Hybrid Organizing in the Business-Society Interface: A Case of Social Venture Community in Seoul, Korea

This project examines an emerging trend of business-society collaboration by studying the emergence of a social entrepreneur community in Seoul, Korea. While existing business organizations involve in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to fulfill broader social goals, not only narrow economic utility, we also observe the recent rise of entrepreneurial venturing efforts in the interface between business and society. These collective efforts, initiated by social entrepreneurs who develops business solutions for specific social issues, require a new type of complex organizing that spans the boundaries across established business, community organizations, and local government. As compared to corporate philanthropy or CSR by existing corporations, this new type of collective organizing suggests the elaboration of business model solutions, and deeper engagement with communities, and more interactions with local stakeholders, and thus poses significant challenges of connecting different dots in the process. This project examines the case of Sungsoo Social Venture Alley, a local community of young entrepreneurs in Seoul, Korea. This group of entrepreneurs collectively develops innovative business models for social issues of education, food, recycling, and resource-sharing. We examine how social entrepreneurs interact with existing business and community organizations and local government to act in a socially responsible manner. We study the diverse motives (including instrumental, relational, and moral motives) which lead social entrepreneurs to push for positive social change. By documenting the process of the emergence of social entrepreneurship in the local community, we explore the opportunities and challenges of this type of collective organizing in the business-society interface.