Social and Sustainable Enterprise (SSE)

ISBE Special Interest Group: Social and Sustainable Enterprise (SSE)

SIG Co-chairs:

Dr Juliette Wilson, University of Strathclyde

Dr Mike Bull, Manchester Metropolitan University

Dr Vicky Nowak, Manchester Metropolitan University

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Social and Sustainable Enterprise (SSE) is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE). It is open to both ISBE members and non-members.

The responsible business in the 21st Century is one that considers ecological, ethical and social aspects within its business model. Small businesses have a greater role to play in the UK economy and face the same scrutiny around their responsibilities to people and planet as their larger organisational counterparts. Understanding the importance and impact on society of community and social enterprise, ethical and eco-preneurship is under-researched and needs further investigation. Yet concurrently, interest in these concepts are growing: Public sector privatisation, Big Society, Assets of Community Value, Social Innovation, Social Return on Investment, Localism, Fair-trade, Ethical Investment and Finance, Ethical Consumerism and others are topics of interest in this field. The rationale for establishing the SSE Special Interest Group, therefore, is to develop a multidisciplinary (university, industry, government) group focusing on these issues.

Members of the SSE community share an interest in advancing our understanding of social & sustainable enterprises through dissemination of knowledge, research collaboration and involvement of key individuals in the field.

Aims of the SSE SIG:

• Promote the creation of scholarly research.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers, educators, policymakers and business support professionals.
• Enable the development of entrepreneurship policy.
• Support the career development of its members.

These aims will be fulfilled by the following objectives:
• Organisation of events that facilitate the research and development of social and sustainable enterprise and entrepreneurship.
• Promoting the formation of rich networks within its membership.
• Providing support to appropriate track leaders at the annual conference.
• Providing regular information about their activities for dissemination to members.

NB: It is not a requirement that you are a member of ISBE to become a member of the SSE SIG and we welcome anyone with an interest in this field to contact us.

Past events

ISBE/Social Enterprise UK online workshop (March 2021)
Audley Genus and Yuliana Topazly (Kingston University) and Mike Bull (Manchester Metropolitan University) led a joint Social Enterprise UK/ISBE online workshop on supporting social enterprises through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Call for Abstracts: Beyond 2020? A Developing Agenda for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Cecil Sharpe House, London
8 June 2018

Carbon Trust/Kingston University Energy Efficiency Training for SMEs, supported by ISBE’s SSE Special Interest Group
Professor Audley Genus, Kingston University

The role of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in developing and improving the entrepreneurial performance of the social enterprise sector
Dr Bob Doherty, University of York and Prof Steven Broomhead, Liverpool Hope University

Career Transitions and Development in the Social Enterprise Context: Drivers and Support Requirements
Dr Isobel O’Neil, Nottingham University Business School, Prof Deniz Ucbasuran and Dr Holly Birkett, University of Birmingham

Funding realities in The Big Society: examining the transition of traditional voluntary and community organisations to the social enterprise model in the East of England
Nicky Stevenson, The Guild, Prof Fergus Lyon, Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research and Third Sector Research Centre, Middlesex University and Michele Rigby, Social Enterprise East of England

Social and Sustainable Enterprise: Changing the Nature of Business Underwood, Sarah; Blundel, Richard; Lyon, Fergus and Schaefer, Anja eds. (2012). Social and Sustainable Enterprise: Changing the Nature of Business. Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, 2. Bradford: Emerald.