Purpose

This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local governments in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.

Findings

Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.

Practical implications

This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.

Social implications

Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.

中文翻译：

---

南非的社会创业商业模式设计如何创造价值：复杂的自适应系统方法

目的

本文旨在了解社会创业 (SE) 商业模式设计，以创造价值，同时在南非地方政府的复杂环境中提供公共服务。

设计/方法/途径

对豪登省和西开普省的 15 位有目的地选择的社会企业家进行了面对面的半结构化访谈。访谈指南包括主题和后续问题。主题包括社会企业的通史、社会商业模式；面临的挑战以及如何克服这些挑战；扩展和增长/生存策略。这些使得能够根据确定可负担性、可用性、意识和可接受性的关键标准对 SE 进行评估，SE 必须达到这些标准才能在低收入市场成功运营。对配电、供水和废物管理服务部门的社会企业所有者/经理进行了调查。

发现

大多数受访者注重通过强调高频参与的沟通机制与利益相关者建立信任网络。还非常注重设计思维和以客户为中心的方法，以加强价值创造。价值创造过程同时使用产品价值和服务价值机制，并强调质量和卓越，以在其特定背景下为利益相关者和社会提供价值。

实际影响

这项研究建立在其他研究的基础上，这些研究强调 SE 以客户为中心的方法来加强价值创造，并建立与多个利益相关者的信任网络。它有助于强调商业模式向将社会价值带入商业实践的转变。

社会影响

社会公益，但资源提供者需要更具体的证据来帮助他们了解其影响（Struthers，2013 年）。这是因为对于许多社会组织来说，除了轶事之外，很难记录和传达它们的影响。该研究有助于理解 SE 如何提供价值创造的证据。

原创性/价值

本研究有助于理解如何设计商业模式以在南非地方政府服务极其复杂的背景下创造价值。