Developing emerging social enterprise through capacity building

Purpose - To study the applicability of capacity building as a technique for developing social enterprises.Design methodology approach - Two emerging social enterprises, developed within the WestFocus Partnership, a consortium of seven higher education institutions, were studied in a series of capacity building sessions conducted by Brunel University Business School, UK. Reports the gathering of data for the project using participant observation, questionnaire surveys and focus groups, together with a series of capacity building sessions delivered by specialists, addressing the areas of leadership and human resources, marketing, environmental scanning, stakeholder analysis and business strategy where Session 1 addressed "Management and leadership styles", Session 2 addressed "Strategic marketing and environmental analysis", and Session 3 addressed "Strategy (in the widest sense)".Findings - The results indicated that, although capacity building could not resolve a perceived conflict between social ends and profit-driven motives, it does play an important role in the development of successful social enterprises, even if the role is limited.Originality value - Propose that a capabilities approach provides a useful platform for highlighting important links between corporate social responsibility and corporate governance within social enterprises.