Social enterprises are unquestionably becoming important actors in society, they can be seen as potential solvers of the most urgent global challenges of our time and are increasingly operating across national boundaries improving the environment and the lives of people around the world. However, current research focuses on social enterprises working within national boundaries and there is little empirical research examining their international operations. Moreover, while the internationalisation process of traditional enterprises is an area that has been extensively studied, there is limited understanding of how this process may differ in the case of social enterprises. The objective of this thesis is to gain an understanding of how social enterprises can internationalise. In order to do so, I investigate the studies conducted so far in the relevant fields of international business and social entrepreneurship and identify the best proposals of different authors on how social enterprises establish in foreign markets. In this paper, social enterprise is defined as an organisation that pursues both profit and a social purpose. To develop the consequent evaluations, I proceeded to identify a specific business model Canvas for social enterprises by including two additional blocks to the traditional Canvas: “Mission” and “Impact & Measurement”. Subsequently, in order to investigate how social enterprises go abroad, I rely on the Uppsala theory, which is considered a valid theoretical basis in the literature. The Uppsala theory envisages a gradual internationalisation of the enterprise and highlights the key role that networks play in the successful expansion of companies abroad. Therefore, in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the internationalisation process of social enterprises, I apply these proposals in a practical case, namely that of Happy Hours Market, a Belgian start-up that deals with reducing food waste. First, I try to demonstrate the adaptability of the new business model Canvas to Happy Hours Market and then I develop a potential internationalisation strategy through which I can demonstrate the possibility of expansion of the start-up to the Italian market, the applicability of the Uppsala theory to the practical case and the importance of the role of network in social enterprises. The study leads to the verification of the applicability of the proposals to the specific case of Happy Hours Market. In particular, the Italian market, selected following the theoretical concepts of the Uppsala theory, appears to be a plausible choice for the start-up in the case of expansion abroad and this is confirmed by the results of the qualitative research that was conducted through two Focus Groups. Furthermore, the study shows that the network is key to success in the internationalisation of social enterprises. Happy Hours Market could choose franchising to enter the new market as well as a going-alone strategy but either way, given its business model involving complex logistics and distribution, it would need partnerships for the business to work.
Le imprese sociali stanno indubbiamente diventando attori importanti nella società, possono essere viste come potenziali risolutori delle problematiche globali più urgenti dei nostri tempi, e stanno operando sempre di più oltre i confini nazionali migliorando l'ambiente e la vita delle persone in tutto il mondo. Tuttavia, la ricerca esistente si concentra sulle imprese sociali che lavorano all'interno di confini nazionali, e vi è poca ricerca empirica che esamina le loro operazioni internazionali. Inoltre, mentre il processo di internazionalizzazione delle imprese tradizionali è un'area che è stata ampiamente studiata, c'è una comprensione limitata di come questo processo possa differire nel caso delle imprese sociali. L'obiettivo di questo elaborato è quello di comprendere come le imprese sociali possano internazionalizzare. Per farlo ho esaminato gli studi condotti fino ad ora negli ambiti di riferimento: business internazionale; imprenditoria sociale; identificando le migliori proposte di alcuni autori su come le imprese sociali si stabiliscono nei mercati esteri. Nel presente elaborato, l'impresa sociale è definita come un’organizzazione che persegue sia il profitto che uno scopo sociale. Per sviluppare le valutazioni conseguenti ho proceduto identificando un modello di business Canvas specifico per le imprese sociali includendo due blocchi aggiuntivi al Canvas tradizionale e precisamente: “Missione” e “Impatto & Misurazione”. Successivamente, per indagare il processo di internazionalizzazione delle imprese sociali, ho deciso di basarmi sulla teoria dell’Uppsala considerata in letteratura una valida base teorica sull’argomento. Essa prevede un’internazionalizzazione graduale dell’impresa ed evidenzia il ruolo chiave che rivestono i network nella riuscita dell’espansione all’estero delle imprese. Pertanto, al fine di ottenere una comprensione esaustiva del processo di internazionalizzazione delle imprese sociali, ho applicato queste proposte in un caso pratico, ovvero quello di Happy Hours Market, start-up Belga che si occupa della riduzione dello spreco di cibo. Come prima cosa dimostro l'adattabilità del nuovo modello di business Canvas a Happy Hours Market e poi sviluppo una potenziale strategia di internazionalizzazione, con la quale dimostrare la possibilità di espansione della start-up al mercato italiano, l'applicabilità della teoria dell’Uppsala al caso pratico e l'importanza del ruolo del network nell’internazionalizzazione delle imprese sociali. Lo studio porta a verificare di fatto l’applicabilità delle proposte al caso specifico di Happy Hours Market. In particolare, il mercato Italiano, selezionato seguendo la teoria dell’Uppsala, risulta essere una scelta plausibile per la start-up nel caso di espansione all’estero e questo viene confermato dai risultati della ricerca qualitativa che è stata condotta tramite due Focus Group. Inoltre, l’elaborato dimostra come il network sia una chiave di successo per l’internazionalizzazione delle imprese sociali. Happy Hours Market potrebbe scegliere il franchising per entrare nel nuovo mercato così come una strategia autonoma, ma in entrambi i casi, dato il suo modello di business che coinvolge una logistica e distribuzione complessa, avrebbe bisogno di partnership per far funzionare il business.
International Social Enterprises: “Happy Hours Market” prepares expansion to Italy
GUERRA, ELEONORA GEMMA
2020/2021
Abstract
Social enterprises are unquestionably becoming important actors in society, they can be seen as potential solvers of the most urgent global challenges of our time and are increasingly operating across national boundaries improving the environment and the lives of people around the world. However, current research focuses on social enterprises working within national boundaries and there is little empirical research examining their international operations. Moreover, while the internationalisation process of traditional enterprises is an area that has been extensively studied, there is limited understanding of how this process may differ in the case of social enterprises. The objective of this thesis is to gain an understanding of how social enterprises can internationalise. In order to do so, I investigate the studies conducted so far in the relevant fields of international business and social entrepreneurship and identify the best proposals of different authors on how social enterprises establish in foreign markets. In this paper, social enterprise is defined as an organisation that pursues both profit and a social purpose. To develop the consequent evaluations, I proceeded to identify a specific business model Canvas for social enterprises by including two additional blocks to the traditional Canvas: “Mission” and “Impact & Measurement”. Subsequently, in order to investigate how social enterprises go abroad, I rely on the Uppsala theory, which is considered a valid theoretical basis in the literature. The Uppsala theory envisages a gradual internationalisation of the enterprise and highlights the key role that networks play in the successful expansion of companies abroad. Therefore, in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the internationalisation process of social enterprises, I apply these proposals in a practical case, namely that of Happy Hours Market, a Belgian start-up that deals with reducing food waste. First, I try to demonstrate the adaptability of the new business model Canvas to Happy Hours Market and then I develop a potential internationalisation strategy through which I can demonstrate the possibility of expansion of the start-up to the Italian market, the applicability of the Uppsala theory to the practical case and the importance of the role of network in social enterprises. The study leads to the verification of the applicability of the proposals to the specific case of Happy Hours Market. In particular, the Italian market, selected following the theoretical concepts of the Uppsala theory, appears to be a plausible choice for the start-up in the case of expansion abroad and this is confirmed by the results of the qualitative research that was conducted through two Focus Groups. Furthermore, the study shows that the network is key to success in the internationalisation of social enterprises. Happy Hours Market could choose franchising to enter the new market as well as a going-alone strategy but either way, given its business model involving complex logistics and distribution, it would need partnerships for the business to work.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1438