Social entrepreneurs’ perceptions on the contribution of networking toward organizational sustainability of social enterprises in Cape Town, South Africa

ii Declaration.iii Acknowledgements.iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.1 1.1 Case study area.1 1.2 The relevance of social enterprises’ sustainability in South Africa.2 1.2.1 Social enterprises in South Africa.2 1.2.2 The importance of sustainable social enterprises.7 1.2.3 Networking and sustainability.8 1.3 Rationale and significance of the study . 9 1.4 Research questions and specific objectives of the study.10 1.5 Chapter summary . 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.12 2.1 Social enterprises.12 2.1.1 Legal forms of social enterprises in South Africa.14 2.1.2 Social enterprise revenue models.15 2.1.3 Organizational sustainability.18 2.2 Previous research.21 http://etd.uwc. ac.za/ vi 2.2.1 Information as a contributing factor to organizational sustainability.21 2.2.2 Community participation as a contributing factor to organizational sustainability.22 2.2.3 Trust as a contributing factor to organizational sustainability.24 2.2. 4 Networking practices as a contributing factor to organisational sustainability.26 2.2. 5 Government support as a contributing factor to organisational sustainability.29 2.3 Chapter summary.30 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.32 3.1 The history of social capital.32 3.2 Types of social capital ties.34 3.3 Social capital theory approaches.35 3.3.1 Society centred approach.35 3.3.2 Institutional approach.36 3.3.3 Networking approach.36 3.4 Pre-conditions for mobilising social capital.38 3.4.1 Network membership.39 3.4.2 Trust.40 http://etd.uwc. ac.za/ vii 3.4.3 Reciprocity.40 3.5 Conceptual framework.41 3.6 Criticisms of the social capital theory.43 3.6.1 Negative social capital.43 3.6.2 Economic metaphor.44 3.6.3 Unclear definition.44 3.7 Social capital in the context of social enterprises.45 3.7.1 Social embeddedness of social enterprises.45 3.7.2 Social enterprises use of networks.46 3.7.3 Cultural networking dynamics.47 3.8 Chapter summary.49 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.51 4.1 Research design.51 4.1.1 Interpretivist paradigm & exploratory research.52 4.1.2 Qualitative research . 53 4.2 Research methods.54 4.2.1 Data collection methods.55 4.2.2 Sampling techniques.58 http://etd.uwc. ac.za/ viii 4.2.3 Ethics statement & research procedures.62 4.3 Data analysis.64 4.4 Advantages and limitations of the study.67 4.5 Chapter summary.68 CHAPTER 5: STUDY RESULTS.70 5.1 Factors that enable sustainability.70 5.1.1 Financial factors.70 5.1.2 Non-financial factors.72 5.2 Attitudes toward networking.77 5.2.1 Negative attitudes.78 5.2.2 Positive attitudes.79 5.3 Network types and network use.81 5.4 Resources embedded in networks.84 5.4.1 Information and innovation.84 5.4.2 Credibility.85 5.4.3 Mentorship and advice.87 5.4.4 Support.88 5.5 Preconditions for mobilising resources embedded in networks.90 http://etd.uwc. ac.za/ ix 5.5.1 Reciprocity.90 5.5.2 Trust.91 5.6 Perceived role of the government.93 5.7 Summary of social entrepreneurs’ perceptions.96 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION.97 6.1 Theme 1: Factors that enable sustainability.98 6.2 Theme 2: Attitudes toward networking.99 6.3 Theme 3: Network types and network use.100 6.4 Theme 4: Resources embedded in networks.101 6.5 Theme 5: Preconditions for mobilising resources embedded in networks.102 6.6 Theme 6: Perceived role of government.104 6.7 Chapter summary.105 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION.107 7.1 Contributions to literature.107 7.2 Contributions to praxis.108 7.3 Study limitations.109 7.4 Recommendations for future research.110 7.5 Concluding remarks.110 http://etd.uwc. ac.za/ x References.112 Appendices.124 Appendix 1: Ethics Clearance.124 Appendix 2: Information Sheet.125 Appendix 3: Consent Form.127 Appendix 4: Semi-Structured Interview Schedule.128