Meaningful difficulties in the mapping of social enterprises

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight conceptual and technical difficulties in mapping “social enterprise” and “social purpose business” organizations. Design/methodology/approach This paper reflects on the design and administration of a social enterprise population survey in Ontario, Canada. Findings Numerous approaches used to frame social enterprise organizations were seriously flawed and fundamentally problematic, and criteria to distinguish social enterprise from other organizations were seemingly arbitrary, unstable, or unworkable. Originality/value This paper both contributes to those attempting to empirically research social enterprise organizations, and to the broader discussion concerning whether social enterprise is usefully approached as a distinctive organizational form.

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