Title: Charity and social business: two ways to the same goals

Authors: Michael Wirtz

Addresses: Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Gausstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany

Abstract: This article illustrates the work of charities and social businesses. Charities and social businesses might be seen as two competitive forms to solve social problems and it is the aim of this paper to show that they can also be seen as complementary approaches. Qualitative data gained through expert interviews is used to gain deep insights into the different ways of thinking and acting within those organisations. Thus, they shall be differentiated with regards to their organisational work and it shall be explored whether they could learn from each other. It will be shown that each approach has its strengths, depending on context and goals, and that both can benefit from each other.

Keywords: charities; social businesses; social entrepreneurship; social enterprises; organisational work.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEI.2016.082293

International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2016 Vol.4 No.3, pp.210 - 222

Received: 14 Sep 2016
Accepted: 22 Sep 2016
Published online: 17 Feb 2017 *

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