical background, a framework for designing and analyzing SEE from the
perspective is derived. On the left, Figure 1 shows the members whom SEE must consider to ensure
EE perspective is derived. On the left, Figure 1 shows the members whom SEE must consider to
internal connectivity for community building; on the right, it shows the position of SEE inside an EE,
ensure internal connectivity for community building; on the right, it shows the position of SEE inside
as well as the other entities to which SEE should relate to secure external connectivity. SEE designed
an EE, as well as the other entities to which SEE should relate to secure external connectivity. SEE
based on this framework seeks to build a community of social entrepreneurs that enhances the
designed based on this framework seeks to build a community of social entrepreneurs that enhances
educational performance of internal members and that serves as an innovation hub by securing contact
the educational performance of internal members and that serves as an innovation hub by securing
points with various external entities to form and extend the EE.
contact points with various external entities to form and extend the EE.

1. Conceptual
Figure 1.
Figure Conceptualframework for social
framework entrepreneurship
for social educationeducation
entrepreneurship design fromdesign
the entrepreneurial
from the
ecosystem perspective.
entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective.
3. The Case: KAIST Social Entrepreneurship MBA Program (KSEMP)
3. The Case: KAIST Social Entrepreneurship MBA Program (KSEMP)
This paper is largely based on an in-depth case study of a unique higher education program,
This paper is largely based on an in-depth case study of a unique higher education program,
fully dedicated to teaching and nurturing current and future entrepreneurs who endeavor to solve
fully dedicated to teaching and nurturing current and future entrepreneurs who endeavor to solve
social problems by establishing for-profit, impact startups. KSEMP is an independent, two-year
social problems by establishing for-profit, impact startups. KSEMP is an independent, two-year full-
full-time MBA program within KAIST College of Business in Seoul, Korea.
time MBA program within KAIST College of Business in Seoul, Korea.
3.1. Data Collection
3.1. Data Collection
Our case study is based on three types of data, which are complementary to each other
andOur case objectivity
ensure study is based on three
to some typesFirst,
extent. of data, which
official are complementary
online to each other
and offline promotional and
materials
ensure objectivity to some extent. First, official online and offline promotional
provided basic information about the program. Official brochures and websites of KSEMP and materials provided
basic informationorganizations,
its upper-level about the program.
KAISTOfficial brochures
(as a whole and websites
university) and itsof KSEMP
College ofand its upper-level
Business, as well as
organizations, KAIST (as aorganizations
those of start-up-related whole university)
withinand its College
KAIST includingof Business,
SK Centreasfor
well as those
Social of start -up-
Entrepreneurship,
related
Startuporganizations
KAIST, and within KAIST
K-School, wereincluding
thoroughly SK Centre
examined. for Social Entrepreneurship,
Second, Startup
internal operational KAIST,
information
and K-School, were thoroughly examined. Second, internal operational information
was used for deeper observation. As faculty members of KAIST, two of the authors are deeply involved was used for
deeper observation.
in the program and As faculty
have direct members of KAIST,
access to the two of the
official minutes authors are
of biweekly KSEMPdeeply involvedmeetings
operational in the
program and have direct access to the official minutes of biweekly KSEMP operational
and monthly media exposure newsletters from July 2018 to June 2019. Third, interviews and survey meetings and
monthly media exposure
results collected newsletters
as part of a 15-weekfrom Julyin2018
project 2018totoJune 2019. Third,
formulate interviews
the future direction andof survey
KSEMP,
results collected as part of a 15-week project in 2018 to formulate the future direction of KSEMP,
assisted by a globally renowned consultancy, were used. Table 2 provides an overview of the three
types of data.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 8 of 23

assisted by a globally renowned consultancy, were used. Table 2 provides an overview of the three
types of data.

Table 2. Three types of data used in this study.

Sources Description
Based on the following public information describing the KSEMP,
the authors described what activities for internal/external connectivity
the KSEMP has performed and with whom.
• Official brochures
Public promotion materials * • Official websites of upper-level organizations (KAIST and KAIST
College of Business)
• Official websites of start-up-related organizations in KAIST (SK
Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, KAIST College of Business
Start-up, Start-up KAIST, and KAIST K-School)

Based on the following inside information, the authors reviewed what


activities for internal/external connectivity the KSEMP has performed
and planned to perform and with whom. Only the activities and entities
that are explicitly mentioned in the following information are addressed.
Internal operational information
• Official minutes of biweekly KSEMP operational meetings (July
2018 to June 2019)
• Monthly media exposure newsletters

From the results of interviews, surveys, and consultation with various


stakeholders, the authors endeavored to interpret the context of the
explicitly described information. The following concerns the
participants in the interviews (9 July to 5 October 2018) and surveys (2 to
7 August 2018).
• 22 interviewees

- Eight professors
Dean, College of Business (1)
Director, Social Entrepreneurship MBA (1)
Director, Institute for Start-up KAIST (1)
Others (5)
- Five alumni
Social enterprise CEO (3)
Interviews ** and surveys Social enterprise employee (1)
Social enterprise researcher (1)
- Three related field experts
Venture capital firm CEO (1)
Impact accelerator CEO (2)
- Six members of the anchor firm
Chairman (1)
C-level manager (2)
Executive director (2)
Project leader (1)

• 60 questionnaire respondents (response rate 57%, i.e., 60 out of 106)

- 28 alumni
- 32 students

Notes: * The website addresses of public promotion materials are shown in Appendix A. ** More details of the
interviews are provided in Appendix A.

3.2. The History and Status of KSEMP


KSEMP is a representative Korean SEE program. In collaboration with the SK Group,
KAIST College of Business launched KSEMP in 2013 to boost the social enterprise ecosystem in
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 9 of 23

the country. Compared to the new goal, i.e., to “build an ecosystem where social enterprises can grow
for themselves”, which the Korean government set as the 3rd Basic Plan for Social Enterprise Promotion
in 2018, KAIST and the SK Group started to prepare for the future much earlier. In 2012, the KAIST
College of Business and the SK Group signed the first memorandum of understanding (MOU),
drawing a blueprint for the actual collaboration, and the SK Group invested KRW 9 billion (As of
September 2020, KRW 1000 equals approximately USD 0.8) for curriculum design, faculty recruitment,
and operating systems. In 2016, they signed the second MOU for another five years, with the SK Group
investing KRW 12.5 billion to optimize the operation and to improve the performance of KSEMP by
2021. Approximately 45% of the total budget is used for scholarships.
According to its official brochure (https://www.business.kaist.ac.kr), KSEMP is “a platform training
next-generation entrepreneurs to create innovative values through compassion and enthusiasm toward
people and society”, and its educational focus is on expanding the practical management capability of
potential social entrepreneurs. KSEMP students must develop competitive and sustainable business
models for their social enterprises and use these models to establish and manage a company successfully
during this two-year full-time degree program. As an MBA course, KSEMP nurtures the following
types of students as social entrepreneurs: (1) those who have expertise in technology, culture, art,
and social issues but lack management knowledge and experience; and (2) those who need experience
and mindset as entrepreneurs even if they have basic knowledge about business administration.
The program’s curriculum mainly consists of classes related to starting a social enterprise.
These classes are different from the classes in academic master programs or general MBA programs,
which focus primarily on research abilities for future business scholars or administrative and operational
abilities for professional managers. KSEMP classes are designed to equip students to become social
entrepreneurs with an appropriate understanding of and attitude toward social problems and to
expand their competencies and qualifications to launch and run a startup that pursues rapid financial
growth while solving social problems. Table 3 shows the composition and major subjects of the
curriculum. While offering fundamental business management and social entrepreneurship classes
as mandatory for the students who have diverse experiences as engineers, experts in non-profit
organization, designers, artists, and so on, KSEMP offers more specialized courses for those who want
to learn more about technology and specific social issues by collaboration with other MBA programs
and engineering colleges.

Table 3. KSEMP curriculum.

