The emergence of social enterprises over the past 25 years has been an exciting and significant development in the economy at a local, national and international level. How should we understand the growing popularity of social enterprise? Are alternative business models even more relevant in an uncertain business climate? How does Social Enterprise fit into the wider social context? In 12 comprehensive chapters the authors discuss and illustrate both theoretical and practical considerations for the field. The book: focuses on different and distinct approaches to Social Enterprise and social economy; contains comprehensive coverage of employee-owned, cooperative, community and charitable enterprises; looks at private, voluntary and public sector differences; examines managerial issues for social enterprises: strategic thinking, leadership, HRM, governance and globalisation; draws on international debates and examples; includes extensive learning features such as: summaries, international case studies, reflection boxes, further reading and links to online information about social enterprise projects; and, is accompanied by a companion website with a full instructors' manual, including PowerPoint slides and extra case studies for lecturers, and access to full-text journal articles for students.