Coronavirus (covid-19) and social value co-creation

Purpose Society has changed forever as a result of coronavirus (covid-19) with the new normal referring to lifestyle changes including social distancing and working from home. The purpose of this article is to understand how covid-19 has resulted in increased levels of social value co-creation aimed at producing innovative benefits to society. Design/methodology/approach A commentary is provided on crisis management from a social entrepreneurship perspective with the goal of understanding the social benefits of collective action resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. This approach offers a novel way to understand the social policy implications derived from the covid-19 crisis. Findings The article highlights how there has been an increased emphasis on social policy focussing on finding entrepreneurial ways to handle the covid-19 crisis that incorporates some degree of value co-creation. Examples from seed plant initiatives and reducing homelessness in times of crisis are discussed as a way to explain social value co-creation. Moreover, the different ways countries have responded to the covid-19 crisis are stated as a way to understand contextual differences in global society. Originality/value This article is amongst the first to focus on the link between covid-19 and social entrepreneurship from a value co-creation perspective thereby enabling a new way of thinking about the crisis from a social policy perspective. This will provide a theoretical basis from which to understand social policy differences regarding the covid-19 crisis.