Title: Studying the successful startup of a social enterprise: a case study of Lion's Thread Uganda

Authors: Jeanette K. Miller; James W. O'Connor

Addresses: Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30319, USA ' Johnson College of Business and Economics, University of South Carolina Upstate, 160 East St. John Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306, USA

Abstract: Social enterprises are hybrid companies that combine non-profit and for-profit missions into one organisation. There is limited literature on these nascent organisations, and the hybrid nature of these companies makes their management more complicated. This case study research looked at the successful start-up phase of Lion's Thread, a social enterprise with production operations in Uganda and sales in the USA. Collective action was instrumental in the development of this social enterprise, as many individuals worked together to achieve the company's progress. Effectuation was strongly present in this case where the solution was shaped based on the resources available in the local environment. Structuration theory defines this social enterprise as the leaders became embedded in the local environment to determine resource availability, recognised opportunities, worked with and restructured systems, and through a collective action approach, created social value.

Keywords: social enterprise start-ups; social entrepreneurship; collective action; effectuation; structuration; case study; Uganda; USA; United States; social value.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEI.2016.075645

International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2016 Vol.4 No.1, pp.80 - 94

Received: 03 Dec 2015
Accepted: 11 Jan 2016
Published online: 30 Mar 2016 *

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