Courses Subjects (Credits) Main Classes


Social Venture Lean Start-up
Social Issue Analysis and Mission Development
Social Entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship
(22.5/48 *)
Social Venture Ideation
Mandatory Major Social Venture Business Model
Leadership and Organization Management
Business Management Marketing
(12/48) Financial Management
Supply Chain Management
Statistics
Mandatory General Probability and Statistics
(3/48)
Special Topics in Social Enterprises
Elective Others
Seminar for Social Enterprises
/Research (10.5/48)
Field Study in Social Enterprise **
Notes: * The KSEMP requires 48 credits for graduation. ** During this overseas experiential learning trip, students
join local problem-solving projects and even host workshops with local social enterprises. The KSEMP has visited
Silicon Valley and San Jose State University (2019), the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation at the University of
Cambridge (2018), the University of Sheffield (2015–2017), Santa Clara University (2014), and the Social Entrepreneur
Corps in Nicaragua (2013).
by education, shared economy, and job creation. Figure 2 shows the 2017 sales distribution of 49 social
enterprises (from the first to the fourth cohorts), and Figure 3 shows the categories to which the 78
graduate enterprises (from the first to the fifth cohorts) belong.
Social value of KSEMP is based on the social as well as economic values of these social
enterprises having their own clear social missions and objective methods to measure their social
Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR
Sustainability PEER REVIEW
12, 9736 10 of 23 of 23
impacts. To2020, keep the enterprises from losing their identity as a social enterprise, KSEMP offers 10 many
courses and mentoring programs related to social entrepreneurship and coordinates a regular
Since 2013, approximately 20 students have been admitted to KSEMP every year, and its
workshop 2013, through which the20 enterprises can been
develop their own social missions clearly and the
graduatesSince have madeapproximately students to
significant contributions have
the Korean admitted
socialto KSEMP
enterprise every year, and
ecosystem. By its
thegraduates
end
methods
have to significant
measure their social impacts objectively. Specifically, it endeavors to By
calculate endtheofasocial
of 2018, 60made
of 66 graduates contributions
(91%) had startedto the Korean
their social
own businesses. enterprise
Among ecosystem.
them, 21 had the
attracted 2018,
impact created by a social enterprise in monetary terms in collaboration with several external experts.
total 60 of 66 graduates
of KRW 2.9 billion, (91%) had investments
including started theirand own businesses.
cash prizes, and Among
in 2017,them, 21 graduates
49 of 66 had attracted(74%) a total
The
of KRWSK Group
2.9 has
billion, been developing
including an
investments innovative
and cashincentive
prizes, system
and in that
collectively generated KRW 17.3 billion of sales (KRW 350 million per company). The largest number(74%)
2017, rewards
49 of 66 social enterprises
graduates
accordinggenerated
collectively
of companies togenerated
the calculation
KRW
from of their
17.3
KSEMP social
billion
graduates impact
of sales (denoted
(KRW
belongs to 350 in Korean
the million
category of won).
per cultureCurrently,
company).andThe three types
arts,largest
followed number of
methods
of companies
by education, are
shared normally
generated
economy, used
from for
andKSEMP such calculation:
graduates
job creation. Figure direct
belongs
2 shows monetary
tothe
the2017
category values
sales of created,
culture and
distribution relative
ofarts, price
followed
49 social
enterprises (from the first to the fourth cohorts), and Figure 3 shows the categories to which theof
estimates,
by education, and input
shared cost
economy, augmentation.
and job Largely
creation. Figuredue2 to
showsthe diversity
the 2017 and
sales complexity
distribution of 4978social
social
problems
enterprises
graduate that
enterprises KSEMP
(from alumni
the first
(from tackle,
to the
the first it
fourth
to the is still at
fifthcohorts), an and Figure 3 shows the categories to whichinthe
inchoate
cohorts) belong. phase to quantify the social impact an
objective
78 graduate
Social way.
valueenterprises
of KSEMP(from the first
is based on to thethesocial
fifth cohorts)
as well belong.
as economic values of these social
enterprises having their own clear social missions and objective methods to measure their social
impacts. To keep the enterprises from losing their identity as a social enterprise, KSEMP offers many
courses and mentoring programs 53% related to social entrepreneurship 21% 14%
and coordinates 10%
a regular2%
workshop through which the enterprises can develop their own social missions clearly and the
methods to0%measure 10%their 20% 30% objectively.
social impacts 40% 50% 60% it endeavors
Specifically, 70% 80%
to 90%the social
calculate 100%
impact created by a social enterprise 0-1 in monetary
1-5 terms
5-10in collaboration
10-20 with several
over 20 external experts.
The SK Group has been developing an innovative incentive
Sales (KRW system that rewards social enterprises
100 mil.)
according to the calculation of their social impact (denoted in Korean won). Currently, three types of
2. Sales
Figure 2.
methods are Figure
normally Sales distribution
distribution
used
of 49 social enterprises
for suchofcalculation:
49 social enterprises from KSEMP
direct from
that
that generated
KSEMPvalues
monetary generated sales in
created,sales in 2017.
relative2017.
price
estimates,Social
and value
input of
cost augmentation. Largely due to the diversity and complexity of
KSEMP is based on the social as well as economic values of these social enterprises social
problems
havingthat KSEMP
their alumni
own clear tackle,
social it is still
Healthcare
missions andatobjective
an inchoate phase
methods tomeasure
5 to quantifytheir
the social
social impact
impacts.in To
an keep
objective way.
the enterprises from losing theirMedia identity as a social
2 enterprise, KSEMP offers many courses and
mentoring programs related to social entrepreneurship and
Environment 4 coordinates a regular workshop through
which the enterprises canImpactdevelop their
Finance own social missions clearly and the methods to measure their
2
social impacts objectively.
53% Specifically, it endeavors to 21% calculate the social
14% impact10%
created2%by a social
Culture and Arts 15
enterprise in monetary terms in collaboration with several external experts. The SK Group has been
Marketing 4
developing
0% 10%an innovative
20% incentive40%
30% system that
50% rewards60% social70%enterprises
80% according
90% to the
100%calculation
of their social impact (denoted Donation
in Korean won). 2
Currently, three types of methods are normally used for
0-1 1-5 5-10 10-20 over 20
such calculation:International Development
direct monetary values created, relative
Sales (KRW 100 mil.) price
5 estimates, and input cost augmentation.
Largely due to the diversity and complexity of social problems that KSEMP alumni tackle, 14
Education it is still at
Figure 2. phase
an inchoate Sales distribution
to quantifyofthe
49 social
social enterprises
impact in from
an KSEMP that
objective generated sales in 2017.
way.
Tourism 3
Shared Economy 6
Healthcare
Job Creation 5 6
Media
Others 2 10
Environment 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Impact Finance 2
Figure 3.
Culture Categories
and Arts of social enterprises founded by KSEMP alumni. 15
Marketing 4
Donation 2
International Development 5
Education 14
Tourism 3
Shared Economy 6
Job Creation 6
Others 10

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Figure
Figure 3. Categories
3. Categories of social
of social enterprises
enterprises founded
founded by KSEMP
by KSEMP alumni.
alumni.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 11 of 23
Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 23

