Design Thinking and Social Enterprises: A Solution‐Focused Strategy for Social Enterprise Research
本文提出社会企业研究应采用设计思维和以解决方案为中心的知识生产策略，以应对社会企业作为新现象时实证研究可能支持失败商业模式的困境。
Had we had the vantage point of centuries of experimentation with social enterprises, separating the wheat (i.e., successful social enterprises) from the chaff, empirical social enterprise research could be on the verge of making a contribution. But since social enterprises as a mass phenomenon are relatively new, the output of empirical research must be taken very carefully because it may actually support doomed business models. It is thus submitted that a design thinking approach to social enterprise research that involves a solution‐focused strategy of knowledge production is needed. The latter consists of addressing the internal inconsistencies of a well‐established general theory when trying to account for social enterprises, similarly to how a designer addresses the shortcomings of an original chair design to come up with something more suitable. It is argued that a solution‐focused strategy of knowledge production will make scientific breakthroughs in the field of social enterprises possible.