Abstract
This study aligns with the objectives of this volume, presenting cases reflecting social entrepreneurs' lived experiences, seeking understanding, and conveying learning from practitioners and their emergent approaches embedded in contextual realities. Adopting an interpretative approach, this chapter presents First Fruit Group (FFG) as an illustrative case derived from a broader study – highlighting various dimensions of entrepreneurial parenting identified as core elements in the nurturing process at FFG and manifested in the relationship between social entrepreneur and mentee. Evidently fundamental for FFG's growth, it extended strategic vision and raison d'être continuity in leadership succession, motivating new opportunity exploitation and sustaining the group's enterprising expansion.
TopBackground
Social enterprise and third sector dynamics converge increasingly urgent attention on sustainability and value creation in social and environmental contexts. Current times arouse public awareness, clamouring for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and mounting regulatory pressure. Social demands and environmental concerns, spurned by incessant corporate scandals question shareholder primacy in employed capitalist ideals, sounding a clarion call (Geldres-Weiss et al., 2021). Held to account, this pressing call is today increasingly heeded by politicians and policymakers; sometimes also acknowledged by corporate industry titans themselves1.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): Sharing conceptual elements with CSR, ESG comprises three central factors used to evaluate companies and countries with respect to sustainability measures. Also, it is associated with sound governance, arguably safeguarding against unlawful, and in some instances unethical action and behaviour on all three aspects. It is increasingly built into compliance requirements and standards in many sectors, including financial investments.
Social Entrepreneurship: Value creating activity and enterprise associated with social entrepreneurs – who pursue novel applications that have potential to solve community-based problems. Undertaking risk and effort to create positive changes in society, where beyond financial profits, sustainable enduring value is created for society and the environment. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘triple bottom line’.
Metaphor: A metaphor is a symbolic association or parallel operationalization. While not being exactly the same, there exists a direct similarity in praxis or function.
Capitalism: A prevalent economic and social system of privately controlled trade and industry where the primary objective is to maximize shareholders wealth and profit. Excessive focus on the sole objective of profits increasingly comes at the expense of other stakeholders’ rights – where regulation to control for this is often trailing and playing ‘catch-up’. The failures of capitalism in modern society are often claimed to be portrayed by the world-wide meltdown resulting from the recent 2008 global financial crisis, and widening disparity and wealth gaps in modern society.
Spiritual Capital: Capital is generally considered to be a store of wealth or an asset that can be capitalized or drawn upon. Sometimes considered a subset of social capital, spiritual capital draws from fundamentals in philosophy, theology, sociology and economics. Broadly, spiritual capital refers to the accumulated value and potential accrued in an enduring collection spiritual and ethically informed beliefs, knowledge, values and dispositions that drive societal, organisational and interpersonal behaviour.
Entrepreneurial Parenting: Refers to the nurturing and formative parenting role of parents who are enterprising or entrepreneurs – thus shaping the development of their children, who will likely be predisposed to engage in entrepreneurial activity themselves as a result of their upbringing and nurturing, inclusive of vicarious learning, shared beliefs and familial bonds.