3.3. Social Enterprise Ecosystem in Korea


3.3. Social Enterprise Ecosystem in Korea
From the Social Enterprise Promotion Act in 2007 to the Third Basic Plan for Social Enterprise
From the Social Enterprise Promotion Act in 2007 to the Third Basic Plan for Social Enterprise
Promotion (2018–2022) by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2018, the Korean government
Promotion (2018–2022) by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2018, the Korean government
has actively expanded its support policies for social enterprises [56]. In Korea, social enterprises that
has actively expanded its support policies for social enterprises [56]. In Korea, social enterprises that
aim to create social value can be legally certified by the government, and there are various special
aim to create social value can be legally certified by the government, and there are various special
support programs only for these certified enterprises. To obtain the certification defined by the Social
support programs only for these certified enterprises. To obtain the certification defined by the Social
Enterprise Promotion Act, social enterprises should perform business activities, such as
Enterprise Promotion Act, social enterprises should perform business activities, such as manufacturing
manufacturing and selling goods and services while pursuing a social mission, for example, by
and selling goods and services while pursuing a social mission, for example, by offering jobs or social
offering jobs or social services for vulnerable social groups or improving the quality of life of local
services for vulnerable social groups or improving the quality of life of local residents by contributing
residents by contributing to the local community [57].
to the local community [57].
The positive support of the government has continuously increased the size of social enterprises
The positive support of the government has continuously increased the size of social enterprises
in many ways. From 2007 to 2017, the number of certified social enterprises increased more than 34
in many ways. From 2007 to 2017, the number of certified social enterprises increased more than
times, from 55 to 1877, and the number of employees increased more than 16 times, from 2539 to
34 times, from 55 to 1877, and the number of employees increased more than 16 times, from 2539 to
41,417 [56]. The average number of employees per company in 2017 was 22, which was less than the
41,417 [56]. The average number of employees per company in 2017 was 22, which was less than the
number of employees in 2012, 2014, and 2016, i.e., 24, 23, and 24, respectively. This decrease in
number of employees in 2012, 2014, and 2016, i.e., 24, 23, and 24, respectively. This decrease in average
average employment size means improved productivity as measured by sales per employee,
employment size means improved productivity as measured by sales per employee, considering the
considering the increasing size of sales. From 2014 to 2017, average sales continued to grow more
increasing size of sales. From 2014 to 2017, average sales continued to grow more than 60%, from KRW
than 60%, from KRW 1.20 billion to KRW 1.93 billion. In 2017, the total sales of all certified social
1.20 billion to KRW 1.93 billion. In 2017, the total sales of all certified social enterprises in Korea
enterprises in Korea amounted to approximately KRW 3.5 trillion, and the number of enterprises
amounted to approximately KRW 3.5 trillion, and the number of enterprises achieving sales of more
achieving sales of more than 10 KRW billion was 40; in 2012, this number was 6. Figure 4 shows the
than 10 KRW billion was 40; in 2012, this number was 6. Figure 4 shows the sales distributions of social
sales distributions of social enterprises in 2012 and 2017.
enterprises in 2012 and 2017.

Figure 4.
Figure Sales distribution
4. Sales of Korean
distribution of Korean social
social enterprises
enterprises in
in 2012
2012 and
and 2017.
2017. Source:
Source: MEL, The Third
MEL, The Third
Basic Plan for Social Enterprise Promotion (2018–2022), 2018.
Basic Plan for Social Enterprise Promotion (2018–2022), 2018.

However, short-term
However, short-term quantitative growth might
quantitative growth might be
be the
the culmination
culmination of of social
social enterprise
enterprise growth
growth
due to strong government support, and such support could not lead to the
due to strong government support, and such support could not lead to the long-term sustainable long-term sustainable
growth ofofthe
growth whole
the ecosystem
whole [56]. The
ecosystem [56].Third
The Basic
ThirdPlan for Social
Basic Plan Enterprise
for SocialPromotion
Enterprisedemonstrates
Promotion
the limitations of past growth in many ways. Considering
demonstrates the limitations of past growth in many ways. Considering thatthat the sales of social
the enterprises
sales of socialare
mainly from purchases by public agencies, the general awareness of social enterprises
enterprises are mainly from purchases by public agencies, the general awareness of social enterprises remained
very low. very
remained Above all,Above
low. the inflow of human
all, the inflow ofresources
human was not sufficient,
resources was not and advanced
sufficient, and education
advanced
and training programs for developing various types of expertise of existing
education and training programs for developing various types of expertise of existing human human resources were
not ready were
resources [56]. not
As aready
result, most
[56]. Associal enterprises
a result, most socialwere classifiedwere
enterprises intoclassified
the job offering
into thetype (67.2%),
job offering
and other types—social services (6.0%), local community aid (5.7%), hybrid
type (67.2%), and other types—social services (6.0%), local community aid (5.7%), hybrid (9.1%), (9.1%), and others
and
(12.0%)—were very limited [56]. While a variety of social issues, such as fine
others (12.0%)—were very limited [56]. While a variety of social issues, such as fine dust, mental dust, mental illness,
climate climate
illness, change,change,
plastic waste,
plastic marine
waste, pollution, population
marine pollution, aging, displaced
population persons,persons,
aging, displaced and gender and
equality, are becoming more serious in terms of the depth and extent of their influence,
gender equality, are becoming more serious in terms of the depth and extent of their influence, and new issues
and
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 12 of 23

arise in succession rapidly, the expertise of social entrepreneurs, who represent an alternative to these
problems, falls short of expectations.
The Korean government recognized these limitations and set a new goal, i.e., to “build an ecosystem
where social enterprises can grow for themselves”, in new plans for social enterprise support [56].
The new goal promotes continuous inflow of new human resources and material resources and
expands the connectivity among all of the constituent entities to build an ecosystem in which social
enterprises, as the main entity of the ecosystem, can achieve sustainable growth through competition
and collaboration. Specifically, the government has a plan to raise an impact fund of as much as
KRW 100 billion to invest in social enterprises; to expand the contact points between customers and
social enterprises by offering opportunities to launch, work for, and purchase from social enterprises;
to encourage collaboration between social enterprises and other social enterprises or large corporations;
and to establish an integrated database and platform for seamless information sharing between any
entities belonging to the ecosystem [56].

4. KSEMP as an Innovation Hub for the Social Enterprise Ecosystem


Building on the framework developed based on QHM, our case study consists of an internal
connectivity analysis and an external connectivity diagnosis of KSEMP. First, we address the
characteristics and expected effects of various interactions occurring throughout the curriculum
and extracurricular activities among students (social entrepreneurs), the faculty, and the staff. Next,
major entities with which KSEMP should cooperate are identified, and their characteristics and the
expected effects of the interactions among them are examined.

4.1. Internal Connectivity


Through various interactions among key members, KSEMP can function as a community of social
entrepreneurs, not only as an educational program. The social network is the most important asset for
social entrepreneurs [10], and the community of social entrepreneurs is a very rare and valuable asset in
Korea, where there are not many social enterprises. According to Howorth et al. [1], the psychological
stability and the community of practice that members have within the boundaries of school are effective
for SEE. In addition, in the process of training to understand and empathize with social issues through
SEE, the community is further reinforced [19].

4.1.1. The Community of Student Entrepreneurs


Cohort program. KSEMP is designed to recruit approximately 20 students every year, and they
should participate in numerous projects with peers from the same cohort for two years. The students
take classes together, regularly participate in workshops to share business progress with all members
of KSEMP, enjoy fellowship through regular and irregular recreational events, and share the same
physical space (labs and dormitories). Through these activities, each cohort naturally feels a sense of
solidarity and implicitly compares itself with other cohorts, and this comparison further strengthens
the sense of community. Numerous graduates point to their cohort community as one of the most
valuable benefits of KSEMP.
Business model development workshop. Students share their business progress with all members
of KSEMP at least once per semester. Participants can deeply understand the social issues that their
colleagues are addressing, as well as the problems that they face and the solutions that they conceive
through this workshop. Naturally, collaboration and competition among students repeatedly occur
in the process of sharing their knowledge, experiences, and accomplishments. Faculty members
and outside experts assess the stage (levels 1 to 8) of each student’s business development progress.
Scholarships and various business supports are provided based on the results. Since the workshop
is the crucial occasion at which students experience the greatest challenge during the semester,
the emotional bonds between students become stronger while experiencing the same challenge.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 13 of 23

In addition, such an official and regular workshop gives students an opportunity to objectify their
business based on advice from multiple experts in various fields.
The Startup Weekend. All of the members of KSEMP, including faculty and staff members,
participate in a retreat consisting of special lectures, reciprocal advisory sessions, and recreational
programs. Its foremost goal is to strengthen the sense of belonging to the community and to promote
partnerships between students. This intensive gathering lasted for one night and two days in the
spring semester and for a whole day in the fall semester during our data collection period.
Incubating center. If a student receives a level 5 or higher assessment through the business model
development workshop mentioned above, she can move into a shared office or the incubating center
with her startup teammates. All KSEMP students are founders of their own startups; they build their
teams while developing business models and require a physical space to work together. Since the
incubating center holds an irregular seminar to share the know-how of the tenant startups, not only
the entrepreneurs, but also their teammates form a larger community to share information, knowledge,
and experiences.
Overseas experiential learning trip. This program is also fully sponsored by the SK Group and
takes place in the first summer semester. Students gain the field experiences needed to start a social
enterprise and related knowledge, and their social entrepreneurship and global competence are
strengthened through the projects that they design themselves. Over one or two weeks spent overseas
(e.g. the UK, the US, and Latin America), participants form a stronger network while sharing each
other’s concerns and evoking their identities as social entrepreneurs.
Club activities. As a member of KAIST College of Business, students can participate in a variety
of club activities related to technology, sports, music, and religion. They can also choose clubs
closely related to their business-related interests, such as strategy, marketing, finance, and media
communications. Club activities allow students to broaden their understanding of other members of
the community by thinking and talking about topics other than the official curriculum.

