How Nonprofits Can Use Business as a Force for Good
“Can a non-profit organization pursue both social gains and business revenue? Or is it as futile as mixing water and oil and hoping that the oil — commercial interests — won’t rise to the top?”
Articles & Blogs, Category = Responsible / social entrepreneurship
Category: Responsible / social entrepreneurship
Companies Don’t Always Need a Purpose Beyond Profit
“In my view, organizations shouldn’t be shy about stating profit as its explicit and ultimate purpose. In fact, in addition to helping us earn a living, profit may be the best way to do good in the world.”
Debate: How Social Enterprises Can Help Rethink Business Growth
“We believe that debate on growth cannot be led only at the macro level and ignore the question of growth at the micro, organisational level. […] valuable lessons for rethinking organisational growth can be drawn from the case of social enterprises.”
Why Venture Capital Likes Modular Farming
“Modular farming, which is growing crops in self-contained, movable units so they can thrive in difficult climates, is becoming more than just a sustainability goal for social impact organizations. It is also becoming a big business that’s increasingly being backed by venture capitalists and private equity firms. New startups in this market are sometimes models for not only how to make profits while contributing to the social good, but also how such profits can lead to innovation that goes on to create additional social good.”
The New Type of Business Proving That For-Profits Can Be Charitable
“When you talk about corporations, many people imagine smoke-filled back rooms, whiskey glasses, and businessmen in the vein of Gordon Gekko saying ‘greed is good.’ This may once have been true, but a promising trend in modern business is flipping this stereotype on its head — the growth of social enterprises.”
The State of Socially Responsible Investing
“investors are increasingly conscious of the social and environmental consequences of the decisions that governments and companies make. They can be quick to punish companies for child labor practices, human rights abuses, negative environmental impact, poor governance, and a lack of gender equality. Pair this with an increase in regulatory drivers post-2008 crisis, and a deepening understanding of the impacts of climate change and associated risk to performance, and we begin to see more clearly the need for investment models that will better address investors’ concerns.”
Income Equality Is Getting Worse. Can the Co-Op Model Solve This Problem?
“The cooperative model accounts for $154B every year in America. America leads the world with cooperatives, with over 30,000 businesses operating under this model. Co-op advocate Nathan Schneider believes this model can help level the economic playing field.”
Why Social Entrepreneurs Are So Burned Out
“Is it reasonable to expect a for-profit enterprise, and its employees, to address large-scale social problems? Helping those most in need and running a commercially viable business at the same time can create conflicting of goals. Our research, which explores how this conflict manifests itself in the lives of entrepreneurs working within for-profit companies, provides the first robust evidence that it can have serious repercussions for their health and wellbeing.”
Conscious Capitalism; 4 TEDx Talks
Four TEXDx talks about the conscious capitalism movement. Two by global business professor Raj Sisodia, one of the founders of the movement, one by a business man and one by an Indian activist, spiritual leader and business coach.
Purpose Driven Companies Are Winners
“Companies that look beyond the bottom line often earn more money and garner greater affinity with customers in the long run. This is the argument that scholar Caterina Bulgarella makes in her September column “Purpose-driven companies evolve faster than others” for Forbes. Purpose-driven companies that frame their goals on the lines of transforming peoples’ lives will not only achieve more sales, but have greater impact on consumers in the long run.”
