Vers une compréhension des entreprises sociales à but non lucratif

Abstract

At the turn of the millennium, the term “social enterprise” was a growing concept that attracted the attention of both researchers and practitioners. On one hand, this concept presents enterprise as a business opportunity that makes money to sustain. On the other hand, it covers the social sphere, where nonprofit enterprises exist to help the state deal with the various problems of society in a charitable and philanthropic vision. This article provides a synthesized overview of the emergence of the concept of social enterprise, reviews seminal definitions drawn from different schools of thoughts, and highlights the characteristics of nonprofit social enterprises. This article also looks at the major challenges nonprofit social enterprises face.