4.1.2. Student–Faculty Relationships


The faculty of KSEMP is mainly composed of one director, five tenure-track professors, and three
non-tenure-track professors. In addition, students can request a meeting with any faculty member in
KAIST through mentoring programs and official classes.
Classes. Classes in the curriculum of KSEMP are official and easy-to-access paths for students
to meet faculty members. In classes, students build a community with faculty members by sharing
knowledge and opinions about specific subjects.
Mentoring. Mentoring helps students to have closer and more personalized relationships with
faculty members. It provides an opportunity for students to share opinions and to obtain the objective
advice needed for the step-by-step tasks involved in the process of business model development,
such as social mission development, business model ideation, and startup incubation and acceleration.
It also helps students to share their personal concerns as entrepreneurs and students as well as
business-related problems. Mentors can understand the background and situation of each student to
provide more feasible and practical assistance. A student is supposed to meet her primary advisor
more than once per month. According to our questionnaire survey, students and alumni chose the
faculty mentoring program (36%) as the most useful element of KSEMP (Figure 5). The connectivity
between students and the faculty is strengthened while co-working on the problems that students face.
Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 23

the online platform, frequent communication is conducted through websites that support class
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 14 of 23
management and various formal and informal social network services.

50% 36%
30% 26%
30% 20% 18%
10%

-10%

Faculty Mentoring Business Model Development Workshop


Accelerating Industry Expertise

Others

Figure 5. Most useful activities provided by KSEMP.


Figure 5. Most useful activities provided by KSEMP.
Online platform. The online platform of KSEMP, recently named ‘KAIST Impact Hub’, enables
4.1.3.
studentsStudent–Staff Relationships
to obtain advice from mentors by sharing data and documents related to their businesses.
Students
KSEMPmustwassubmit specific materials,
co-founded including
and is jointly operated a social mission
by KAIST andstatement, a lean board,
the SK Group. The KSEMP a business
staff
plan, andworkforce
is a key customerfor interview
operating results, on thecourses
the overall online platform beforeand
and activities, theitbusiness
consistsmodel
of one development
staff member
workshop.
affiliated with These
the materials are reviewed
major operations office ofduring
KAIST, theasevaluation
well as four process, and suggestions
staff members in the SK for the
Centre
direction of the business development are also provided to students
for Social Entrepreneurship established under KAIST College of Business. Staff members on this platform. In addition,
the online platform
continuously functionswith
communicate as a database
students of social enterprises
through based on
various seminars, all of meetings,
casual the materials andcreated
online
through
surveys to themore
business
deeply development
understandprocesses of the students.
what entrepreneurs need andFaculty members
to keep up with can userequirements.
their the platform
for lectures, mentoring,
Communication and research
channel on social
for official enterprise
support. Seamless ecosystems
communicationin the long term.students
between In additionand
to
thethe online
staff is veryplatform,
important frequent
for thecommunication
practical operation is conducted
of KSEMP.through websites
For students, that
staff supportare
members class
the
management and various
closest communication formal
node and
of all ofinformal
the officialsocial network
support services.
schemes of KSEMP. Staff members play a
critical role in collecting and providing important information, such as support programs by external
4.1.3. Student–Staff
institutions and news Relationships
about investor relations, awards, and media exposure of the students and
alumni.
KSEMP was co-founded and is jointly operated by KAIST and the SK Group. The KSEMP staff is
a keyCustomized
workforce for supports
operatingthrough the online
the overall coursesplatform. Whileand
and activities, faculty members
it consists of oneuse staffthe online
member
platform for mentoring, staff members manage and monitor the database of
affiliated with the major operations office of KAIST, as well as four staff members in the SK Centre for the platform to provide
customized
Social support services
Entrepreneurship according
established underto the stage
KAIST Collegeof ofeach student.
Business. StaffFor students
members who have
continuously
established their
communicate withsocial missions
students and formed
through various an idea forcasual
seminars, the early stages of
meetings, their
and business
online surveysmodel, staff
to more
members provide information about financial support (KRW
deeply understand what entrepreneurs need and to keep up with their requirements. 2 million) for market testing. For
students who have reached
Communication channelthe forlater stages,
official staff members
support. provide additional
Seamless communication financial
between support
students and (up
the
to KRW 6 million) to scale up their business and guide them in applying for
staff is very important for the practical operation of KSEMP. For students, staff members are the closest space at th e internal
incubating center.
communication nodeDepending onofficial
of all of the the specific
supportneeds of each
schemes ofstudent,
KSEMP. staffStaff members
members also playconnect
a criticalthem
role
to collecting
in outside experts to offerimportant
and providing professional services related
information, such as to law, accounting,
support programs bytaxes, externalpatents, labor,
institutions
media,
and newsand so on.
about investor relations, awards, and media exposure of the students and alumni.
In addition,supports
Customized faculty through
and staff themembers attemptWhile
online platform. to build
faculty a members
strong community
use the online byplatform
actively
participating
for mentoring,instaff themembers
activitiesmanage
for the community
and monitorof thestudent
databaseentrepreneurs
of the platform discussed
to providein Section
customized4.1.1
(e.g., business development workshops, the Startup Weekend, overseas
support services according to the stage of each student. For students who have established their experiential learning trips,
and club
social activities).
missions and formed an idea for the early stages of their business model, staff members provide
information about financial support (KRW 2 million) for market testing. For students who have reached
4.2.later
the External Connectivity
stages, staff members provide additional financial support (up to KRW 6 million) to scale up
their business
According toguide
and them inresults,
our survey applying
thefor space
social at the internal
enterprise incubating
ecosystem networkcenter. Depending
(35.5%) was theonmost
the
specific needssupport
satisfactory of each student,
provided staff
bymembers
KSEMP.also connect
Even them togrows
if KSEMP outside experts
into to offer professional
a community of social
services related to law, accounting, taxes, patents, labor, media, and so on.
entrepreneurs as it increases the interface between internal members and improves relationships, it
Inimpossible
is still addition, to faculty
surviveand staff
in the members
broader attempt
ecosystem to build
if there a strong
is failure community
to harmonize with by
the actively
external
participating in the activities for the community of student entrepreneurs discussed
environment. Social entrepreneurs establish their companies by raising capital from various sources, in Section 4.1.1
(e.g., business development workshops, the Startup Weekend, overseas experiential
including charitable funds or government support, and in their business activities, they constantly learning trips, and
club activities).
interact with various stakeholders to address huge social problems [51]. Only when KSEMP interacts
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 15 of 23

4.2. External Connectivity


According to our survey results, the social enterprise ecosystem network (35.5%) was the
most satisfactory support provided by KSEMP. Even if KSEMP grows into a community of social
entrepreneurs as it increases the interface between internal members and improves relationships, it is
still impossible to survive in the broader ecosystem if there is failure to harmonize with the external
environment. Social entrepreneurs establish their companies by raising capital from various sources,
including charitable funds or government support, and in their business activities, they constantly
interact with various stakeholders to address huge social problems [51]. Only when KSEMP interacts
successfully with various entities in the Korean social enterprise ecosystem, and hopefully in the global
social economy ecosystem as well, can it continue to adapt to the ecosystem through competition and
cooperation and ultimately survive, serving as an innovation hub that promotes interactions among
various entities [12].

