Transfer of ownership for social venture entrepreneurs: A case study in northern Tanzania

Abstract

Social Venture Entrepreneurs (SVEs) invest in supply chains with the aim to ignite businesses, but with a vision on how to transfer ownership to third parties. The present study explores the definitions and forms of ownership envisioned by local stakeholders and the extent to which these are in line with the SVEs’ way of thinking. Using qualitative case study analysis, perceptions of legal and psychological ownership are compared between local stakeholders and social venture management in the specific context of a particular SVE initiative among local Maasai communities in northern Tanzania. It is concluded that different groups of stakeholders have different definitions of ownership forms, transfer and criteria. Social Venture Entrepreneurs will need to organize their definition of ownership around a perspective shared by its stakeholders, in order to realize the mission for which such businesses were initiated within regions that these businesses operate in.