The Creation and Dissemination of New Knowledge By Social Enterprises

This presentation explores the unique role social enterprises play in achieving the SDGs, focusing on the creation and dissemination of new knowledge. Using data from questionnaires and in-depth interviews with social enterprises in South Korea and Japan, I organize the findings theoretically, drawing upon the concept of Knowing Justice.

Concerning the impact of social enterprises, tangible outcomes such as number of service users and job creation for disadvantaged individuals have received attention. However, the impact of knowledge creation and dissemination is harder to measure yet equally important.

The persistence of SDG-related issues stems partly from the functional differentiation of various systems, making it difficult to generate comprehensive solutions. This fragmentation is also reflected within the SDG framework itself, where each goal is described independently, leading to criticism of the lack of consideration of the inter-relationship between goals.

Social enterprises address these gaps by linking fields traditionally seen as separate and proposing actual innovative solutions. Our research highlights two key findings:

First, many social enterprises engage in research in addition to business activities, generating new knowledge. Furthermore, several social entrepreneurs prioritized diverse and complex activities, rather than simply scaling up the same business model.

Second, social enterprises give employees new opportunities for ‘knowing’ about themselves and society. It may include recognizing systemic causes behind personal challenges, such as childcare difficulties, and realizing their potential roles in driving change. Publicizing research and holding volunteer events were crucial for promoting the dissemination of new ideas.

Although most social enterprises are small and may face challenges in measuring their social impact, this presentation demonstrates that their contributions, especially in knowledge creation and dissemination, are significant and should be considered in policy-making.