4.2.1. University
KAIST. As part of Vision 2031, “A Global Value-creating Leading University”, KAIST, Asia’s leading
educational institution, aims to cultivate future leaders who create social value. The university is
expanding its educational mission for scientists and engineers regarding social value and ethics based
on the entrepreneurial university model established for itself, and KSEMP is at the heart of such
efforts. In addition to KSEMP, KAIST endeavors to create social value through engineering technology,
running entrepreneurship education and research programs, such as the K-School, the Institute of
Startup KAIST, and the KAIST Centre for Science-based Entrepreneurship. It also cultivates students’
abilities to define and solve problems based on social value and mutual collaboration using the
pedagogy of Education 4.0 through classes such as Social Capstone Design, Social Problem Solution
Competition, Startup Competition, and Appropriate Technology Projects. This explicit vision set
by the university headquarters facilitates the collaboration of many sub-organizations and provides
a consistent educational philosophy for various education and research programs.
KAIST College of Business.KAIST College of Business has designed various master’s degree
programs with courses that nurture entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial managers, and an entrepreneur-friendly
environment. KSEMP is a unique MBA program launched in 2013 for social entrepreneurs who want
to start social enterprises. In 2019, KAIST College of Business also established the Entrepreneurship
and New Business Development Track and the Centre for KAIST College of Business Startup, and it
operates an entrepreneurship minor program. The experiences and infrastructure of KSEMP have
contributed to these new efforts and created a synergistic effect with them, for example, bringing talent
from various backgrounds into social enterprises built by KSEMP students. Furthermore, KSEMP plans
to construct a new online platform that will promote collaboration not only with the College of Business,
but also with many other colleges in KAIST and create startup teams consisting of students from
various majors. This new platform is expected to help overcome the geographical separation of the
College of Business at the Seoul campus from the colleges of technology and engineering located at the
main Daejeon campus. KSEMP is never an entirely stand-alone program and provides students with
opportunities to take courses and meet students in MSc or MA programs in KAIST and its College
of Business.
Alumni network. KAIST has an enormous and strong alumni network in Korea and overseas.
In particular, KAIST College of Business has a special alumni network mainly for entrepreneurs and
investors. This network sponsors business plan competitions and voluntarily serves as a mentor group
for students to establish their own startups. More importantly, the members of this network invest in
the companies that KAIST students create or offer business opportunities to them. Of KSEMP alumni,
80.3% showed clear intention to take advantage of the alumni network, according to our survey.
Research network. KSEMP shares industry trends and research on the social enterprise ecosystem
with professors at KAIST and various social enterprise experts through regular scholarly forums.
KSEMP uses this forum to continuously seek future directions and to forge paths forward. For example,
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 16 of 23

KSEMP hosted the Korean Society of Strategic Management 2019 fall conference, the theme of which
was “Growth Strategy for Social Ventures”. Also sponsored by SK’s Happynarae, the conference
was an impactful opportunity to introduce KSEMP to a number of researchers and practitioners,
and it laid the foundation for cooperation among universities and corporations to form a social
enterprise ecosystem.
Global network. KSEMP collaborates with various global organizations other than Korean
universities for SEE. The overseas experiential learning trip and KSEMP alumni targeting foreign
markets have played important roles in building bridges between the program and global institutions.
For example, collaboration with the Vietnam Social Enterprise Alliance, which visited KAIST College
of Business in February 2019, led to the actual output of global networking. KSEMP was able to
introduce its practice, as well as the social entrepreneurs, to the official delegation from Ho Chi
Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University Hanoi, and Tra Vinh University.
KSEMP and the Vietnamese visitors discussed KSEMP-born startups’ entry into the Vietnamese
market and immediately created an MOU between a specific social enterprise and Tra Vinh Vocational
College. Based on this MOU, the company established the first social enterprise in Tra Vinh that
would contribute to vocational education and job creation for college students in the region by running
an internship program.

4.2.2. Government
Government support. The government plays a crucial role as a funding source for various support
projects in the Korean social enterprise ecosystem, and it runs many intermediate organizations to grow
the ecosystem. The Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency (KoSEA) is a representative organization
that runs various support projects. KoSEA officially certifies the governmental qualifications of social
enterprises, and only certified enterprises can apply for certain projects. For the 12 months from
July 2018 to June 2019 that our data sources cover, KSEMP students were involved in many support
projects of KoSEA, Korea Arts Management Service, Korea Creative Content Agency, National Health
Insurance Service, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and so on. The Seoul Business Agency
under the Seoul Metropolitan Government directly invested in the company of a KSEMP student,
which creates jobs for elderly individuals. Many other government organizations, including Seoul
Food Startup Center, have also provided KSEMP students with free offices and various shared services.
Government partnership. There are a variety of collaboration cases between KSEMP students
and government organizations. KAIST and the Seoul Metropolitan Government collaborated to
build Yangjae Innovation Hub in southern Seoul. KSEMP also holds and participates in a forum
with government organizations, such as KoSEA and the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, to raise
awareness about social enterprises.
Government organizations positively utilize collaboration with KSEMP-born social enterprises
to achieve their own goals. The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation operates a sports program to
build and strengthen local communities against prejudice toward multicultural families with a sports
education startup of a KSEMP alumnus. Through collaboration with KSEMP enterprises, the Seoul
Metropolitan Government has created jobs for the younger generation in the resource recirculation
industry, and the Namwon City Government has operated a pilot project to help middle-aged workers
switch their careers after early retirement. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of
Education operate a program that promotes cultural exchanges to enhance Korea’s national image
with a KSEMP company.
Followed by growing attention to KSEMP, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
began to sponsor a new master’s degree program within KSEMP in 2019, specializing in the social
economy for highly qualified foreign students from developing countries. Moreover, the Busan City
Government suggested launching a branch campus in Busan.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 17 of 23

4.2.3. Industry
Anchor firm. The co-founder of KSEMP, the SK Group, is one of the largest conglomerates in
Korea, and it plays an important role, serving as an anchor firm for KSEMP by connecting its tangible
and intangible assets to the research and education of KAIST. Happynarae is the first social enterprise
among the affiliates of the SK Group. In 2019, Happynarae’s annual turnover was approximately
KRW 1.1 trillion, and the total ordinary profit given back to society amounted to approximately KRW
17 billion. It is the largest financial sponsor of KSEMP and supports human resources for operating the
overall program. The Centre for Social Value Enhancement Studies runs an incentive program called
“Social Progress Credit”, which helps many KSEMP enterprises, as well as other social enterprises,
to measure their social impact in terms of monetary value. Happynarae rewards social enterprises
with cash for the social impact that they create. The Happiness Foundation of the SK Group supports
research projects on social enterprises and raises awareness about social enterprises through media and
public relations. Numerous affiliates of the SK Group, such as SK Chemical, SK Energy, SK Innovation,
SK Magic, SK Network, and SK Telecom, have been attempting to create synergy by sharing their
existing infrastructures, experiences, and capabilities with KSEMP startups that have innovative
business solutions with social impact. KSEMP students chose the brand power of KAIST (71%),
support from the SK Group (44%), and scholarships (44%) as the three most valuable benefits from
the program.
Investor community. Among the items on alumni services in our survey, KSEMP alumni chose
support for investor attraction the most (69%), followed by human networks (51%), market building
(49%), co-working space (26%), and others (5%). For the growth of social enterprise startups, it is
essential to raise capital. KSEMP has endeavored to form a strong network of investors so that students
can gain access to impact investors. On a regular basis, KSEMP invites influential investors and
connects them to a selection of KSEMP companies. It was officially announced that, from July 2018 to
June 2019, 10 KSEMP companies (including four alumni companies) attracted investment from various
investors. KAIST Venture Investment Holdings (KVI), founded by KAIST and the SK Group, is a good
example of a KSEMP partner that invests in social enterprise startups. In 2014–2019, KVI invested in
11 KSEMP companies, including a vegan food manufacturing company, a caregiver matching service
platform, and a fintech startup for the younger generation without credit scores.
Corporate partners. KSEMP involves many external investors and industry experts in association
with its core activities, such as recruitment, student evaluation, special lecture series, special instances of
mentoring (46 external mentors as of August 2020), research projects, database construction, and even
strategy planning to secure proper expertise and objectivity. In addition to the SK Group, there are
many other industry partners of KSEMP and its students. For example, Shinhan, one of the largest
financial groups in Korea, supported a pilot project of a KSEMP company for recruiting disabled
individuals, and D.CAMP, founded by the Korea Federation of Banks, supported an eight week
education program taught by KSEMP faculty for non-KSEMP talent in the social enterprise ecosystem.

