Investigating social entrepreneurship in developing countries

Social entrepreneurship has drawn interest from global policy makers and social entrepreneurs to target developing countries. Generally, not-forprofit organizations, funded by government and donor grants have played a significant role in poverty alleviation. We argue that, by applying entrepreneurial concepts, organizations can create social value, hence mitigate poverty. This is a theoretical paper that builds upon a multidimensional model in analysing how three social enterprises from India and Kenya create social value to address social problems. The findings suggest that whilst the social mission is central to all these organizations, they also create social value through innovation and pro-activeness. Additionally, the cultural and political environmental contexts hinder their attempt to create social value. Building networks and partnerships to achieve social value creation is vital for these organizations. Policy makers should devise policies that would assist social enterprises to achieve development goals