ABSTRACT
This chapter is aimed at describing and examining the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship that takes place within an existing organization. It focuses on intrapreneurship within large for-profit corporations and how it is distinct from traditional corporate social responsibility. The chapter explores entrepreneurship within nonprofits pursuing an earned income strategy. Students of social entrepreneurship are often very interested in corporate social responsibility because of the latter's social orientation and its apparent commitment to sustainable business practices. As a result, there is often confusion about the relationship between the two. The successful encouragement of social intrapreneurship requires that attention be paid to both agency and context—to the individual intrapreneur and to the corporate environment in which that intrapreneur must operate. Successful social intrapreneurs must look for ways to use their company's products or services to generate social change. They must then "sell" their ideas to corporate leadership using the language of business, not that of the social sector.
