Social Entrepreneurs: New Age Businessmen

The term social entrepreneurship refers to the growing number of institutions, firms or organisations satisfying those human needs that commercial institutions and markets failed to. The social environment of entrepreneurship includes taking initiative as well as the risk involved. It combines the profit-motive with social welfare. It also includes social purpose business ventures and hybrid organisations mixing for-profit and not-for-profit elements. Social entrepreneurs have always existed but did not come in limelight. It is all because of globalisation and digitalisation that they and their workings have got recognition. These are the persons who take risk to upgrade the society and never depend on government or anyone else for finding solutions to the social problems. Various Social entrepreneurs have worked hard to remove social problems of poverty, illiteracy, hunger, diseases etc. Some of them have received various awards and recognition all over the world for their contributions towards social welfare and upliftment like, Ibrahim Abouleish (Right Livelihood Award), Hanumappa Sudarshan (Indian Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014), Akansha Hazari (Hult Prize), etc. A corporation‟s social responsibility is mainly classified into 4 categories- Philanthropic, Ethical, Legal and Economic. At present it has been made mandatory for the corporations, earning beyond a certain limit, to contribute towards Corporate Social Responsibility. The important questions that arise are like why an enterprise will engage in social responsibility or not-for-profit ideas, which social problem be given priority over others and why, etc. This paper undertakes the critical analysis of social entrepreneurship and the corporate social responsibility along with the study of the contributions of various social entrepreneurs from all over the world.