N Rametse

Investigating Social Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

Social entrepreneurship has drawn interest from global policy makers and social entrepreneurs to target developing countries. Generally, not-for-profit organisations, funded by government and donor grants have played a significant role in poverty alleviation. We argue that, by applying entrepreneurial concepts, organisations can create social value, hence mitigate poverty. This is a theoretical paper that builds upon a multi-dimensional 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 organisations, 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 organisations. Policy makers should devise policies that would assist social enterprises to achieve development goals.

Perceptions Towards Entrepreneurship and Intention to Become Entrepreneurs: The Case of Sultan Qaboos University Female Undergraduate Students

This chapter reports the results of a study conducted on Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) female undergraduate students’ intentions on becoming entrepreneurs and their perceptions towards entrepreneurship. This study employed predictive modelling to understand and predict the start of own business by female students in a developing country like Oman. The key research question addressed in this chapter is: What factors influence Sultan Qaboos University’s female students towards entrepreneurship? Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 200 undergraduate female students at the College of Economics and Political Science in 2015. The findings suggest that, while the general perceptions on factors that influence the entrepreneurial aspirations of female SQU undergraduate students are positive, a small portion of these students still hold ambivalent views towards entrepreneurship. This research has important implications for researchers, practitioners, policy makers and entrepreneurship educators.