4.2.4. Civil Society


The fourth helix of the QHM, civil society, is the media- and culture-based public [55]. Civil society
creates knowledge building upon information and social capital, giving new quality of life to the
ecosystem, and media and culture play crucial roles in spreading information and knowledge.
Raising public awareness establishes a firm foundation for the ecosystem [58]. KSEMP has
undertaken many efforts related to public relations, such as running a short-term education program for
those who are interested in social enterprises (‘Social Venture Intensive Program”), holding a one-day
event for potential applicants (“Social Venture Boosting Day”), and cooperating with the press
through the Happiness Foundation, which has its own media channels. Based on the collected data,
from July 2018 to June 2019, more than 300 online news articles related to KSEMP were released,
and there will be far more news articles not included in the data. The articles cover numerous topics,
including new business introduction, awards, collaboration with different parties, overseas experiential
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 18 of 23

learning trips, and donations by KSEMP startups. This shared information contributes to the ecosystem
directly by promoting business collaboration opportunities and indirectly by attracting capable human
resources—e.g., entrepreneurs, employees, customers, researchers, and reporters—to the ecosystem

4.2.5. Environment
According to Carayannis et al. [55], the last helix is the natural environment. Given that challenges
to sustainability are surging worldwide, it is becoming more important for the ecosystem. Humankind
should proactively continue learning from the environment, which can determine the consequences
and processes of any type of innovation. The environment provides such new knowledge as green
know-how and can contribute to the innovation of the ecosystem.
KSEMP has many cases of entrepreneurs who are addressing environmental problems, including
fine dust, food waste, diaper waste, clothes waste, CO2 from excessive meat consumption, and the
oversupply of milk. KSEMP startups are inventing innovative solutions to these problems, such as
outdoor air cleaners, a takeout food sales platform for single-person households, paper sterilization
and recycling technology development, milk-based edible clay toys, a vegan community platform,
plant-based meats, zero-waste fashion manufacturing, and a fashion goods sharing platform.

4.3. Strengthening the Connectivity


Based on the various interactions analyzed above, this section address directions to improve
KSEMP so that it can function better as an innovation hub for the EE. First, from the internal
connectivity perspective, although the current cohort system has its own merits, it might be worthwhile
to complement the system by encouraging closer collaborations through voluntary groupings into
multiple smaller groups and expanding collaborations with members of other cohorts based on the
stage of business development or the type of social problem. For example, intensive support of
cooperation among entrepreneurs who are addressing the same social problems can actively shape
the perception that each entrepreneur is a partner within the community, rather than a competitor.
Hiring experts from related fields who can help to solve these social problems as mentors for the
cooperating entrepreneurs could lead to dramatic growth of the problem-solving skills of the multiple
smaller groups.
With regard to interactions with universities for external connectivity, more active and practical
collaboration is needed between the College of Business in Seoul and other colleges in Daejeon to prevent
KSEMP from being isolated from the abundant resources of the whole university. Although KSEMP
is currently working closely with various organizations within the College of Business, the physical
distance between the Seoul and Daejeon campuses results in relatively insufficient collaboration with
the colleges of science and engineering. The construction of a new online platform, currently in the
planning stage, will be very important for KSEMP to generate various innovative spin-offs using
technologies developed by all of the colleges, departments, and institutes in KAIST.
For an expanded collaboration network with global universities, the overseas experiential learning
trip should be designed to build a long-term relationship from the planning stage. Continuing and
constant interactions with Santa Clara University, the University of Sheffield, the University of
Cambridge, and San Jose State University, connected through previous trips, are also needed to
avoid wasting this valuable network. In addition to those universities that KSEMP has visited
so far, more active relationship building should be attempted with universities in developing
countries, which are under more threats by social problems and are willing to work together to
solve these problems.
From the perspective of interactions with civil society, continuous efforts should be undertaken
to raise public awareness of social enterprises and to correct misconceptions. To rectify the typical
stereotype that social enterprises are small-scale businesses that, for example, create a small number
of jobs for underprivileged individuals in the job market, it is necessary to build and develop cases
of innovative solutions that utilize cutting-edge technology for a broad spectrum of social problems
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 19 of 23

and examples of brands that are widely known to the public due to their impact in the market.
To accomplish this goal, a more growth-oriented culture should be formed in KSEMP, and more
challenging experiments should also be conducted to provide intensive support to startups with
growth potential, rather than support from an equality perspective.
Concerning external connectivity with the natural environment, it seems that environmental issues
are not currently considered the most important issue; rather, in KSEMP, they are formally considered
one of many different social problems, although many students voluntarily address such issues.
However, considering the impact of issues related to the environment as a source of innovation and as
a determinant of human destiny, KSEMP must build an identity that is oriented toward technology
and make an explicit commitment to environmental issues. Collaboration with the Graduate School
of Green Growth in the KAIST College of Business and other colleges in KAIST, including the
Graduate School of Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability (EEWS), could help KSEMP to
build a technology-oriented identity focused on environmental issues. In addition, forming a research
collaboration network with science and engineering colleges in other universities, government-funded
research institutes for environmental technology, and non-government organizations and global
companies closely related to environmental issues could enhance KSEMP’s understanding of such
issues and the specific capabilities for managing them.
For effective and efficient information sharing, which is the most important aspect of collaboration,
business processes should be closely observed, objectively measured, and systematically managed,
and related data should be generated. Hence, KSEMP should emphasize the importance of data
analyses and teach skills related to such analyses so that students voluntarily measure their financial
performance and social impact based on the data accumulated from their business activities. After all,
KSEMP can establish a data hub that collects and integrates such data to create additional value and
catalyze its internal and external connectivity, also contributing to the EE.

5. Discussion and Conclusions


As an alternative to social problems that are becoming larger and more diverse, social enterprises
must build and maintain solidarity with various stakeholders [9,49,50,59]. In the long term, to confront
constantly occurring and continuously worsening social problems, the network of stakeholders should
form an organically connected and continuously evolving EE [24,36]. Based on this perspective,
SEE programs should be designed and operated to cultivate social entrepreneurs’ abilities to enhance
connectivity with all of the relevant entities of the social enterprise ecosystem.
To this end, this study proposed a framework for the design and assessment of SEE programs,
which could form a constantly growing community of social entrepreneurs while functioning as
an innovation hub for the ecosystem that evolves on its own. This framework is based on social theories
of learning, which emphasize the importance of communities of practice, and the QHM, which defines
the components of a sustainable innovation ecosystem and describes the process through which
innovation occurs. These two theoretical bases clarify how and to whom social entrepreneurs should
be connected throughout the entire process of SEE. The framework emphasizes strengthening internal
connectivity among the members of SEE programs and external connectivity with important entities,
such as universities, corporations, government agencies, civil societies, and natural environment.
In this regard, this paper conducted a case analysis of KSEMP using this framework to identify
implications for further improvement of SEE programs. There have been various attempts to improve
the internal/external connectivity of social entrepreneurs in KSEMP, and these attempts have led to
better performance of students, such as finding new business opportunities and attracting additional
investments. The case analysis shows that the framework facilitates a systematic approach to
investigating whether SEE programs successfully cultivate social entrepreneurs’ abilities to connect
and align various stakeholders from the perspective of internal and external connectivity. This study
contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature and entrepreneurship education literature by
integrating the key features of SEE with social theories of learning and by adopting a recent perspective
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 20 of 23

