RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

Social entrepreneur: Does literature match reality? 205
of life to people and a more equal and fair society. The social entrepreneur is als characterized
as having a special civil sensitivity, responding to problems through innovative and creative
solutions that result in effective social change.
The 46 answers were analysed both individually and aggregated by country, in order to
draw conclusions both within and across countries. Table 2 presents a summary of the responses
of the inquired sample in each country, given the homogeneity of data within countries
and the relevance of comparing the visions of each EU member state.
Table 2: Definition of social entrepreneur according to practitioners
Country
Cyprus
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Definition
A social entrepreneur is a person who establishes an enterprise with the aim of solving social
problems and effecting social change with innovating solutions to society’s most pressing
social problems.
The social entrepreneur strongly believes in his social mission and he is able to build an
innovative and effective business model.
Social entrepreneur is a driven, ambitious leader, inspiring others to do more and become
more and live better. He drives social changes, addresses social problems, has strong
responsibility for others and is focused on common wellbeing. He is an active person who
takes the matters into his own hands, changes the reality of local communities for better while
applying modern solutions. His company is more people-oriented than profit-oriented (meets
both economic and social criteria). Its success is measured by social change.
A social entrepreneur can be defined as someone who finds an opportunity in a social
situation/problem with which is not conformed and creates a business solution to answer to it.
His main mission is to create social impact and, thus, he promotes social transformation,
towards a more equal and fair society. Although he does not see profit as the main goal, the
social entrepreneur keeps in mind the importance of sustainability.
The definitions of the interviewees seem to vary, but all revolve around being similar to any
entrepreneur with an added extra element which makes the situation more difficult but also
more rewarding.
The table above offers a summary of the sample answers, revealing the main features of
the concept of social entrepreneur, given by the respondents with knowledge and experience
in the area.
Despite the common features identified across countries, respondents from Romania seem
to have a different vision. For them, the social entrepreneur is seen as someone who can take
advantage of opportunities, with one of the respondents even stating that this type of entrepreneur
is an “Opportunist who sees a chance to do good for himself in a way that is socially
beneficial” and another individual stating that he can be defined as “A fantastic manager
who can turn a disadvantage into an opportunity”.
Similarly, to the analysis carried out, the next point of this article examines the respondents’
answers, regarding the characteristics/traits that make a social entrepreneur a successful
person.
Characteristics of success
According to the practitioners’ perspective, there is a clear importance given to personal
and social characteristics, as opposed to hard skills. In fact, although referred across the majority
of respondents, only management skills are identified as critical technical skills for the