Canadian Social Enterprises: An Empirical Exploration of Social Transformation, Financial Self-Sufficiency, and Innovation

Abstract

This article reports on empirical research investigating social transformation, financial self-sufficiency, and innovation in Canadian social enterprises. A set of profiles on 60 randomly selected social enterprises utilizing information from each organization's Web site was developed and analyzed. The profiles show that about one-third of the sample enterprises were deemed high in social transformation, approximately one-half were assessed high in financial self-sufficiency, and fewer that one-fifth were found to be highly innovative. Implications for marketing in social enterprises are drawn.

Keywords:

• social enterprises
• social transformation
• financial self-sufficiency
• innovation

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Telfer School of Management, the Sprott Centre on Social Enterprises, and the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation. We thank Robert Mittelman for excellent research assistance.