The proliferation of
crises around the world has led to a prominent increase in fascination, as well
as interest in the concept “social entrepreneurship”. In today’s
society, this concept has inspired numerous individuals to peruse starting a
social business as it promises to solve some of the worlds toughest problems
while earning money and gaining social status. That being said, these are often
the individuals/agencies that are exempted from public examination as they are
seen doing “valuable work”. With that in mind, Daniela Papi- Thornton (2016) in
her article, “Tackling Heropreneruship”, critiques this industry by claiming
that we are emerging into an area of heropreneurship in which being an
entrepreneur has become trendy (1). After critically analyzing Thorton’s
article, while heropreneurship as a trend has its strengths, when it comes down
to social impact, the line between quick solutions and actual progress has been
blurred, in addition to changing the way we fund and educate the people who
inspire to be “social entrepreneurs”.
For
starters, it is important to understand the concept behind heropreneurship.
Admittedly, there is no doubt that we live in a world full of tough problems
which include: malnutrition, genocide, poverty, war, government negligence, and
unfortunately much more. Ultimately, these are some of the world’s toughest
problems due to the fact that they are often complex, multifaceted, and require
much patience. Consequently, this has led to an era of heropreneurship in which
everyone inspires to be an entrepreneur. Due to its heroic and feel good
appeal, many individuals work towards creating an “attractive” social
enterprise or demand jobs with a “social purpose”.
This is a very interesting article and worth the read! Here is the link:
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/tackling_heropreneurship
Yes, I think critical thinking in all aspects of life is paramount. This raises a interesting hypothesis and I think that we risk becoming duped if we think a venture warrants funding, respect etc. just because it appears on the surface to be providing a valuable service or product.
ReplyDeleteI believe being an entrepreneur is almost everyone's goal, which I think is good. But the reason behind it should be questioned. A lot of tech companies are being created but they unfortunately do not last. But do you think its because of their ideologies of being a heropreneur or just because they could not survive in the market of continuous monopolization? I think from an optimistic perspective, its great to have an overflow of entrepreneurs/heropreneurs because it brings about competition. But unfortunately those who sponsor these companies are at risk
ReplyDeleteYes, I think as with any life goal/aspiration, the underlying motivation is most definitely important to consider. Whether it be entrepreneurship or climbing the ranks of business, career goals tell a lot about the potential for success as well as the characteristics of a person. I think that it is necessary to evaluate the concept of greed as was emphasized in last week's class, in contrast to what the individual actually wants to achieve by participating in the entrepreneurial realm.
ReplyDeleteI think that this raises a question that is worthy of some thought: if you do not truly care about the social cause of the company you create, as an entrepreneur, does it make much of a difference? In other words, if you are contributing to solving a problem that desperately needs attention, even though you may not be passionate about it, are you doing something bad? I don't think that the question can be answered with a simple binary of yes or no. Instead, the motivation behind the company should greatly be considered. A company that I know has come under recent criticism because of their attempts to tap into this market is Bell, with their Bell Let's Talk campaign. I do think, however, that it is different when you are talking about a start-up vs. an already established company that is seeking better advertising techniques.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I genuinely do believe that we as millennials have the opportunity to greatly impact the world around us by starting companies with a social edge. And I do think that we really need it. While I understand the critical analysis of such a pursuit, I think that the rewards should be weighed with value. Even if the problems that are being tackled are on a smaller scale, every person and every effort makes a difference. And it definitely helps if the entrepreneurs are genuinely passionate about making a change. I have been able to experience the pleasure that this type of action can promote. A friend of mine started a company called Society Socks, in which they donate a pair of socks to a charity for each pair that they sell. It is a small impact, but one that is desperately needed and one that greatly affects the lives of people in need, especially here in Canada. We need more people who truly care about others and understand the influence they can wield.
It is important for everyone (especially millennial's) to understand the implications of our actions on the world and that we are the next age group to be making a large impact through our actions. Despite this, I don't see it necessary for most/all start-ups to involve a campaign designed to benefit a specific issue in the world. In my opinion the changes must begin with the elite corporations and companies in the world because of their ability to reach the masses. Despite many of these major corporations being aimed from a 100% capitalistic perspective, it is much more feasible and realistic for them to have any impact on world issues. I am not trying to discourage anyone from making an effort towards relieving any issues in the world or even our society, however I am simply trying to depict the difference in difficulty from the perspective of a large corporation to a start-up.
ReplyDeleteI took the liberty of reading through the article you presented on the blog called, “Tackling Heropreneurship” by Daniela Papi Thorton, and it shed tremendous light on how entrepreneurship, in addition to its numerous benefits, can also cause negative impacts upon society. In other words, entrepreneurship cannot only slow or halt social progress, but it has the ability to send individuals in the completely wrong direction whilst attempting to initiate social change/impact.
ReplyDeleteAs Sulaika mentioned, the term entrepreneurship has developed an alternative interpretation, called heropreneurship, which means that being an entrepreneur has become trendy. For this reason, individuals decide to pursue an entrepreneurial path, in order to make money, gain social status and create the illusion of solving global issues. How do you expect to solve global issues if you have never experienced the situation firsthand? This lack of knowledge surrounding global issues, and venture development is important to understand because universities may be teaching students on how to run a business successfully, but they tend to leave out course content involving how to solve a problem and fuel social change (Thorton). It would be wise for course curriculum to include content that discusses how ventures can contribute to social change, as well as guided explanations on how to incorporate social impact initiatives throughout business plan proposals from start to finish. Therefore, the thought of social change should never stray from a company's mission/goals, even after the organization is up and running, and generating major cash flow. However, in previous classes I learned that the millennial generation is most intrinsically motivated by money. Therefore, this suggests that young entrepreneurs aren't necessarily concerned with global issues that do not personally affect them, but rather what can I create or do that will make me large amounts of money? This is definitely an area of concern when thinking about the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs.
I think this is an interesting topic to discuss and I tend to agree with what Reem has stated about how there rewards of these entrepreneurial efforts should be weighed with value. Although entrepreneurship has become trendy and people are starting companies to attempt to overcome some of the struggles Sulaika mentioned, I think that these initiatives can be more beneficial than negative. While the motive is still important and something that should be considered when evaluating a company and their intentions, I think that heropreneurship has the potential to create a lot of benefits to society.
ReplyDelete