Perspectives of social entrepreneurship in Romania in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The usual and rather linear functioning of a country’s economic and social structures is mandatory for setting stable grounds towards wellbeing. However, disruptions may appear in the ordinary flow of a community and produce a new order of action, prompting social ecosystems to focus on core operations. The COVID-19 pandemic, that has profoundly affected humanity in 2020 on multiple channels, has imposed a novel strategic thinking both for individuals and businesses, demanding an enhanced societal approach more than ever. Faced with such a major crisis, known in literature as a “black swan” event, social enterprises must show developed capabilities, flexibility and proactivity. Given the inaccurate evidence of social enterprises activating in Romania and of the limited studies focusing on their risk-response behavior, the paper explores the impact triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic over social entrepreneurship and in particular on Romanian social enterprises. To investigate the ability of these entities to successfully cope with this groundbreaking challenge, the paper firstly performs a literature review analysis on the reorganization of the social and economic sphere, in light of the pandemic. Furthermore, it approaches the challenges posed by the pandemic on traditional and social entrepreneurship, together with their reshaping of organizational resilience. Building on literature review and on document analysis of reports regarding essential actions to be embraced to maintain stability during the COVID-19 crisis, issued by renowned consultancy companies and organizations supporting social enterprises, the paper formulates an instrument for mapping the ability of Romanian social enterprises to overcome the pandemic threats.