Assessing the potential of social enterprises through social network analysis - Evidence from Albania

Organizations falling within the category of 'social enterprises' are rapidly expanding in transition countries, representing an innovative instrument for poverty reduction and endogenous development. However, economic long-term sustainability remains a major problem. The acquisition of knowledge is then claimed as a key issue for their competiveness and survival in the market. A critical factor for implementing successful knowledge transfer relates to the creation of well-connected networks of relationships. Stable and collaborative contacts also allow more effective coordination, reducing the risk of dispersed and fragmented initiatives. This paper investigates, by means of social network analysis, the Albanian social enterprise sector, focusing on two network relationships: social enterprises' networks (i.e. inter-social enterprise relationships) and supporting actors' networks (i.e. relationships amongst social enterprises and other actors). The results are based on empirical evidence collected at the firm level from organizations operating in the Tirana and Scutari regions. Visual social network investigation, along with networks' correlation analysis, have shown that Albanian social enterprises are poorly aware of advantages arising from their network of relationships, still showing low entrepreneurial attitudes.