Seeking the Robust Core of
Social Entrepreneurship
Theory
Steven E. Wallis, Ph.D.
Independent Organizational Consultant
swallis@sbcglobal.net
Fielding Graduate University
Summer Session
August 1, 2008, Kansas City, MO
Steven E. Wallis, Ph.D.
A brief bio…
Steven E. Wallis received his Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate
University in 2006. His academic work focuses on “theory of
theory” where he is pioneering insights and tools to support
scholars as they create theory for more effective practice.
Steve’s interdisciplinary interests span the social sciences. In
addition to Social Entrepreneurship theory, he also works with
institutional theory, organizational theory, knowledge
management, and more. Dr. Wallis has ten years of experience
as an independent consultant in Northern California. There, in a
variety of industries, he supports consultants, trainers, and
leaders on issues related to collaboration, communication,
succession planning, creativity, and knowledge management.
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Abstract:
The underlying theory has not been well
defined for social entrepreneurship (SE)
Insights from complexity theory (CT) suggest
a new view on the structure of theory
An interdisciplinary cross-section of SE theory
is analyzed to determine an overall level of
“robustness” (robustness is used in physics to
describe the internal integrity of a theory)
On a scale of zero to one, this investigation
found SE theory to have a robustness of 0.13
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Social Entrepreneurship is not
well defined so…
How might we define theory more
clearly?
How might we test theory – before
practice?
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What is “theory” ?
Conceptually similar to schema, mental
model, frame for sensemaking, or lens
to see the world
A set of interrelated propositions
Begs the question…
… How well interrelated are they?
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Applying CT to Understand a
System of Thought
Complexity theory suggests the importance of
Mutual Causality & Interdependence
Because theory may be understood as a
system, it may be possible to apply that
general idea to the propositions within a
theory
So… more interdependence of concepts
suggests more validity of theory
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More Co-causality Between
Concepts Makes a Theory
More Robust
Low robustness is seen in a list of
bullet-point concepts
Medium robustness is seen in linear
causal propositions
High robustness is seen in Newton’s
formula: F=ma
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…IMPORTANTLY…
Highly robust theories of math &
physics have shown more effective
falsifiability & application than the
low-robust theories of the social
sciences
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Methodology
Investigate papers on social entrepreneurship
to find concise propositions of theory
Identify those propositions that are co-causal
or “concatenated” (concatenated propositions
describe links between multiple concepts and
multiple causalities)
Calculate robustness
Robustness is the ratio of concatenated
concepts - to all concepts
(including linear & atomistic)
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Abstractly… is the proposition
concatenated, or not?
A is true, B is true, C is true.
These are atomistic truth-claims (not concatenated)
A causes B, B causes C, C causes D.
These are linear truth-claims (not concatenated)
“A and B cause C”
This is a “concatenated” relationship and so is
considered more useful to this form of analysis
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Concrete Example
Newton’s law of motion contains three claims:
1.
2.
3.
Changes in mass and velocity cause changes in force
Changes in force and mass cause changes in velocity
Changes in force and mass cause changes in acceleration
There are three concepts (force, mass,
acceleration) and all three are concatenated
Three divided by three equals one
So, Newton’s law has a robustness of one
It is highly robust and is used effectively
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Social Entrepreneurship Theory
There are 23 concepts (identified as
dimensions in the following diagram)
Three conceptual dimensions are
concatenated (Environment, Change, and
Social Entrepreneurship) because they
emerge from two or more other dimensions
Three divided by 23 equals 0.13. Indicating:
this theory has a robustness of: 0.13
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Dimension
of Change
Dimension of
Environment
Ten causal
dimensions
Dimension of
Innovation
Dimension of
Social
Entrepreneurship
Seven causal
dimensions
One resultant
dimension
Dimension of
Opportunity
Influences between dimensions
Social Entrepreneurship Theory
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Paths to Improve Robustness
Drop extraneous concepts
“Close the loop” by identifying how
existing concepts are causally related
Empirical testing (not indicated at this
low level of robustness
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Importance of creating Robust
Version of SE Theory
More reliable / effectively useable (may
be used to improve the world)
More falsifiable
Provides ability to see the “invisible”
(and so develop greater understanding)
Fulfill the “promise” of the social
sciences
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To Conclude…
The concept of robustness suggests
great potential for advancing Social
Entrepreneurship theory
Social entrepreneurship theory suggests
great potential benefits for humanity
Let’s go!
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