Introduction to social and sustainable enterprise: changing the nature of business

Around the world, people are confronted by a variety of complex and pervasive environmental, social and economic challenges. In many cases, including anthropogenic climate change, resource depletion, financial system disruption and poverty, there has been an increasing recognition that ‘wicked problems’ require entirely new ways of thinking, and that the solutions are unlikely to be found by governments, businesses or civil society actors operating in isolation. In parallel with these developments, many observers have commented on a growing interest in various forms of social entrepreneurship and in new models of enterprise that seek alternative ways of delivering products and services, while also securing the ‘triple bottom line’ of social, environmental and economic sustainability. This volume draws together a selection of contemporary entrepreneurship research studies that explore different aspects of this phenomenon. Our original call for papers was based around the themes addressed in one of ISBE's longstanding annual conference tracks. It attracted some strong submissions from within and beyond the ISBE research community. The editors reviewed papers relating to social and sustainable entrepreneurship, the environmental impacts of enterprise, and ethics and social responsibility in enterprise