Resource Based View of Social Entrepreneurship: Putting the Pieces Together Steven W. Day Jackson State University Howard Jean-Denis University of Connecticut The primary motivation for social enterprises arises from the persistency of problems in society related to poverty and persons living in marginalized communities. Social entrepreneurs seek to address externalities by adopting the role of change agents who recognize and pursue opportunities to create and sustain unique solutions to social problems. Over the years, social entrepreneurship has emerged as a distinctive context and area of business practice and research. However, current research lacks a cohesive and integrated conceptual framework. The purpose of this paper is to review and extend the current literature by developing an integrated model of social entrepreneurship. INTRODUCTION The emerging field of social entrepreneurship is in dire need for new integrated theories to contribute to the discipline and help grow the field. Social Entrepreneurship has been a topic of academic interest for the past few decades; however, there has been little scholarly output in mainstream journals (Short, Moss, & Lumpkin 2009). Social entrepreneurship is commonly defined as “entrepreneurial activity with an embedded social purpose” (Austin et al. 2006). Social entrepreneurs play a role of change agents in society by adopting missions to create and sustain social value. They recognize and pursue new opportunities to serve the particular mission at hand. Social entrepreneurs engage in a process of continuous innovation, adaption and learning. With these components, social entrepreneurs are able to act without being limited by current resources. They are accountable to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created as a result of their actions (Dees, 1998). Although social entrepreneurs usually start rather small their initiatives often have global relevance, issues such as unemployment, incarceration, disease, small business creation, access to clean water, renewable energy, waste management, etc. These issues and needs usually arise within a disenfranchised sector of society, and they are the drivers of social entrepreneurship. The desires or needs of the disadvantaged segment of society are defined in the literature as positive externalities. Positive externalities are situations when the potential for value capture is lower than the potential for value creation because the benefits of society outweigh the benefits that could possibly be accrued by the organization or entrepreneur (Santos, 2012). Social entrepreneurs come into the equation by offering solutions to the neglected problems associated with positive externalities while simultaneously informing Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability Vol. 11(2) 2016 59