“The social entrepreneur changes the performance capacity of society.” –Peter F. Drucker (management expert)

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” -Bill Drayton (CEO, chair and founder of Ashoka)

“As a journalism student, I was taught that news could be defined as ‘destabilizing information’. If so, the social entrepreneurs are news-worthy. They are destabilizing forces: Wherever they crop up, they pose serious threats to the status quo.” –David Bornstein (famous journalist)

一直以來，成功商場人士的形象經常是融合了才幹、毅力和智慧，懂得在資本世界中，運用最小的資源，為自己滾動最大的財富，一般大眾也熱衷以研究分析的角度來檢視和學習商場人士的成功之道；至於社會工作者，或者志工，則往往被塑造成人道主義者或聖賢，他們充滿理想，視金錢為無物，無情的現實使他們所領導的公益組織面臨資源不足、入不敷出的困境，但正因為這些重重困難，使他們的奮鬥故事更能令人們感動。在一般人的認知裡，經由訓練、學習可以教導一個人建立成功的企業（這可以解釋為何商學院MBA學位始終熱門，且企管叢書總是熱賣），但要讓一位社會工作者真正對社會產生重大影響，卻只能碰運氣。

「社會企業家」（Social Entrepreneur）的出現改寫了這種刻板印象，模糊了社會工作者與商場人士之間的界線，使人們了解到：「善」與「利」可以連結並存，「志工」與「企業家」兩個名詞可以合而為一，成為一個新職業。

「社會企業家」到底是什麼？

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.

They discovered what the business sector learned long ago: There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur. Therefore, they maintained visionary. However, in order to make their new ideas work, they become ultimate realistic, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else.

換言之，「社會企業家」與過去社會工作者的不同點，在於他們學會了集合資源、重視成本、追求效率和目標導向，不再只有需要外界捐助的孱弱形象，而能以更企業化、規模化的方式，長遠地解決社會的重大問題。

The organizations led by “traditional” citizen sectors increasingly are being pressed to demonstrate their efficacy. Faced with a wave of energetic social entrepreneurs who are building organizations that are strategic and fast moving, people managing sluggish, outdated institutions no longer find “business as usual” to be a safe stance. In fact, it is getting riskier by the day to remain static or to coast on reputation. The arrival of entrepreneurialism and competition represents an early, but fundamental, change in the dynamics of the citizen sector, one that history has shown in highly conducive to innovation.

「社會企業家」為了能夠自給自足、把創辦其組織的理念長久而徹底地落實，他們有的會透過經營營利事業來帶進收益，也有的是以其公益事業的「績效」來競逐外界善款，其績效壓力甚至不亞於一般商業企業家。

“We need to actuate and cause change. Even if the inspiration is romantic, it desires material results, a re-colored reality.”－一位「阿育王」（Ashoka，註）會員如此說。 

他們的競爭壓力也確實引起外界的關注和認同，美國總統夫人Michelle Obama就主導成立了支持社會企業家的基金。她在記者會上如此說：

“(We’ll) find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country. By focusing on high-impact, results-oriented non-profits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of the public trust.”

如同暢銷企管書《追求卓越》（In Search of Excellence）所探討的一些美國最成功公司的領導人，「社會企業家」通常擅長溝通、具說明力、行動積極、活力充沛，充滿創意而富進取心，一心想要改變現行的遊戲規則，也對人類行為和人性有務實而深刻的理解，他們願意花許多時間思考，想辦法讓他們訴求的對象（客戶）接受他們提出的觀念（產品）。

Each social entrepreneur presents ideas that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in order to maximize the number of local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement with it. In other words, every leading social entrepreneur is a mass recruiter of local change-makers—a role model proving that citizens who channel their passion into action can do almost anything.

「社會企業家」擅長使用商業企業的管理和手法，他們的許多特質也與成功的企業領導人多有雷同，他們所領導的組織也可能營利。由於有的商業企業家也會贊助公益活動來回饋社會，那麼「社會企業家」與這些商業企業家的差別在哪裡呢？ 

Of course, there are overlaps: social entrepreneurs often earn profits through social enterprises, and businesspeople are frequently concerned with social responsibility. Both types of entrepreneurship require vision, initiative, organization building and “marketing.” In terms of skill and temperament, social and business entrepreneurs are strikingly similar. But their primary objectives are different.

The difference between business and social entrepreneurship has to do with purpose, or what the enterprise is trying to maximize. For social entrepreneurs, the bottom line is to maximize some form of social impact, usually by addressing an urgent need that is being mishandled, overlooked or ignored by other institutions. For business entrepreneurs, the bottom line may be to maximize profits or shareholder wealth, or to build an ongoing, respected entity that provides value to customers and meaningful work to employees.

換言之，一個製鞋公司負責人的夢想是建造全球最大的球鞋公司，還是讓全世界的兒童都有鞋穿，決定了他是一位商業企業家，還是「社會企業家」。 

The world needs both kinds of entrepreneurship; one should not be deemed superior to the other, although social entrepreneurship is often more challenging because it tackles problems that have defied governmental approaches and for which market solutions have not yet been demonstrated.

**註：美國環保署（U.S. Environmental Protection Agency）助理署長德雷頓（Bill Drayton）於1978年創立的組織，以創投公司的運作方式來支持全球各地具領導地位的社會企業家。目前已在亞洲、非洲、美洲與中歐運作，幫助超過1400名社會企業家。

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