Driving Factors, Innovativeness and Benefits of Social Entrepreneurships: Learning from Cases in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia

: Social entrepreneurship (SE) movement is rapidly growing, including in ASEAN region. Itis recognized to help alleviating various social problems. However, empirical researches on pioneering and development and the concrete impact of social entrepreneurs on society are still relatively limited. This study aims to understand whatfactors driving the emergence of social entrepreneurship are, how the role of the founder in giving birth to social enterprises is, what forms of innovation developed and what impacts social entrepreneurship have on society. This was an exploratory research with a multi-case qualitative approach. The research objects were 6 successful SE cases in the ASEAN region. The data and information were obtained through in-depth interviews with founders and SE managers. Further, the identified results and analysed patterns were obtained by comparing all cases using tables and matrices to draw conclusions.This study found that a SE which managed to focus on solving certain social problems used innovative ideas and programs, was managed with a business model and independence-oriented and was also supported by the characteristics of a qualified founder. Successful SEs could provide concrete benefits to the community which consisted of economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits.