This chair is aimed at supplying relevant scientific insights at policy level and corporate level to societal efforts. It is positioned in RSM’s Department of Business-Society Management, one of the world’s leading departments for its work focusing on the role of companies in addressing major societal challenges.

The chair will be funded for at least five years, but the intention is for it to continue in close interaction with RSM’s research and teaching programme, in particular its values-based research under the aegis of the Erasmus Research Centre for Organisational Research (ORG), which is one of the five key research programmes at the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM, the research institute co-founded by RSM and the Erasmus School of Economics).

The person recruited to the new chair will play a pivotal role in linking academic community with practitioners, thereby contributing to RSM’s ambition for validation, and specifically, contributing to the ambition of RSM’s Department of Business-Society Management.   

The chair should be able to attract additional funding.

The topic of social enterprise has been acknowledged as increasingly important. A considerable number of social entrepreneurs were trained in the Department and have gone on to establish smaller start-ups, but it is clear that bigger companies also want to make the transition to becoming more sustainable. This chair is intentionally endowed so that it is supported by – and embedded in – a wider societal network.

Interested stakeholders in this chair are Dutch bank ABN AMRO as corporate sponsor, and Social Enterprise NL (an organisation that represents, connects and supports the growing community of social enterprises in the Netherlands) as societal sponsor. These organisations will be members of the board of curators that will help the chair to achieve maximum societal impact through scientific relevance.

Candidates should have:

• A PhD in a social science;
• at least five years research experience in the field; proven potential to connect networks of researchers and practitioners
• proof of scientific performance through publications in relevant journals;
• the ambition to generate publications about social enterprise in national and international journals
• the ability to work with RSM colleagues to engage in joint publications; the ability to encourage and inspire junior staff to engage in relevant (often interdisciplinary) research
• a good knowledge of the Dutch discourse on impact and social enterprise
• a good mastery of Dutch and English language, written and oral
• eligibility for membership of RSM’s research institute, ERIM
• proven didactic skills for teaching students as well as executives
• proven skills for managing a research team
• proven capabilities for acquiring additional external funds
• team player abilities and social intelligence
• an interest in actionable research projects like living laboratory studies
• an ambition to raise the scientific level of research into social enterprise via publications and relevant research methods

The conditions of employment correspond with the collective labour agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU). Salary is subject to training and experience and may vary up to a maximum of € 7,213 gross per month (scale 15 CAO NU). Erasmus University has attractive employment conditions, which include a holiday allowance of 8 per cent, a Year-end bonus of 8.3 per cent, and a considerate amount of vacation days.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top 10 research-based business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mind-set into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. Study information and activities for future students, executives and alumni are also organised from the RSM office in Chengdu, China. www.rsm.nl Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University is an equal opportunity employer and explicitly encourages applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities, and nationalities.

 About Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and has Europe’s biggest port. It is vibrantly international, accommodating some 600,000 people (1.2 million in the greater metropolitan area) from 160 different countries. Its landscape is modern, with high rising towers and creative architecture. In addition to being an important business and logistics hub, the city also has an extensive cultural, restaurant, and entertainment scene. Rotterdam is the gateway to Europe, as Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, and many other destinations can all be reached in a few hours. Among others, the New York Times ranked the city of Rotterdam at number 10 of the top 52 places to go in 2014, while it also featured on Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2016.

Research environment

The Department has more than 20 members of faculty, more than 10 full-time PhD candidates and more than 20 part-time PhD candidates. There are several centres of expertise linked to the Department, for example, the Partnerships Resource Centre which studies collaboration between business, civil society and governments that link science with practice. It focuses on activities related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are also used as the framework for RSM’s mission – to be a force for positive change in the world.

The research and teaching programme of the Department of Business-Society Management has been evaluated as ‘excellent’ by international review committees. The Department runs RSM's MSc in Global Business and Sustainability for at most 100 students per year, and organises a teaching track on social enterprise. 

The Department is also active in executive training, which is co-ordinated through RSM’s Executive Education department.

Scope and background

The number of social enterprises in the Netherlands is rapidly increasing. Social Enterprises strive for the creation of societal positive impact as a core activity based on financially sustainable business models. This ambition requires innovative business models, leadership and a keen understanding of complex social, ecological and economic challenges that modern society poses. Social enterprises aim at maximizing impact rather than maximizing profits. The Netherlands has a long history of social enterprise as well as an increasing attention to setting up social enterprises. This attention is fed by young entrepreneurs and by major investors looking for sustainable outcomes.

With the subject area come important questions and considerations that require a solid scientific approach to the phenomenon of social enterprises:

1. the legal and governance requirements for social enterprise
2. scaling challenges, either alone or in collaboration with others
3. financial sustainability, in particular how to deal with the ‘valley of death’ funding gap
4. measuring and reaching impact
5. the kind of societal topics for which social enterprise provides an appropriate organisational model
6. the outcome of the hybridisation trends in which for-profit companies also become more purpose-driven. This makes it more difficult for social enterprises to distinguish themselves or add value (and vice versa).