regarding the function of universities as an innovation hub. In terms of practical contributions,


this study provides a useful framework for finding isolated members or disconnected relationships
within the community and external entities that require more active interactions and appropriate
interaction plans. The framework can be utilized by educational or other types of institutions that
seek practical and integrative strategies to launch or operate SEE programs. Government officials who
support SEE and relevant stakeholders can confirm their positions within the whole ecosystem and
develop measures to expand their connectivity.
This paper presents directions for further research. This study assumed that various components
of the innovation ecosystem are connected to form an organic network. By focusing on the intermediary
role of SEE as an innovation hub in an EE, however, it excluded relationships that do not directly
involve universities, such as government-industry interactions and the interconnectedness between
civil society and the environment. Once the data of dyadic interactions between every component are
secured, it will also be possible to quantitatively analyze the correlations between the internal and
external connectivity of SEE programs and to conduct social network analysis to examine whether
a SEE program functions as an innovation hub in certain contexts or not [60]. In addition, the effect of
each interaction on the growth or survival of startup companies or the quantitative and qualitative
growth of the ecosystem could ultimately be analyzed.
Currently, finding solutions to social problems is the greatest task of humankind. One of the most
important roles of university education might be to nurture the social entrepreneurs who will make
it possible to find such solutions through solidarity based on strong consensus among stakeholders.
Although the KSEMP case itself holds great significance as a valuable benchmark for SEE design and
assessment, it is not because KSEMP is perfect or the best in the world. However, there is no way
to create a perfect SEE program without constantly seeking unexplored paths and overcoming new
challenges. Sharing a variety of examples of continuing challenges worldwide and learning from
the success and failure of others can help us to reap the fruits of such efforts efficiently. Herein lies
the value of the KSEMP case study. We admit that our analysis should be understood under the
context of KSEMP including the national higher education system, industry structure, government
policy, cultural background of civil society, and (natural) environmental issues in Korea. Nevertheless,
unless the educational institutions are isolated from other parts of the society in a specific country or
region, we believe that the case of KSEMP as a hub for interconnected helices of the entrepreneurial
ecosystem will serve as a valuable benchmark for the design and assessment of social entrepreneurship
education. As social entrepreneurship continues to emerge as a promising alternative to deal with
increasing challenges in contemporary society, the practices of and the lessons from KSEMP will add
value to enriching the entrepreneurial ecosystem in other contexts as well. We hope that this study
catalyzes a variety of subsequent case studies of SEE.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization: M.G.K. and H.S.; methodology: M.G.K. and J.-H.L.; formal analysis:
M.G.K. and J.-H.L.; data curation: M.G.K.; writing—original draft preparation: M.G.K. and H.S.; writing—review
and editing: J.-H.L. and T.R.; project administration: M.G.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published
version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported by the Happiness Foundation of the SK Group.
Acknowledgments: This research was able to be conducted due to the full and complete support provided by the
Happiness Foundation of the SK Group. In many ways, the authors are indebted to the genuine, all-encompassing,
and unshakable endeavors of the Happiness Foundation to build a society where everyone can share in happiness.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 21 of 23

Appendix A

Table A1. Website address of the public promotion materials.

Organizations Website Address


KAIST kaist.ac.kr
KAIST College of Business business.kaist.ac.kr
SK Centre for Social Entrepreneurship sksecenter.kaist.ac.kr
KAIST College of Business Start-up kcbstartup.kaist.ac.kr
Start-up KAIST startup.kaist.ac.kr
KAIST K-School kschool.kaist.ac.kr
business.kaist.ac.kr/_prog/brochure/download.php?
KSEMP (official brochure)
mng_no=3&site_dvs_cd=kr

Table A2. Details of the interviews.

Female 2
Gender
Male 20
Age Evenly distributed from 30 s to 60 s
Interviewees
Professor 8
(N = 22)
CEO 8
Corporate Executive 2
Job
Corporate Employee 1
NGO Executive 1
NGO Employee 2
Length About 60–80 min
Language Korean
Question type Open-ended question

References
1. Howorth, C.; Smith, S.M.; Parkinson, C. Social learning and social entrepreneurship education. Acad. Manag.
Learn. Educ. 2012, 11, 371–389. [CrossRef]
2. Kramer, M.R.; Porter, M.E. Creating shared value. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2011, 89, 62–77.
3. Cochran, P.L. The evolution of corporate social responsibility. Bus. Horiz. 2007, 50, 449–454. [CrossRef]
4. Chell, E. Social enterprise and entrepreneurship: Towards a convergent theory of the entrepreneurial process.
Int. Small Bus. J. 2007, 25, 5–26. [CrossRef]
5. Chell, E.; Nicolopoulou, K.; Karataş-Özkan, M. Social entrepreneurship and enterprise: International and
innovation perspectives. Entrep. Reg. Dev. 2010, 22, 485–493. [CrossRef]
6. Ramus, T.; Vaccaro, A. Stakeholders matter: How social enterprises address mission drift. J. Bus. Ethics 2017,
143, 307–322. [CrossRef]
7. Doherty, B.; Haugh, H.; Lyon, F. Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda.
Int. J. Manag. Rev. 2014, 16. [CrossRef]
8. Jenner, P.; Florin, O. The sectorial trust of social enterprise: Friend or foe? J. Soc. Entrep. 2016, 7, 236–261.
[CrossRef]
9. Bloom, P.N.; Smith, B.R. Identifying the drivers of social entrepreneurial impact: Theoretical development
and an exploratory empirical test of SCALERS. J. Soc. Entrep. 2010, 1, 126–145. [CrossRef]
10. Marshall, R.S. Conceptualizing the international for-profit social entrepreneur. J. Bus. Ethics 2011, 98, 183–198.
[CrossRef]
11. Hockerts, K. The effect of experiential social entrepreneurship education on intention formation in students.
J. Soc. Entrep. 2018, 9, 234–256. [CrossRef]
12. Youtie, J.; Shapira, P. Building an innovation hub: A case study of the transformation of university roles in
regional technological and economic development. Res. Policy 2008, 37, 1188–1204. [CrossRef]
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 22 of 23

13. Jensen, T.L. A holistic person perspective in measuring entrepreneurship education impact—Social
entrepreneurship education at the Humanities. Int. J. Manag. Educ. 2014, 12, 349–364. [CrossRef]
14. Brock, D.D.; Steiner, S. Social entrepreneurship education: Is it achieving the desired aims? SSRN Electron. J. 2009.
[CrossRef]
15. Tracey, P.; Phillips, N. The distinctive challenge of educating social entrepreneurs: A postscript and rejoinder
to the special issue on entrepreneurship education. Acad. Manag. Learn. Educ. 2007, 6, 264–271. [CrossRef]
16. Lawrence, T.; Phillips, N.; Tracey, P. From the guest editors: Educating social entrepreneurs and social
innovators. Acad. Manag. Learn. Educ. 2012, 11, 319–323. [CrossRef]
17. Zhu, Y.; Rooney, D.; Phillips, N. Practice-based wisdom theory for integrating institutional logics: A new
model for social entrepreneurship learning and education. Acad. Manag. Learn. Educ. 2016, 15, 607–625.
[CrossRef]
18. Kirby, D.; Ibrahim, N. The case for (Social) entrepreneurship education in Egyptian Universities. J. Educ. Train.
2011, 53, 403–415. [CrossRef]
19. Dobele, L. A new approach in higher education: Social entrepreneurship education. In Volume of Management,
Enterprise and Benchmarking in the 21st Century III; Michelberger, P., Ed.; Óbuda University: Budapest,
Hungary, 2016; pp. 227–238.
20. Pache, A.-C.; Chowdhury, I. Social entrepreneurs as institutionally embedded entrepreneurs: Toward a new
model of social entrepreneurship education. Acad. Manag. Learn. Educ. 2012, 11, 494–510. [CrossRef]
21. Bahrami, H.; Evans, S. Flexible re-cycling and high-technology entrepreneurship. Calif. Manag. Rev. 1995,
37, 62–89. [CrossRef]
22. Maritz, A.; Koch, A.; Schmidt, M. The role of entrepreneurship education programs in national systems of
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Int. J. Organ. Innov. 2016, 8, 7–26.
23. Spilling, O.R. The entrepreneurial system: On entrepreneurship in the context of a mega-event. J. Bus. Res.
1996, 36, 91–103. [CrossRef]
24. Spigel, B. The relational organization of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrep. Theory Prac. 2017, 41, 49–72.
[CrossRef]
25. Freeman, C. Technological infrastructure and international competitiveness. Ind. Corp. Chang. 2004,
13, 541–569. [CrossRef]
26. Edquist, C. Systems of innovation: Perspectives and challenges. Afr. J. Sci. Technol. Innov. Dev. 2010, 2, 14–45.
[CrossRef]
27. Lundvall, B.Å. National innovation systems—Analytical concept and development tool. Ind. Innov. 2007,
14, 95–119. [CrossRef]
28. Porter, M.E. Clusters and the new economics of competition. Harv. Bus. Rev. 1998, 76, 77–90.
29. Engel, J.S.; del-Palacio, I. Global networks of clusters of innovation: Accelerating the innovation process.
Bus. Horiz. 2009, 52, 493–503. [CrossRef]
30. Clarysse, B.; Wright, M.; Bruneel, J.; Mahajan, A. Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between
knowledge and business ecosystems. Res. Policy 2014, 43, 1164–1176. [CrossRef]
31. Link, A.N.; Scott, J.T. US science parks: The diffusion of an innovation and its effects on the academic
missions of universities. In Universities and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem; Audretsch, D.B., Link, A.N., Eds.;
Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK, 2017; pp. 3–36.
32. Whittington, K.B.; Owen-Smith, J.; Powell, W.W. Networks, propinquity, and innovation in
knowledge-intensive industries. Adm. Sci. Q. 2009, 54, 90–122. [CrossRef]
33. Baptista, R. Clusters, innovation and growth: A survey of the literature. In The Dynamics of Industrial
Clusters: International Comparisons in Computing and Biotechnology; Swann, G.M.P., Prevezer, M., Stout, D.,
Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 1998; pp. 13–51.
34. Moore, J.F. Predators and prey: A new ecology of competition. Harv. Bus. Rev. 1993, 71, 75–86. [PubMed]
35. Isenberg, D. The big idea: How to start an entrepreneurial revolution. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2010, 88, 40–50.
36. Adner, R. Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2006, 84, 98.
[PubMed]
37. Feld, B. Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City; Wiley: New York, NY, USA, 2012.
38. Roundy, P.T.; Bradshaw, M.; Brockman, B.K. The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems: A complex
adaptive systems approach. J. Bus. Res. 2018, 86, 1–10. [CrossRef]
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9736 23 of 23

39. Fuster, E.; Padilla-Meléndez, A.; Lockett, N.; del-Águila-Obra, A.R. The emerging role of university spin-off
companies in developing regional entrepreneurial university ecosystems: The case of Andalusia. Technol. For.
Soc. Chang. 2019, 141, 219–231. [CrossRef]
40. Carree, M.; Malva, A.D.; Santarelli, E. The contribution of universities to growth: Empirical evidence for
Italy. J. Technol. Transf. 2014, 39, 393–414. [CrossRef]
41. Guerrero, M.; Urbano, D.; Cunningham, J.; Organ, D. Entrepreneurial universities in two European regions:
A case study comparison. J. Technol. Transf. 2014, 39, 415–434. [CrossRef]
42. Hayter, C.S. A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: The role of knowledge intermediaries within
an entrepreneurial university ecosystem. Small Bus. Econ. 2016, 47, 633–656. [CrossRef]
43. Lubik, S.; Garnsey, E.; Minshall, T.; Platts, K. Value creation from the innovation environment: Partnership
strategies in university spin-outs. R&D Manag. 2013, 43, 136–150. [CrossRef]
44. Autio, E.; Kenney, M.; Mustar, P.; Siegel, D.; Wright, M. Entrepreneurial innovation: The importance of
context. Res. Policy 2014, 43, 1097–1108. [CrossRef]
45. Borgatti, S.P.; Cross, R. A relational view of information seeking and learning in social networks. Manag. Sci.
2003, 49, 432–445. [CrossRef]
46. Acs, Z.J.; Braunerhjelm, P.; Audretsch, D.B.; Carlsson, B. The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship.
Small Bus. Econ. 2009, 32, 15–30. [CrossRef]
47. Hayter, C.S. Conceptualizing knowledge-based entrepreneurship networks: Perspectives from the literature.
Small Bus. Econ. 2013, 41, 899–911. [CrossRef]
48. Phelps, C.; Heidl, R.; Wadhwa, A. Knowledge, networks, and knowledge networks: A review and research
agenda. J. Manag. 2012, 38, 1115–1166. [CrossRef]
49. Bacq, S.; Eddleston, K.A. A resource-based view of social entrepreneurship: How stewardship culture
benefits scale of social impact. J. Bus. Ethics 2018, 152, 589–611. [CrossRef]
50. Sharir, M.; Lerner, M. Gauging the success of social ventures initiated by individual social entrepreneurs.
J. World Bus. 2006, 41, 6–20. [CrossRef]
51. Shaw, E.; Carter, S. Social entrepreneurship: Theoretical antecedents and empirical analysis of entrepreneurial
processes and outcomes. J. Small Bus. Enterp. Dev. 2007, 14, 418–434. [CrossRef]
52. Engel, J.S.; del-Palacio, I. Global clusters of innovation: The case of israel and silicon valley. Calif. Manag. Rev.
2011, 53, 27–49. [CrossRef]
53. Carayannis, E.G.; Grigoroudis, E.; Campbell, D.F.J.; Meissner, D.; Stamati, D. The ecosystem as
helix: An exploratory theory-building study of regional co-opetitive entrepreneurial ecosystems as
quadruple/quintuple helix innovation models. R&D Manag. 2018, 48, 148–162. [CrossRef]
54. Carayannis, E.G.; Campbell, D.F.J. Triple helix, quadruple helix and quintuple helix and how do knowledge,
innovation and the environment relate to each other? A proposed framework for a trans-disciplinary analysis
of sustainable development and social ecology. Int. J. Soc. Ecol. Sustain. Dev. 2010, 1, 41–69. [CrossRef]
55. Carayannis, E.G.; Barth, T.D.; Campbell, D.F.J. The Quintuple Helix innovation model: Global warming as
a challenge and driver for innovation. J. Innov. Entrep. 2012, 1, 2. [CrossRef]
56. Ministry of Employment and Labor. The 3rd Basic Plan for Social Enterprise Promotion (2018–2022); Ministry of
Employment and Labor: Sejong City, Korea, 2018.
57. Son, H.; Lee, J.; Chung, Y. Value creation mechanism of social enterprises in manufacturing industry:
Empirical evidence from Korea. Sustainability 2018, 10, 46. [CrossRef]
58. OECD. Boosting Social Enterprise Development: Good Practice Compendium; OECD Publishing: Paris, France, 2017.
59. Prasetyo, A.H.; Lo, W.; Chang, A. Network model for social entrepreneurships: Pathways to sustainable
competitive advantage. J. Small Bus. Entrep. Dev. 2016, 4, 44–53. [CrossRef]
60. Motoyama, Y.; Knowlton, K. Examining the connections within the startup ecosystem: A case study of St.
Louis. Entrep. Res. J. 2017, 7. [CrossRef]

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy