tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/social-enterprise-9474/articlesSocial enterprise – The Conversation2020-04-12T11:44:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1350052020-04-12T11:44:45Z2020-04-12T11:44:45ZThe coronavirus crisis: A catalyst for entrepreneurship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326288/original/file-20200407-112311-17xruzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5499%2C3713&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman buys hand sanitizer made by Spirit of York Distillery in Toronto on March 19, 2020. The distillery switched their production over to hand sanitizer following the coronavirus shutdown, with all proceeds going to charity. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout human history, crises have been pivotal in developing our societies. <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1208802">Pandemics have helped advance health-care systems</a>, <a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/17/ten-wwii-innovations-changed-world-live-better/">wars have fuelled technological innovations</a> and <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/347669">the global financial crisis helped advance tech companies like Uber and Airbnb</a>. The present coronavirus pandemic will arguably not be an exception; entrepreneurs can be expected to rise to the challenge.</p>
<p>Businesses play a key role both in <a href="https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/doc/questions-d-europe/qe-284-en.pdf">helping society get through an economic crisis</a> and in creating <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/09/why-sustainability-is-now-the-key-driver-of-innovation">innovations that shape society after a crisis</a>. So one key question is: how will the ongoing crisis influence future society? </p>
<p>While it’s hard to predict the future, we can develop an understanding of what is ahead by analyzing current trends.</p>
<h2>Businesses show citizenship, resourcefulness</h2>
<p>The global pandemic and associated policies restricting people’s movements have caused major disruptions to many businesses. We’ve already observed major shifts in business practices. Working from home is the new norm, while many personal meetings and conferences have been replaced by <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/infographic-apps-pandemic-technology-data-coronavirus-covid19-tech">video meetings and other virtual forms of communication</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coronavirus-is-changing-how-we-work-possibly-permanently-134344">The coronavirus is changing how we work — possibly permanently</a>
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<p>Some businesses — especially restaurants, <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2020/03/31/the-coronavirus-may-sink-the-cruise-ship-business">tourism operators</a> and <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/03/09/coronavirus-china-box-office-movie/">movie theatres</a> — have come to a complete stop. Others, like manufacturers of consumer goods, have seen a sharp drop in demand as consumers are either unable to visit shops or lack the spare cash for nonessential purchases. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C1818&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C1818&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326286/original/file-20200407-112311-1mmiipi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A man is seen boarding up a restaurant in downtown Vancouver on March 31, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://cbs.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=5ac06562-7228-40d9-95eb-ab8e00b5960d">short-term impact is likely different from the long-term impact</a>. Consumers may simply postpone the purchase of a new car or washing machine — but they may not want to buy the same types of services in the future. </p>
<p>Many firms have initially responded to the crisis not only by cutting costs but by engaging in new entrepreneurial activities. Around the world, we see examples of resourceful responses to the crisis: Distilleries in the <a href="https://www.anheuser-busch.com/newsroom/2020/03/anheuser-busch-will-redirect-sports-entertainment-investments.html">United States</a>, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/distilleries-across-canada-fight-covid-19-by-making-hand-sanitizer-1.4867110">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sanitiser/australian-brewers-swap-cleansing-ale-for-sanitizer-in-coronavirus-fight-idUSKBN21H0H1">Australia</a> started to produce hand sanitizers.</p>
<p>Fashion businesses like <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0323/1124831-inditex-help-offer/">Zara</a>, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-h-m-protective-gea-idUKKBN2190RE">H&M</a>, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90480732/this-high-end-apron-company-switched-to-manufacturing-masks-in-24-hours">Hedley & Bennett</a> and <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/technik-motor/technik/mundschutz-gegen-corona-so-stellt-trigema-masken-her-16702640.html">Trigema</a> are producing protective gear, gowns and other supplies for hospitals.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/01/business/bc-virus-outbreak-retraining-airline-staff.html">Airline crews, including those employed by SAS, are being retrained to help out in hospitals</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2020/03/19/companies-are-scrambling-to-build-more-ventilators">shortage of ventilators in hospital intensive-care units</a> has not only motivated health-care companies such as <a href="https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/news/archive/standard/news/press/2020/20190322-philips-ramps-up-production-of-critical-health-technology-products-in-response-to-covid-19-pandemic.html">Philips</a> and <a href="https://www.hamburg-news.hamburg/en/health-life-sciences/companies-going-great-extra-effort-amid-corona/">Draeger</a> to increase production, but also triggered <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/transportation/autos/canadian-auto-parts-makers-team-up-to-build-ventilators-with-three-companies">Canadian automotive suppliers</a> and car brands <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/ford-and-3m-ge-and-the-uaw-to-build-respirators-ventilators-and-faceshields-for-coronavirus-fight/">like Ford</a> to produce the life-saving medical devices.</p>
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<span class="caption">A staffer works on a ventilator-refurbishing assembly line at Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, Calif. Bloom Energy makes hydrogen fuel cells but is now refurbishing old ventilators so hospitals can use them to treat coronavirus patients.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Beth LaBerge/KQED via AP)</span></span>
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<p>These examples show two common features. </p>
<p>First, companies are showing <a href="https://doi.org/10.5840/beq200515329"><em>citizenship</em></a>. They realize they have an interest in societal well-being, and that they may need to give up short-term profits for the benefit of society. Second, they are showing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118785317.weom030031"><em>resourcefulness</em></a>. They’re developing creative responses to emerging challenges with scarce resources. </p>
<p>In combination, citizenship and resourcefulness can drive socially aware entrepreneurship.</p>
<h2>Building foundations for the future</h2>
<p>Actions during the crisis will shape firms in the long run.</p>
<p>First, the <a href="https://documents.aib.msu.edu/publications/insights/archive/insights_v009n02.pdf">crisis creates opportunities for businesses</a> to become more innovative. Facing external pressures, some business leaders are stepping out of their routines and comfort zones to become creative problem-solvers. Along the way, they rediscover their entrepreneurial spirit. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326293/original/file-20200407-156291-16ifhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Jon Stanfield, president and CEO of Stanfield’s Ltd., stands in one of the production areas of the garment manufacturing company in Truro, N.S. Stanfield’s is among a group of companies contributing to Canada’s stockpile of personal protective equipment for health-care workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
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<p>Some will continue to pursue opportunities first identified during the crisis. Perhaps some automotive suppliers will make medical equipment, while service providers integrate new online interfaces with their traditional businesses.</p>
<p>Second, reputations are built — and lost — during times of crisis. Companies demonstrating good citizenship by helping with shortages, or by making major donations, are also probably hoping that consumers will remember their actions when the economy returns to normal. What’s more, treating employees well during a time of hardship enhances a company’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430410550754">reputation as an employer</a> and helps attract talent as well as building a loyal workforce.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are also a lot of opportunities to ruin a reputation. Companies that treat their employees or customers badly during a crisis will face major challenges rebuilding when the storm has passed. Similarly, if corporate behemoths like Amazon <a href="https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/corona-handel-online-amazon-1.4859494">fail to provide reliable logistics solutions to small businesses right now</a>, then others will develop competing platforms. Those new platforms will not only enable buyers and sellers to meet, but will also integrate service providers to transport products in a timely and reliable manner.</p>
<h2>Technology push</h2>
<p>Beyond existing firms, some sectors of the economy are likely to grow. New technologies can offer numerous opportunities as the crisis transforms the products or services they can offer. <a href="http://www.ceibs.edu/new-papers-columns/how-reshape-epidemic-hit-service-sector">Service businesses in particular are likely to see a lot of innovation in how services are created, packaged and sold</a>.</p>
<p>Recent trends in China offer a glimpse of what is feasible for businesses. For example, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3078629/coronavirus-supercharges-china-digitalisation-stay-home">online shopping and entertainment received a major boost</a> during the coronavirus shutdown via online platforms like <a href="https://qz.com/1526128/the-alibaba-ecosystem-is-a-conglomerate-on-its-own-terms/">Alibaba</a>, <a href="https://digital.hbs.edu/innovation-disruption/wechat%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8Athe-one-app-rules/">Wechat</a> and <a href="https://bmvh29.ust.hk/mgmt/files/staff/papers/JT/JIBS_2019_Aug_earlyview_Ecosystem-specific.pdf">their associated ecosystems</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3076180/chinas-big-tech-companies-are-using-their-roles-fighting-worlds-largest">In the health-care sector</a>, <a href="https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-triggers-wave-apps-online-tools-diagnosis-testing">health-related smartphone apps</a> are proliferating in China — and possibly soon globally. Artificial intelligence is helping <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/triage-in-a-pandemic-can-ai-help-ration-access-to-care/">hospital emergency rooms</a>, while <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2017/12/19/vrar-in-china-an-emerging-giant/#34ec2c107573">virtual reality has moved from an entertainment tool to a valuable resource</a> for technical training and maintenance.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-china-is-revolutionising-e-commerce-with-an-injection-of-entertainment-131728">How China is revolutionising e-commerce with an injection of entertainment</a>
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<p>Companies that become competent and move quickly in these areas during the crisis will have a strategic advantage over their competitors in the post-pandemic economy. For example, whoever builds the most reliable and speedy logistics infrastructure for delivering goods to private homes during the lockdown is likely to gain loyal customers.</p>
<h2>Consumer pull</h2>
<p>Customers — both individual consumers and businesses — are <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-could-social-distancing-create-a-long-term-shift-for-the-grocery/">becoming accustomed to new forms of business</a>, such as <a href="https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article206994399/Corona-und-die-Folgen-Durchbruch-fuer-den-Lebensmittel-Onlinehandel.html">online ordering for home delivery</a>. Their established habits have been disrupted, changing attitudes and expectations. For example, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/11/21173449/microsoft-google-zoom-slack-increased-demand-free-work-from-home-software">surge in video meetings</a> creates comfort with this method of interaction, and users learn how to be effective in meetings without face-to-face interactions.</p>
<p>After the shutdown, many people will expect more integration of online and offline offerings. They will likely also be more at ease with using new technologies, especially video conferencing that can also reduce travel costs and carbon emissions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-the-economy-we-need-green-stimulus-not-fossil-fuel-bailouts-133492">Coronavirus and the economy: We need green stimulus not fossil fuel bailouts</a>
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<p>It’s clear the post-pandemic future will be different. What’s happening during the crisis will have a lasting impact on society. Current signs of entrepreneurial initiative and goodwill give us some cause for optimism.</p>
<p>In the words of Stanford economist Paul Romer: “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02FOB-onlanguage-t.html">A crisis is a terrible thing to waste</a>.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s clear that our post-pandemic future will be different. Current signs of good will amid entrepreneurial initiatives give us some cause for optimism.Klaus Meyer, Professor of International Business, Ivey Business School, Western UniversityCarsten Lund Pedersen, Assistant Professor, Marketing, Copenhagen Business SchoolThomas Ritter, Professor, Copenhagen Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1179652019-11-07T01:21:54Z2019-11-07T01:21:54ZThis laundry is changing the vicious cycle of unemployment and mental illness<p>Margaret was depressed, jobless, broke and behind on her rent when the single mother of two heard about Vanguard Laundry Services, in Toowoomba, Queensland.</p>
<p>“I was desperate for work, any work,” she recalls. She started working at the laundry the day before she was due to be evicted.</p>
<p>Given her situation, Margaret was lucky to hear about Vanguard. The laundry is a social enterprise established specifically to provide jobs to people with mental illness. The factors Margaret felt had been barriers to jobs at other businesses – such as her age, gender and health – were no impediment to her employment.</p>
<p>Employers generally tend to be far less accepting and understanding. According to <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4326.0Main+Features32007?OpenDocument">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> data, 34% of unemployed women and 26% of unemployed men are dealing with mental illness. It makes it harder for them get and hold down a job. Being unemployed also tends to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879109000037">harm mental health</a>, so it’s a Catch-22. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-with-a-mental-illness-discriminated-against-when-looking-for-work-and-when-employed-52864">People with a mental illness discriminated against when looking for work and when employed</a>
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<p>The Productivity Commission’s <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/mental-health/draft">draft report into mental health</a> – which puts the economic cost of mental illness at A$180 billion a year – notes “particularly strong links between employment and mental health” and the importance of increasing job opportunities.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/mental-health/draft/mental-health-draft-overview.pdf">Productivity Commission</a></span>
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<p>My research with <a href="http://www.vanguardlaundryservices.com.au">Vanguard Laundry Services</a> and the people who work there shows just how transformative a job opportunity can be. </p>
<p>Since it launched in December 2016, the business has provided jobs to about 78 people with histories of mental illness and long-term unemployment. My research has followed 48 of them. Most report significantly improved mental and physical health since starting work there. There have been concrete social benefits in terms of reduced reliance on public welfare and health services. </p>
<h2>Flaws in the system</h2>
<p>Under the existing federal Disability Employment Services (DES) system, which pays job service providers to assist people with disabilities, <a href="https://docs.jobs.gov.au/documents/employment-services-outcomes-report-july-2017-june-2018-disability-employment-services">less than a third</a> of those with mental-health-related disability actually obtain a job. </p>
<p>According <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/JobActive2018">to a Senate Committee inquiry</a>, the employment service system creates “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/JobActive2018/Report/section?id=committees%2Freportsen%2F024217%2F26936">perverse financial incentives</a> to churn unemployed workers into easier and more reliable income-producing outcomes, such as employability training, Work for the Dole, and job search programs”.</p>
<p>Financial incentives for employers are hardly better. The government will pay a wage subsidy up to <a href="https://jobsearch.gov.au/employer-info/wage-subsidies">$6,500 over six months</a> for hiring someone registered with a job service provider for more than 12 months. These subsidies are open to any employer – including social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry – but this system can also be abused by profit-driven employers to offer only short-term jobs.</p>
<p>The Productivity Commission’s draft report makes several recommendations to improve employment outcomes. One is to put more resources into Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services, which include job coaching, assistance dealing with government services, education and on-the-job support.</p>
<p>There is evidence IPS is more successful <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011867.pub2">than other employment interventions</a> but, like other intermediary employment service approaches, there’s still the challenge of finding employers who are both willing to give someone a go and have a supportive work culture. </p>
<p>Many participants in my research spoke about past employment experiences that included unrealistically high workloads, verbally abusive supervisors and discrimination. Though employment is generally beneficial for mental health, a job with bad working conditions <a href="https://oem.bmj.com/content/68/11/806.abstract">can be worse than unemployment</a>. </p>
<h2>Creating inclusive employment</h2>
<p>This is where social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry Services have a role to play.</p>
<p>A social enterprise is a business whose core aim is to <a href="https://mapforimpact.com.au/about/what-is-a-social-enterprise/">create public or community benefit</a>. Like many of the 20,000 social enterprises in Australia, Vanguard’s core social purpose is to create <a href="https://www.csi.edu.au/media/uploads/FASES_2016_full_report_final.pdf">meaningful employment opportunities</a> for people experiencing disadvantage. </p>
<p>When creating employment is the reason an enterprise exists, working conditions can be more focused on the needs of workers. My research found staff appreciated having flexibility over their hours and tasks, having understanding and supportive supervisors, and being able be open about their mental health issues yet still be accepted.</p>
<p>From its launch to the end of June 2018, <a href="https://www.amp.com.au/content/dam/corporate/newsroom/files/Vanguard%20Impact%20Report%202018.pdf">Vanguard’s social impacts</a> have included:</p>
<ul>
<li>saving A$153,451 in welfare payments by raising the median income of target staff by $152 a week and reducing average Centrelink payments by A$102.25 a week</li>
<li>saving A$231,767 in health costs, through employees spending a total of 138 fewer days in hospital.</li>
</ul>
<p>These results highlight the potential benefits for society that the right mix of government policies can offer through supporting social enterprises.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-social-enterprises-are-building-a-more-inclusive-australian-economy-88472">How social enterprises are building a more inclusive Australian economy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By responding to some of the challenges within the existing employment system, social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry have the potential to both increase access to work for people with mental illness, and ensure the workplaces people move into are conducive to good mental health.</p>
<p>As Margaret’s story illustrates, access to decent work can make a drastic difference to a person experiencing mental illness and struggling to get by. “It’s just totally changed my life,” she says. “To be quite honest, it saved my life.” </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Margaret’s name and some details have been changed to protect her privacy.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aurora Elmes receives a PhD Scholarship from Vanguard Laundry Services, and funded by the AMP Foundation. </span></em></p>Mental illness makes it harder to get and to keep a job. We need more employers prepared to give people with mental health challenges a go.Aurora Elmes, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1244592019-10-07T15:44:25Z2019-10-07T15:44:25ZB Corp certification won’t guarantee companies really care for people, planet and profit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295625/original/file-20191004-118228-1vzo2c6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C1870%2C1352&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/svobodavpraci/32409481326">svobodavpraci</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Weeks after the collapse of his restaurant group and the loss of 1,000 jobs, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/aug/23/jamie-oliver-to-create-ethical-b-corp-from-remnants-of-his-empire">announced</a> that he was creating an “ethical” <a href="https://bcorporation.net/">B Corporation</a> or “B Corp”, a sort of company certification designed to show its holder gives equal weight to people, planet and profit. While it has loosely the same aim as the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-triple-bottom-line-22798">triple bottom line</a>” of the <a href="https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/what-is-it-all-about/">social enterprise model</a>, B Corp certification is available to for-profit companies that apply to <a href="https://bcorporation.uk/about-b-lab">B Lab</a>, a non-global profit organisation, and pay for it.</p>
<p>B Lab was founded in 2006 by Stanford University alumni and businessmen Jay Coen Gilbert and Bart Houlahan, and former investment banker and Stanford colleague, Andrew Kassoy. There are now more than 2,900 certified B Corps in more than 60 countries, cutting across industries and sectors. Through extensive lobbying and promotion it has expanded worldwide through new local offices. With the number of B Corps opening under the organisation’s UK arm <a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/retail-consumer/insights/b-corp.html">growing at 14% a year</a>, is this really a new way of doing business?</p>
<h2>People, planet and profit</h2>
<p>On the face of it, the certification should indicate a company’s environmental performance, employee relationships, diversity, involvement in the local community, and the impact a company’s product or service has on those it serves. This in turn can attract staff and consumers seeking socially responsible businesses, boost an established public company’s stock price, and help investors find companies that balance profit and purpose. </p>
<p>In the B Lab <a href="https://bcorporation.net/certification">certification process</a>, a businesses must sign a “<a href="https://davidsuzuki.org/about/declaration-of-interdependence/">Declaration of Interdependence</a>”, committing it to using “business as a force for good.” The company must modify its governing bylaws to allow directors to “consider stakeholders besides shareholders in company decision-making”. Companies must also disclose <a href="https://bcorporation.net/certification/meet-the-requirements">information on</a> “any sensitive practices, fines, and sanctions related to the company or its partners”. Certification is done chiefly over the phone, with around 10% selected for more in-depth review. Companies must re-certify every three years.</p>
<p>While B Corp claims that certification balances the interests of shareholders with the interests of workers, customers, communities and the environment, B Corp standards are not legally enforceable. Neither the board nor the corporation are liable for damages if a company fails to meet them. Even the changes in company bylaws remain secret. A business can fill out the initial B Corp Impact Assessment in a few hours, and complete the certification process in between four and eight weeks, finally paying a certification fee of between US$500 and US$50,000, depending on revenue.</p>
<p>B Corp certification is available to any for-profit business around the globe as long as it’s been operating for at least 12 months. Certification is initially self-assessed, and doesn’t override the profit-driven focus of the company.</p>
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</figure>
<h2>A cash-generating machine?</h2>
<p>B Lab has raised over US$32m since launch, and receives much of its funding from <a href="https://bcorporation.net/about-b-lab/funders-and-finances">major foundations</a> and organisations such as Prudential, Deloitte LLP, the Rockefeller Foundation, and even the US Agency for International Development. In 2017 it received about <a href="https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/205958773_201712_990_2018092115719236.pdf">US$6m in certification fees, and US$5.6m in donations</a>. Its board members primarily come from the business sector, with B Lab paying <a href="https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=525029&ein=205958773">US$6m in salaries and compensation</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>In the face of this highly cash-generative activity, B Lab’s rhetoric (“<a href="https://bcorporation.net/certification/meet-the-requirements">lead a movement</a>”) fails to spell out compelling reasons for certification. B Lab claims that traditional corporations cannot be socially responsible, because <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGnz-w9p5FU">they open themselves to liability</a> for not following <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/b-corps-markets-corporate-law">shareholders interests</a>. But there is no law that explicitly requires directors of businesses to maximise shareholder revenue to the exclusion of all other corporate objectives. European (EU <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0095">Directive 2014/95/EU</a>) and <a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/assets/pdf/sustainability-reporting-tips-for-private-sector-organisations.pdf">UK law</a> already push companies to practice sustainability reporting, and British firms have always had the flexibility to <a href="https://www.michelmores.com/news-views/news/what-best-structure-social-enterprise">amend their articles of association</a> with shareholder consent to reflect their social responsibilities. Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, for example, changed its Articles of Association <a href="http://www.novonordisk.co.uk/about-novo-nordisk-in-uk/corporate_overview/sustainability.html">to state that</a> it “strives to conduct its activities in a financially, environmentally and socially responsible way”.</p>
<p>So while B Lab <a href="https://bcorporation.net/about-b-corps">speaks</a> of seeking to meet the “highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose” it has nevertheless certified <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/etsy-b-corporations-and-tax-avoidance">companies allegedly involved in tax avoidance</a>, those producing <a href="https://www.marketscreener.com/AMERICANN-INC-20954791/news/Americann-Inc-AmeriCann-Comments-on-Newly-Passed-Federal-Legislation-26228443/">cannabis-related products</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/laureate-a-for-profit-education-firm-finds-international-success-with-a-clintons-help/2014/01/16/13f8adde-7ca6-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html">for-profit college education companies</a>, corporations <a href="https://bcorporation.net/directory/american-prison-data-systems-pbc">working in the prison sector</a>, and those allegedly involved in <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2017/12/07/new-seasons-employees-continue-push-to-unionize.html">union busting</a>. </p>
<h2>What value does it add?</h2>
<p>My research into one of the earliest certified B Corps, <a href="http://blog.couchsurfing.com/a-new-era-for-couchsurfing/">CouchSurfing.com</a>, shows how certification can be used to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211973619300297">pacify angry consumers and attract investors</a>. Certified companies can simply walk away if they feel being a B Corp no longer suits their profit-making aims or strategy, or if it threatens short-term shareholder profitability. The online marketplace Etsy is one that <a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2017/11/30/etsy-gives-b-corp-status-maintain-corporate-structure/">walked away</a>, while others dropped certification after being bought out by larger companies that had other plans. </p>
<p>There is no directory of former B Corporations that dropped certification or had it removed. The closed nature of a private certifying body that sets and regulates its own standards is problematic, even if well intentioned, and especially so if it seeks to control the process by which certified businesses are held accountable. Certified corporations are as accountable to B Lab as they are to their stakeholders. The lack of full transparency and rigorous vetting in the face of its aggressive expansion indicates that B Lab’s certification should not be seen as a reliable method for certifying corporations to some standard, from the perspective of either the general public, investors or regulators.</p>
<p>Which isn’t to say that the efforts haven’t been worthwhile. B Lab could re-focus and promote new <a href="https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/about-us/">global benchmarks</a> and corporate structures such as <a href="https://nonprofithub.org/starting-a-nonprofit/jargon-free-guide-l3c/">low-profit limited liability companies</a> (L3Cs) in the US, or <a href="https://www.communitycompanies.co.uk/community-interest-companies-cic">community interest companies</a> (CICs) and <a href="https://www.cooperantics.coop/2016/10/25/the-what-why-and-how-of-multistakeholder-co-ops/">multi-stakeholder co‑operatives</a> in the UK. Rather than striving to become a political-economic actor spending millions on creating and marketing a private company certification offering brand building and <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-inspired-tickets-63467936306#listing-organizer">expensive workshops</a>, B Lab might consider whether its market-driven certification offers solutions to market-produced problems.</p>
<p>Jamie Oliver is largely transparent in his business values and <a href="https://www.jamieolivergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Jamie-Oliver-Social-Impact-Report-2018.pdf">commitment to social responsibility</a>. He would be better to say “<a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/full-email-jamie-oliver-sent-16317617">goodbye and big love as ever</a>” to B Lab as he did in his goodbye letter to staff, and focus instead on working with co-operatives, worker and community-owned businesses, and other non-profits that are building a new economy now – without the need to buy a certificate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael O'Regan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>B Corp certification is the latest status clothing for conscious companies. But without a clear indication of how it improves business practices, what does it really add?Michael O'Regan, Senior Lecturer in Events & Leisure, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216742019-08-27T21:19:41Z2019-08-27T21:19:41ZHow non-profits can use business as a force for good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289541/original/file-20190827-8851-1y7eu8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do social enterprises come to view profit as more important than their original mission? New research suggests they don't, and the cause remains a key component of their success.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kat Yukawa/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>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?</p>
<p>Think about <a href="https://ymca.ca/">the YMCA</a> of Canada. The Y is one of Canada’s <a href="https://www.ymca.ca/Who-We-Are/YMCA-History">oldest and largest charities</a>, serving more than 2.25 million people each year from 1,700 program locations. </p>
<p>It offers a wide range of social programs, from youth leadership development and immigrant services to skills development workshops. It also operates what is essentially a health club business that is somewhat more distantly tied to its mission, yet provides a critical source of revenue. The Y seems to be able to carry out its model of social enterprise just fine.</p>
<p>But for every YMCA, there are many more non-profits committed to advancing a social cause that struggle with finding revenue sources to keep themselves afloat. It’s no surprise; these two approaches often require very different mindsets, and trying to pursue both requires a cultural shift for traditional non-profit organizations.</p>
<p>Traditionally, non-profit organizations that wanted to increase their revenues tended to create commercial activities that were unrelated to their core social activities. Think about the annual cupcake sale organized by your local soup kitchen, or the café created within your local history museum. Those initiatives generate a welcome surplus of revenues, but they remain somewhat unconnected to the core social mission of the organization.</p>
<h2>Pursuing profit where it doesn’t belong?</h2>
<p>Many say the concept of social enterprise represents the incursion of <a href="https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20141202/social-innovation-simply-dressed-neoliberalism">neoliberal thinking</a> — putting the market above all else — into a sphere where it doesn’t belong.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-84755">What exactly is neoliberalism?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/nml.43">Some scholars</a> have predicted that ultimately, the “enterprise” would come to dominate the “social” as the pursuit of funds becomes the goal rather than the connection to a social purpose.</p>
<p>But are non-profits really selling their souls to the market? Maybe not. This argument overlooks the ways in which organizations and their leaders assimilate and adapt new ideas.</p>
<p><a href="https://rdcu.be/bbKGy">Our research</a> suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission. In fact, we observed the opposite trend: non-profit organizations interested in developing commercial activities learned, over time, how to integrate them more deeply with their social goals.</p>
<p>We came to this conclusion after analyzing 14 years of grant applications submitted to <a href="https://secouncil.ca/index.php/about/enp-landing-page/">Enterprising NonProfits</a>, then a leading Canadian funder that has since shut down, by non-profit organizations that sought to commercialize some of their services to create earned revenue. </p>
<p>With this long-term perspective, we could identify how non-profits in our study described their operating models and whether those models changed over time as the concept of social enterprise emerged and became more prevalent in society at large.</p>
<p>What we found is that the power of commerce did not win out as the years went by. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In fact, profits did not win out over the causes of social enterprises.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Perry Grone/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yes, in the early 2000s, when the concept of social enterprise was still new, many non-profits tended to emphasize the revenue-generation aspect of their new venture over the social mission, and to keep the two rather disconnected. </p>
<p>This was particularly true among non-profits in the social welfare and community benefit space. Perhaps these non-profits wanted to differentiate themselves from others in the field or just could not envision how to realize their social mission while developing commercial activities.</p>
<p>But over time, this emphasis on pure revenue-generation diminished. In the education and health fields, it never even dominated in the first place.</p>
<h2>Enhanced their social missions</h2>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/nonprofits_many_roads_to_revenue_generation">hybrid models</a> sprang up that integrated commercial and social objectives in multiple ways. Some non-profits offered specialized products or services to their target beneficiaries and generated revenue that way. Others provided employment opportunities to their target disadvantaged populations and thus enhanced their social mission.</p>
<p>In short, non-profits became better at managing the tensions inherent in mixing revenue generation with social mission, and more amenable to exploring different options for doing so.</p>
<p>They learned what worked and didn’t work from their peers, as successful examples of hybrid social enterprises that integrated a social mission into a commercial business project became more visible in the environment.</p>
<p>In the process, non-profit organizations realized that injecting some earned revenue into their activities could not only provide some welcome relief to their bottom line, but also had the potential to enhance and deepen their social mission.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by an Insight Development grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by research grants from Queen's University. Data for the research was made available by Enterprising Non-Profits British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>New research suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission in favour of profits. In fact, the opposite is true.Jean-Baptiste Litrico, Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization, Queen's University, OntarioMarya Besharov, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1076852018-12-04T22:20:48Z2018-12-04T22:20:48ZFinancial empowerment is the road to success for Indigenous youth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248827/original/file-20181204-34122-1jkzjrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C107%2C3000%2C1881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous youth planning on attending post-secondary education would benefit from appropriate financial literacy information. Here students Cheyenne Wilson, 13, Roy Joseph, 13, centre, and Connor Roberts, 13, after attending a presentation by B.C.'s representative for Children and Youth at Shoreline Community School in Victoria, B.C., on May 15, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-bridging-the-gap-between-indigenous-education-and-financial-literacy/">Youth now represent nearly half the Indigenous population</a> in Canada. These young people are at exciting times in their lives and many are planning to, or already do, attend post-secondary education. </p>
<p>As well, Indigenous entrepreneurship, in general, but especially for youth, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/for-aboriginals-entrepreneurship-is-the-path-to-economic-independence/article24327664/">has been on the rise since 2000</a>. That business arena is growing at a rate that is <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/an-emerging-market-at-home-how-canadian-banks-are-making-a-big-push-into-aboriginal-banking">six times faster</a> than entrepreneurship among non-Indigenous people. Indigenous entrepreneurs tend to be about <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/indigenous-entrepreneurs-important-to-canadian-economic-growth/article35296384/">10 years younger than their non-Indigenous peers</a>. </p>
<p>These young people are in the early phases of their financial lives, and would likely benefit greatly from some practical financial literacy education. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is to develop culturally appropriate curricula</a> to help Indigenous youth access information and achieve success. A culturally relevant approach to financial literacy education can help to address the financial literacy gaps that colonization has created. </p>
<p>While many personal finance books provide excellent content in terms of the mechanics of personal finance, they are not necessarily relevant to the values and experiences of all the students in the classroom. In particular, many financial literacy resources are not inclusive of Indigenous people and make no mention of their specific circumstances with regard to taxation, housing, banking and other personal finance topics.</p>
<p>Plus, they are expensive! According to CBC, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/textbook-prices-that-break-the-bank-michael-s-essay-kim-philby-a-spy-among-friends-the-barbershop-essay-the-unstable-world-saudi-arabia-the-right-thing-to-do-documentary-1.2905207/textbook-prices-that-break-the-bank-1.2905212">textbook costs have risen some 834 per cent in the last three decades</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016, I embarked on adapting an openly licensed textbook, <a href="https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_personal-finance/"><em>Personal Finance</em></a>, published in the United States to create a more affordable and culturally relevant personal finance literacy resource for Canadians. The result is <a href="https://financialempowerment.pressbooks.com/"><em>Financial Empowerment</em></a>. </p>
<h2>Accessible personal finance</h2>
<p>All people need to be able to see themselves in what they are learning. A 2015 study by a <a href="https://www.afoa.ca/afoadocs/L1/Annual%20Reports/AFOA-2017-18%20AR-web-eng.pdf">national Indigenous non-profit</a>, focused on Indigenous finance, management and leadership, said that “<a href="https://www.afoa.ca/en/Resources/Publications/Publications.aspx?WebsiteKey=6d966ab0-5d5c-4437-a95e-8d81cb9dd9fa&hkey=81ddb3cf-d176-48ab-8151-83598fb7994d">culturally relevant educational materials” should be developed to “address the knowledge gaps…”</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BqiCyNEFJqc","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>During pre-contact times, <a href="https://financialempowerment.pressbooks.com/">Indigenous people had a rich economic history that demonstrated strong personal financial skills</a>. But colonization, which created systems of control that led to social and economic exclusion, such as reserves, residential schools and the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pass-system-in-canada">pass system</a>, meant that many First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities experienced persistent cultural and systemic barriers that have significantly contributed to gaps in financial literacy.</p>
<p>The legislation and structures that were put in place attempted to control Indigenous people and create a system of dependency that denied many access to money and education in money management.</p>
<p>On Jan. 18, 2018, a federal roundtable on strengthening the financial literacy of Indigenous Peoples was held to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations involved in financial literacy and financial capacity building. One of the directives that came from the roundtable was that financial literacy should be <a href="http://prospercanada.org/News-Media/News/Roundtable-held-on-Indigenous-Financial-Literacy.aspx?feed=Prosper-Canada-News-Feed">“culturally relevant, strength-based and community led by an Indigenous organization that can coordinate collective efforts.”</a> </p>
<h2>Critical to success</h2>
<p><em>Financial Empowerment</em> attempts to change these historic imbalances. It includes Indigenous perspectives, values and worldviews, with information from Elders so that Indigenous students can more deeply examine and understand their personal and cultural values surrounding money and how these values relate to their financial decisions and behaviours. </p>
<p>By beginning this conversation, I hope to make personal finance more relevant to Indigenous students in Canada and to also teach non-Indigenous students about Indigenous histories, perspectives and realities.</p>
<p>Writing in <em>the Globe and Mail</em>, Simon Brascoupé, co-chair of the newly-formed federal <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/programs/financial-literacy/committee-network/indigenous-working-group-biographies.html">Financial Literacy Working Group for Indigenous Peoples</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-bridging-the-gap-between-indigenous-education-and-financial-literacy/">says a strong foundation in financial literacy is critical to the success of Indigenous entrepreneurs</a>. He recommends investing in education and training by and for Indigenous youth. He says this investment will help to tackle the many barriers when it comes to employment and successful skills training for Indigenous people. </p>
<p>Financial empowerment is not only about building personal finance skills and knowledge, but also about changing financial behaviour by understanding one’s values, attitudes, goals and practices regarding money. Sharing the wisdom and power of culturally relevant financial literacy education in Indigenous communities is one way to promote the success of Indigenous youth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107685/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bettina Schneider does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous entrepreneurship is growing at a rate six times faster than the general Canadian population and it is 10 years younger. Culturally relevant financial literacy is critical to its success.Bettina Schneider, Associate Professor and Associate Vice-President Academic, First Nations University of CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/875952017-11-20T19:13:05Z2017-11-20T19:13:05ZWhat is the impact of ‘impact investing’?<p>The financial returns from “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-rise-of-social-impact-investing-73357">impact investing</a>” are on par with mainstream investments, according to a <a href="https://thegiin.org/knowledge/publication/financial-performance">recent report</a>. Impact investing aims to generate a social or environmental return (such as affordable housing or a reduction in greenhouse emissions) as well as a financial one.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://impactinvestingaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/Benchmarking-Impact.pdf">research</a> shows that impact investors have already funded many significant social and environmental programs in Australia. These range from investing in schools and programs for the homeless, to renewable energy.</p>
<p>Australian debt impact investments <a href="https://thegiin.org/assets/2017_GIIN_FinancialPerformanceImpactInvestments_Web.pdf">have returned</a> 7.9% over a five-year period, compared to expectations of a 7% market return. This disproves <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/social-impact-demand-financial-sacrifice/">the idea</a> that there is a necessary trade-off between impact and financial returns.</p>
<p>However, it is still too early to determine how material the financial investment is to the impacts that are created.</p>
<h2>What’s the impact?</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://impactinvestingaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/Benchmarking-Impact.pdf">research</a> shows that impact investing in Australia has supported: </p>
<ul>
<li>60,000 vulnerable Australians through access to health, education services and jobs training</li>
<li>126 schools through investments in new facilities, training and inclusion programs </li>
<li>319 jobs, including for those typically marginalised from mainstream employment such as the long-term unemployed </li>
<li>1,072 people with disabilities, by funding disability support enterprises</li>
<li>11,501 MWh renewable energy generation through investment in wind farms</li>
</ul>
<p>And this list isn’t extensive. Australian investors also support carbon reductions, mental health support, foster care reductions, and teacher training etc.</p>
<p>Australian impact investors also support more than 7,000 people living in poverty, primarily by addressing their exclusion from the financial system. For example, an impact investor may invest in a business that provides accessible and affordable finance to people who have typically been excluded from mainstream financial services. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-rise-of-social-impact-investing-73357">Explainer: the rise of social impact investing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The potential for impact investment to create social change is exemplified by an A$300,000 <a href="http://socialimpacthub.org/Brochure/mobile/index.html#p=30">equity investment</a> into STREAT in 2012. STREAT is a Melbourne-based social enterprise that provides training and employment opportunities for homeless and disadvantaged youth. </p>
<p>The investment, which aimed to achieve between 5-7% returns, was used to double STREAT’s operations and acquire two cafes and a coffee roasting business. This, in turn, helped STREAT to provide more sustainable revenue and training opportunities for its young people. </p>
<p>Another example is the A$7 million raised from private investments when the NSW government sold “social benefit bonds” in 2010. This money was used to fund activities focused on restoring children in out of home care to their families. </p>
<p>In the first four years <a href="http://www.socialventures.com.au/assets/Newpin-SBB-Investor-Report-2017-web.pdf">the program restored</a> 203 children to their families and prevented another 55 families from having their children entering care, all while giving a 13.2% annual financial return to investors. </p>
<h2>A maturing sector</h2>
<p>Australia’s impact investment market <a href="https://impactinvestingaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/Benchmarking-Impact.pdf">grew</a> from just one deal in 2010, to 92 deals and over A$1.2 billion invested by the end of 2015.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.osii.nsw.gov.au/initiatives/social-benefit-bonds/">New South Wales</a>, <a href="https://www.treasury.qld.gov.au/growing-queensland/social-benefit-bonds-pilot-program/">Queensland</a>, <a href="http://www.dcsi.sa.gov.au/latest-news/media-releases-2017/bonds-to-break-the-homelessness-cycle/">South Australian</a>, and <a href="http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Victorias-Economy/Social-Impact-Bonds-in-Victoria">Victorian</a> state governments have all sold social benefit bonds to fund programs tackling homelessness, or to make families more resilient.</p>
<p>Many private impact investment funds have also launched recently, such as the <a href="http://kilterrural.com/news-resources/murray-darling-basin-balanced-water-fund-information-memorandum">Murray-Darling Basin Balanced Water Fund</a> which trades water rights and aims to restore water to the local ecosystem. The <a href="http://www.impact-group.com.au/portfolio/giant-leap-fund-1">Giant Leap</a> venture capital fund invests in social and environmental businesses. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/social-impact-investment-can-help-retirees-get-the-housing-and-care-they-need-75214">Social impact investment can help retirees get the housing and care they need</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>While our research shows that impact investing is already making a difference in Australia, these metrics don’t say anything about quality. For example, of the jobs that were created, how were people’s lives affected? Did this job creation lead to improved well-being? Would these jobs have been created in absence of the investment anyway? </p>
<p>These questions are yet to be resolved and lead to further questions about the meaningfulness of reports about impact. Additionally, given the complex nature of trying to measure the result of diverse initiatives on the lives of vulnerable people, impact is not easy to compare or measure consistently. This makes it challenging to determine impact at a market or even portfolio level, and so it is often individual deals and stories that are highlighted.</p>
<p>Looking past individual success stories, not all investments are doing well and not all investors know how to track, measure, aggregate, attribute, or scale impact. Although, as the market grows, expect to see new and better measurement tools, as well as greater scrutiny on whether and how impact is being delivered. Without impact, there is no impact investment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin I. Castellas has received funding from Impact Investing Australia, Perpetual, and the Victorian Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jarrod Ormiston has received funding from the Ian Potter Foundation and Social Enterprise Finance Australia for research on impact investment.. </span></em></p>Research shows that ‘impact investing’ not only delivers good financial returns, but it supports a great many social and environmental programs in Australia.Erin I. Castellas, Research Fellow, Social Impact, Swinburne University of TechnologyJarrod Ormiston, Assistant Professor in Social Entrepreneurship, Maastricht UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839652017-09-21T19:41:29Z2017-09-21T19:41:29ZThis is what the lives of Big Issue sellers tell us about working and being homeless<p>The “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/12/crisis-measures-wont-solve-homelessness-australian-governments-warned">homelessness crisis</a>”, particularly in <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/citys-rough-sleepers-more-common-in-the-suburbs--and-just-tip-of-the-iceberg-20170913-gygu3n.html">Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/29/second-sydney-homeless-camp-dismantled-by-nsw-government">Sydney</a>, has attracted renewed attention in recent months. While there are higher rates of unemployment for people who are homeless, many are <a href="http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/2202865/Scutella_et_al_Journeys_Home_Research_Report_W6.pdf">working and homeless</a>. </p>
<p>For the past two decades, the growing numbers of Big Issue sellers on city streets across Australia have perhaps been the most visible and public of the “working homeless”. </p>
<p>While The Big Issue is based on the idea of “<a href="https://www.thebigissue.org.au/support-the-big-issue/donate/">a hand up, not a hand out</a>”, little research has been carried out on its impact and sellers’ experiences. <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137594822">My research findings</a> reveals the long-lasting effects of inequality and poverty and the impact of <a href="https://www.actu.org.au/media/349417/lives_on_hold.pdf">precarious employment and working conditions</a>. </p>
<p>There is a need for more co-ordinated and comprehensive policy responses to – and resources for – homelessness, entrenched disadvantaged and long-term unemployment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/supportive-housing-is-cheaper-than-chronic-homelessness-67539">Supportive housing is cheaper than chronic homelessness</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia’s first social enterprise</h2>
<p>The Big Issue – a homeless street press publication – was launched in 1991 in London and in 1996 in Melbourne. Premised on the importance of creating work for those who are homeless and long-term unemployed, its motto is “<a href="https://www.bigissue.com/about/">working, not begging</a>”. </p>
<p>The Big Issue is part of a much larger global network of “homeless street press”, which has its historical roots in activist groups in the US. The Big Issue took the grassroots activist model and merged it with a business imperative to create arguably the first social enterprise: a business with a social purpose.</p>
<p>Social enterprises, a fast-growing sector in Australia, aim to respond to social problems with market-based business ideas and practices. </p>
<p>The Big Issue aims to be a self-sustaining business that engages sellers in “genuine” work. Sellers buy The Big Issue magazine for half the market price (at the moment A$3.50) and sell it on for full price ($7), thereby making $3.50 per sale.</p>
<p>As a model of social engagement it is incredibly popular politically. Every year, politicians and business leaders help raise the profile of the organisation by spending a few hours selling The Big Issue. </p>
<p>But what is it really like being a Big Issue seller? Does it provide a pathway out of homelessness and poverty? Do market-based solutions to homelessness and poverty work? </p>
<p>I spent some 18 months alongside 40 Melbourne sellers (and one ex-seller) to answer these questions. Most had been homeless at some point. Some were still homeless, while others had managed to secure private rentals or social housing. Most sellers remained hopeful of a pathway out of poverty, but few realised this. </p>
<h2>What do sellers say about their work?</h2>
<p><strong>Money helps, but not enough</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, Big Issue sellers welcomed the chance to work. Many had injuries, disabilities or other health conditions that meant more formal employment was out of reach. Others simply could not find work. </p>
<p>Being able to top up <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-23/newstart-not-enough-to-afford-basic-needs/8835678">meagre Centrelink payments</a> to help pay for rent, everyday basics, medical expenses, or even to save a little was welcome and in some cases life changing. </p>
<p>Sellers spoke of the dignity that working gave them – as a chance to demonstrate their commitment to working – and were grateful for the opportunity. </p>
<p>Yet, apart from a slim few, most sellers made very limited income. Some sold only two or four copies a day, thus earning no more than $14 for five to eight hours’ work. The most successful sellers scraped closer to the minimum wage, but only on the best hours of the best days. </p>
<p>The income from The Big Issue is very precarious – sellers can never be sure of what they’ll get. To make ends meet, many worked rain, hail or shine and through illness or painful medical conditions. </p>
<p><strong>Relationships: good and bad</strong></p>
<p>Sellers spoke powerfully of social relationships they made with regular customers, The Big Issue staff, and their local community. Having meaningful and positive interactions was central to the significance of their work. </p>
<p>However, sellers also spoke of the difficulty of the visible and public nature of their work. Sellers were aware people were judging them, their appearance and actions. Sellers sometimes struggled to put on a “smiley face” while managing the challenges and disadvantage of being homeless and poor. </p>
<p>At times, sellers had to manage negative interactions with the public, from sneers of “get a real job” to feeling lonely and ignored. They might just have one of the hardest sales jobs in the country. </p>
<h2>What can we learn from Big Issue sellers’ experiences?</h2>
<p>These experiences reveal the flimsy basis of the “lifters and leaners” rhetoric, which still persists in recent government welfare policy changes. </p>
<p>Punitive approaches such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/expansion-of-cashless-welfare-card-shows-shock-tactics-speak-louder-than-evidence-82585">welfare cards</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-drug-users-get-back-to-work-not-random-drug-testing-should-be-our-priority-77468">drug tests</a> have little grounds in research evidence, and do much to stigmatise and blame people for society’s inequalities. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-history-can-challenge-the-narrative-of-blame-for-homelessness-80617">How history can challenge the narrative of blame for homelessness</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Sellers’ experiences certainly do not support the presumption of “work-shy” benefit dependency. Many work five, sometimes seven, days a week in spite of their difficulties.</p>
<p>Sellers recounted multiple experiences of inequality. These range from waiting years for public housing and being moved on when homeless, to struggling to manage family and medical budgets on Centrelink payments and feeling dismissed by society as not contributing. </p>
<p>Their experiences offer a powerful insight into the everyday challenges of living in poverty and long-term unemployment in Australia. The effects of stigmatisation, social exclusion and disenfranchisement are powerful. </p>
<p>While homelessness is a complex phenomenon, its recent <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/national-obscenity-still-a-blight--homelessness-continues-to-increase-20170411-gviegb.html">growth</a> in Australia cannot be disassociated from broader social inequalities and poverty. This includes recent <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20Sep+2011#2">rises in long-term unemployment</a>, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Media%20Release1Aug%202017?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6202.0&issue=Aug%202017&num=&view=">underemployment</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-costs-of-a-casual-job-are-now-outweighing-any-pay-benefits-82207">precarious working conditions</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-reboot-affordable-housing-funding-not-scrap-it-72861">need for more affordable housing</a>. </p>
<p>My research indicates that being a Big Issue seller may provide avenues for meaningful work and social interactions, but does not offer secure pathways out of poverty and homelessness or into waged work. Market-based business initiatives are not an effective replacement for comprehensive government policy when it comes to structural inequality. </p>
<p>The experiences of Big Issue sellers tell us there is an urgent need to address inequality, unemployment and homelessness in Australia. A significant part of this is tackling the unequal and precarious labour market. Current policy responses to are not enough, and many serve to deflect the structural basis of poverty. </p>
<p>As a starting point, government can do much more through resourcing social and public housing, women’s refuges and homeless services and by increasing the Disability Support Pension and Newstart Allowance, which has <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-it-true-australias-unemployment-payment-level-hasnt-increased-in-over-20-years-59250">not increased in real terms in 20 over years</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond this, there is a need to address the lack of opportunity for meaningful social engagement, dignity and work for those excluded from formal employment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Jessica Gerrard is author of <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137594822">Precarious Enterprise on the Margins</a>: Work, Poverty and Homelessness in the City.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gerrard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Big Issue sellers get social contact and dignity out of their work, but it’s not a secure pathway out of poverty and homelessness. Social enterprises enable small steps; governments can do much more.Jessica Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Education, Equity and Politics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/821792017-08-09T17:08:26Z2017-08-09T17:08:26ZSouth Africa’s economic recovery plan has a bit of everything - but no vision<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181351/original/file-20170808-22965-1qvsg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The country needs a new economic strategy that puts small businesses at the core of the development strategy</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>South Africa’s new finance minister Malusi Gigaba has unveiled a <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/">14 point plan</a> designed to help the country fix its declining economic fortunes. Sibonelo Radebe of The Conversation Africa asked Lorenzo Fioramonti to weigh up the plan.</em></p>
<p><strong>How do you rate the recovery plan?</strong></p>
<p>The minister’s plan seems to want to include a bit of everything, from private sector’s involvement in struggling state owned enterprises to bringing down banking costs. </p>
<p>But unfortunately the plan has no vision. It’s a set of bullet points for day-to-day management of the status quo, which has been improperly presented as a ‘recovery plan’. Rather than having so many short-term action points that are unlikely to change the current economic predicament, I would like government to be much more outspoken about the structural conditions that are undermining sustainable and equitable development. </p>
<p>The plan looks a bit like a shopping list, lacking a coherent vision for the country. They seem mostly motivated by the short-term imperative of avoiding further credit downgrades and reducing the risk of skyrocketing deficit.</p>
<p><strong>What are the most encouraging points of this plan?</strong></p>
<p>I think it’s positive that government intends to tackle state owned enterprises and I’m sympathetic to the idea of leveraging public procurement to support small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs). </p>
<p>I also welcome the indication of clear deadlines to achieve certain targets, but I’m very doubtful most of them will be met, especially given the volatility of the current political scene as well as the scale of corruption. </p>
<p>The emphasis placed on reforming state owned enterprises (SOEs) is a positive factor. But reforming SOEs means more than recapitalising them at every turn: it means establishing new governance rules for government and powerful economic interests. That’s much harder to achieve. </p>
<p><strong>What are the most critical things that are missing from it?</strong></p>
<p>The first priority is to support SMMEs not only through better procurement policies, but also by levelling the playing field in an economy that has been traditionally designed to support large corporate conglomerates, whether in mining, banking and or retail. </p>
<p>SMMEs must be better integrated into value chains. But if these remain dominated by big business, then small companies will only receive marginal profits, even when they are actually responsible for most of the production. To complement this value chain integration, we need policies that prioritise SMMEs in accessing public tenders directly and play a more leading role in delivering services on their own or through collaborative networks with other small businesses, thus outcompeting large corporations in some areas. </p>
<p>It is relatively easy to support the creation of black-owned big businesses, as our Black Economic Empowerment policies have done. But this will not transform the economy, let alone generate the kind of growth government keeps promising. </p>
<p>To do that, the country needs a new economic strategy that puts small businesses and especially artisanal production at the core of the development strategy, including building the necessary skills and entrepreneurial capacity. <a href="https://www.oecd.org/cfe/smes/2090740.pdf">Research</a> shows that SMMEs are the main drivers of growth and the best creators of jobs across the globe. </p>
<p>South Africa needs fewer shopping malls and more local markets. It needs more <a href="https://www.gibs.co.za/programmes/the-centre-for-leadership-and-dialogue/pages/social-entrepreneurship-programme.aspx">social entrepreneurs</a> and fewer CEOs. It needs less mining of natural deposits, which generates enormous <a href="https://cer.org.za/news/harvard-report-highlights-human-rights-costs-of-south-african-gold-mining">costs for society and the environment</a> to the advantage of large mining conglomerates, and more collection of metals and minerals lying in our landfills (the so-called e-waste), which can be effectively performed by SMMEs and artisans.</p>
<p>Against this backdrop, it’s high time we ask whether some state owned enterprises shouldn’t be completely overhauled rather than partially privatised. In fact, privatisation will simply replace a form of state-led monopoly with one driven by the private sector. </p>
<p>What the country needs is the end of monopolies, at least whenever possible. The state power utility Eskom is a case in point. The future is about <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2016-07-29-00-aab-inaugurates-microgrid-in-south-africa-boosting-renewables-and-power-reliability">distributed energy systems</a>, whereby each and every firm and household can produce energy through renewable sources and exchange it through the grid. </p>
<p>In such a context, South Africa will no longer need a giant power utility. It will need an agile managing organisation facilitating exchanges across society, just like the Internet, which is managed by a <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/welcome-2012-02-25-en">non-profit</a> as a public good and no private or public entities own it – hence the concept of <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/policybriefs/networkneutrality?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5arMBRDzARIsAAqmJezTm0o3hq9m2O9XKKswBfVEGejyi0wQeB0ryZIfDu5qxN7nwLxzJlgaAvOqEALw_wcB">‘net neutrality’</a>. </p>
<p><strong>How should key stakeholders, business, labour, civil society relate to it?</strong></p>
<p>I think many people are extremely suspicious of this government’s intentions. This is a pity because the country desperately needs cooperation in its development policy.</p>
<p>The lack of an overarching vision means that key stakeholders will probably continue promoting their sectoral interests, rather than uniting for a new social and economic ‘compact’. What the country needs is a nation-wide debate on where it wants the economy to go. </p>
<p>Does South Africa simply want to go back to the previous years, during which high economic growth co-existed with all sorts of social ills, from the AIDS pandemic to rampant inequality? Or does it want to move forward to a different economy, which can increase not only private profits but also social and environmental wellbeing, as I describe in my book _<a href="http://panmacmillan.co.za/catalogue/wellbeing-economy/">Wellbeing Economy: Success in a World Without Growth</a>? </p>
<p><strong>How do you see the chances of economic recovery going forward?</strong></p>
<p>I have indicated many times that <a href="https://theconversation.com/growth-is-dying-as-the-silver-bullet-for-success-why-this-may-be-good-thing-78427">low growth is the new normal</a>. We will not experience high growth rates in the next decade or so. </p>
<p>Potentially, this new normal will last for the entire century. So, any promise that growth is around the corner is simply delaying our capacity to innovate.</p>
<p>Rather than thinking about ‘big’ costly infrastructure, South Africa needs an integrated focus on how to optimise the use of resources it already has and minimise those forms of production and consumption that wreak havoc with the environment, ultimately costing so much money to the state and society.</p>
<p>Supporting small businesses and artisans requires fewer funds than subsidising large corporations. Small-scale interventions can bring more lasting benefits and activate positive feedback loops. </p>
<p>South Africa needs a new approach to service delivery founded on <a href="http://neweconomics.org/2008/07/co-production/">‘co-production’</a>, involving communities directly, thus creating opportunities to develop much needed artisanal jobs at the local level. </p>
<p>For this to happen, however, the country needs leadership. And I don’t see any of that coming out of the ruling party at present. To be honest, I don’t see much of that in the opposition parties either. Perhaps it will be happening at the local level, through some new initiatives by mayors, local businesses and civil society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82179/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorenzo Fioramonti does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africa’s 14 point plan to achieve economic recovery lacks detail and vision of how the country is going to get itself out the prevailing economic crisis.Lorenzo Fioramonti, Full Professor of Political Economy, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/803262017-07-20T01:05:59Z2017-07-20T01:05:59ZHow to borrow tools from the startup world for aid and development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178934/original/file-20170720-10632-3ljjh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New funding vehicles could finance large scale agricultural programs</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ideas borrowed from the startup world – crowdfunding, incubators, accelerators and online marketplaces – could help close the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/blendedfinance-%0Asustainable-development-goals/">US$2.5 trillion shortfall</a> in funding for the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org">United Nations Sustainable Development Goals</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-business-and-social-innovation/research/future-business-0">research</a> with the <a href="https://ixc.dfat.gov.au">Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade</a> shows these methods can increase aid by attracting funding from private investors and diaspora communities. </p>
<p>But several barriers need to be overcome first. Education is the biggest challenge – all stakeholders, both investors and entrepreneurs, need to understand the potential of these methods as well as how (and when) to use them. We need to ensure programs are available in local languages and in rural areas. Lastly, we should not overburden entrepreneurs and grantees with complicated impact measurements. </p>
<h2>Crowdfunding</h2>
<p>Crowdfunding platforms, where entrepreneurs post a project and members of the public contribute small amounts, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/etap.12143/full">can be a very successful</a> method not only to deliver funds, but to test how much interest there is in a product or project. The micro-lending platform <a href="https://www.kiva.org/about">Kiva</a> is an example of this in action. Kiva <a href="https://www.kiva.org/lend/1-billion-in-change">claims to have provided</a> over US$1 billion in loans to 2.5 million people since launching in 2005. Its funded projects range from small businesses to village development. </p>
<p>But crowdfunding faces a range of challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. These include a lack of access to bank accounts, large commissions charged on withdrawing funds, and a lack of education for entrepreneurs in how to run crowdfunding campaigns.</p>
<p>So while crowdfunding has been shown to work in funding development projects, it needs to be tailored to specific contexts. The platforms should be set up with local intermediaries. Funding is needed to provide initial educational support for social entrepreneurs in online campaigning. And campaigns should be run to reach potential funders in the developed world, including diaspora communities. </p>
<h2>Incubators and accelerators</h2>
<p>Incubators and accelerator programs help very early stage or startup businesses. These often provide co-working spaces, education, mentoring and connections to investors, often in return for a fee or a share of the business. </p>
<p>Our analysis of over 90 incubators and accelerator programs across the region found that entrepreneurial training and coaching opportunities were <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311320851_GEM_ASEAN_Regional_Entrepreneurship_Report_201516_ASEAN_Entrepreneurship_The_Context_Impact_and_Opportunities_for_Women_Entrepreneurs_and_Startups_Key_Pivots_for_Growth_and_Sustainability">still</a> <a href="https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/ande/Bridging%20the%20Pioneer%20Gap%20The%20Role%20of%20Accelerators%20in%20Launching%20High%20Impact%20Enterprises%20.pdf">limited</a>. It is not simply a question of providing more incubator programs. Programs are needed in local languages and in locations outside major cities.</p>
<p>For example, programs <a href="http://www.projecthubyangon.com">in Myanmar</a> and <a href="http://www.hatch.vn/">Vietnam</a> are building up a startup ecosystem. Yet, more local language incubator programs are required to increase accessibility for other young entrepreneurs. </p>
<h2>Marketplaces</h2>
<p>Online marketplaces, sometimes referred to as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/social-stock-exchanges-do-we-need-them-35898">social stock exchanges</a>”, have recently emerged to help connect enterprises and investors and to standardise measures of financial and social return.</p>
<p>Just like mainstream stock exchanges, these platforms allow entrepreneurs to raise funds and investors to trade shares. But, on top of maximising monetary returns, the companies listed on these exchanges generally have social goals such as increasing clean energy or affordable housing stocks. </p>
<p>Social stock exchanges have taken off in the developed world – <a href="https://www.svx.ca/impact">over CA$100 million</a> has been raised on the SVX platform in Canada, and <a href="http://socialstockexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-SSX_Impact-Report_August-FINAL.pdf">more than £400 million</a> through the London Social Stock Exchange.</p>
<p>Existing platforms use different impact measures for enterprises wishing to list, such as <a href="http://www.bcorporation.net">B Corporation</a> certification. While such platforms are a valuable part of market infrastructure, more needs to be done to educate enterprises and investors on business models for financial and social impact, and expectations of returns. </p>
<p>All up, the research shows that there is great potential in borrowing ideas from the startup world for economic development. These methods have been shown to effectively direct funds to projects that have community support, and to help entrepreneurs and organisations accomplish their goals. They can complement our existing approaches to aid and development. </p>
<p>In building a startup system for social impact, we also need to support those who do the intermediary work, who bring together these diverse groups, and who can understand the needs of aid, entrepreneurship and finance. We also need to try new types of collaboration and partnerships between public, private and non-profit actors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Logue receives funding from the Australian Research Council and has previously received research funding from InnovationXChange, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. For research purposes she holds a 0.0013% share in the crowdfunded London Social Stock Exchange.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gillian McAllister has worked on a project funded by InnovationXchange, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jochen Schweitzer receives funding from InnovationXChange, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.</span></em></p>There is a lot of potential in borrowing ideas from the startup world to complement foreign aid funding.Danielle Logue, Associate Professor in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, University of Technology SydneyGillian McAllister, Senior Research Analyst, Centre for Business and Social Innovation, University of Technology SydneyJochen Schweitzer, Director MBA Entrepreneurship and Senior Lecturer Strategy and Innovation, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/729242017-02-14T14:04:40Z2017-02-14T14:04:40ZWhat businesses taking a stand against Donald Trump can learn from NGOs<p>A number of businesses have stepped forward to oppose Donald Trump’s executive orders and the infamous <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trumps-travel-ban-is-bad-for-business-72301">“travel ban”</a>, in particular. CEOs have <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/28/14426550/silicon-valley-trump-immigration-response">denounced</a> it on social media, including Nike, Twitter, Netflix, Microsoft and others. Lyft, a ride-sharing company, pledged to donate US$1m to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over the next four years. Starbucks committed to hiring 10,000 refugees. Google created a “crisis campaign”, matching donations of users and directing the funds towards several human rights organisations. </p>
<p>This trend of mixing social and commercial goals has been a long time coming. It is impossible to operate as a business without considering significant social change in the operating environment, and how your organisation will relate to those changes. Many businesses are jumping to the front lines and advocating for social issues – as a result, they are stepping into the domain of social advocacy once left to NGOs. They would do well to learn from their experience in this field.</p>
<p>Businesses that ignore social issues are following the economist Milton Friedman’s <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html">famous, outdated advice</a> that business’ sole social responsibility is to generate profit for its shareholders. This approach used to be the norm. The three sector approach, public, private and non-profit, assigns the responsibility for social change to the first and third sectors. From this perspective, engaging with social issues is too risky for businesses, might alienate some investors and customers, and is, frankly, none of their business. While some leaders and organisations still hold this position, others are taking a very different approach.</p>
<p>A recent case in Ireland was the Marriage Equality Referendum, held two years ago. <a href="http://www.glen.ie/news-post.aspx?contentid=28635">Businesses</a> took a stand on the issue of LGBT rights, advocating a Yes vote – to legalise gay marriage. The Irish business association, <a href="http://humanrights.ie/civil-liberties/business-said-yes-to-marriage-equality-but-will-the-circle-be-widened/">IBEC, claimed</a> that YES was “Good for business, good for employees and good for Ireland.”</p>
<p>In retrospect, at least, this was a fairly safe issue. All the major political parties endorsed the Yes vote, and opinion polls showed a favourable outcome. Many Irish businesses already had equality policies, so Marriage Equality followed as a logical extension of those principles. But it was quite radical that businesses advocated any position on a social change that was pending a referendum – particularly one that ran counter to an influential and dominant institution, the Catholic Church in Ireland.</p>
<h2>Long history</h2>
<p>History, of course, offers numerous examples of socially responsible business, long before the term “Corporate Social Responsibility” existed. <a href="https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/Content/pdf/archive-factsheets/guinness-philanthropy/guinness_family_philanthropy.pdf">Guinness</a>, for example, built homes for the poor and provided nutritional and medical support to its employees and their families. Even in Jim Crow America, there are accounts of entrepreneurs practising today’s concept of <a href="http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/giving-while-living">“giving while living”</a> before the term existed – <a href="https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/6176">Madam CJ Walker</a>, for example, was a black female philanthropist who built an international beauty company that reinvested profits back into the community, educating and empowering black women especially.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156778/original/image-20170214-25962-xt75z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Old school social enterprise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGuinness_da_Bar.jpg">Morabito92 via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, businesses have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-companies-are-becoming-environmental-activists-42510">engaged with environmental issues</a>, in some cases because <a href="https://theconversation.com/greenpeace-v-shell-via-lego-the-building-blocks-of-a-successful-campaign-32761">they were pressured to</a>, in some cases <a href="https://theconversation.com/rana-plaza-does-it-take-a-tragedy-to-make-businesses-responsible-50439">following a catastrophe</a>, and in other cases because their founders <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2407913/Lush-boss-Mark-Constantine-Why-backing-anti-fracking-campaigners.html">were also environmental activists</a>. But what about social issues, which are highly charged and politicised, and riskier to take a stand on? These issues might not be directly related to business, as is environmental impact.</p>
<p>A fairly new phenomenon is the blurring of boundaries between sectors. Rather than three separate sectors (public, private, non-profit), organisations are seen to sit along a spectrum of the three. For example, social entrepreneurs set up businesses that combine social purpose with commercial interests, and are often publicly funded as well. </p>
<p>Social enterprises are businesses guided by social missions. The trick is finding a creative and powerful combination of social purpose and commercial interest. One fantastic example is <a href="http://speedpakgroup.com/">Speedpak Group</a>, an Irish company that hires and retrains long-term unemployed individuals through their businesses making rosettes and providing customised packing and storing solutions. They have found an innovative way to operate a business in which social purpose and commercial interests mutually reinforce each other. </p>
<p>It is a growing trend. Whatever role businesses take in addressing social issues, whether advocacy, service delivery or addressing unemployment in disadvantaged areas, it is a <a href="http://www.startupdublin.com/blog/tipping-point">rapidly evolving space</a>, not to be ignored. These are not shallow CSR plans, but examples of business as social advocate.</p>
<h2>Walking the talk</h2>
<p>When it comes to addressing social issues, hypocrisy is the kiss of death. Experience shows that if you’re going to do values, you’d better walk the talk. Starbucks 2015 “<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3046890/the-inside-story-of-starbuckss-race-together-campaign-no-foam">Race Together</a>” campaign, an effort to address racial inequality in the US, began with the idea of writing “#RaceTogether” on cups to open conversations about race. Things backfired when an infographic came out showing that senior executives were white, while low-paid barristas were black. </p>
<p>If a company commits to values, it has to actually believe in and live those values, showing integrity. If not, it can do great damage to a firm’s reputation, alienating customers and employees. It can even damage the cause. </p>
<p>It’s great to see so many businesses making a stand for the social good, but it’s equally important that they carry this out well. They could, for example, find out what the non-profits are doing. Chances are they have been engaged with the issue for a long time, and can share some of the complexities and nuances that take years to appreciate. This will help them to avoid mistakes and follow a basic principle of NGO operations: <a href="https://www.oecd.org/dac/conflict-fragility-resilience/docs/do%20no%20harm.pdf">do no harm</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheila M. Cannon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The trend of mixing social and commercial goals has been a long time coming.Sheila M. Cannon, Assistant Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/697722016-12-06T03:55:23Z2016-12-06T03:55:23ZFive ways to spend with more social purpose this Christmas<p>It’s the season of giving – and spending. While the common adage is that money can’t buy happiness, others have suggested that if your money isn’t buying you happiness, <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_norton_how_to_buy_happiness">then you are spending it in the wrong way</a>. </p>
<p>Research is showing that the money you would usually spend on presents can become part of a social movement and address problems in our society. Here are five global trends that are creating change for good and enable you to take action.</p>
<h2>1. Civic crowdfunding</h2>
<p><strong>Action: Get rewarded for donating to online campaigns</strong></p>
<p>Many online platforms have emerged that enable citizens to raise awareness about causes, post and manage campaigns, and raise donations. These include <a href="https://startsomegood.com">StartSomeGood</a> and <a href="https://chuffed.org">Chuffed</a>. The volume of the overall global crowdfunding market is estimated at <a href="http://crowdexpert.com/crowdfunding-industry-statistics/">US$34 billion</a>, with reward and donation-based crowdfunding worth around US$5.5 billion of that total market. </p>
<p><a href="http://reports.crowdsourcing.org/?route=product/product&product_id=54">Reports</a> indicate that a growing number of campaigns offer <a href="https://chuffed.org/christmas">perks or rewards</a> in return for donations. What this means is that instead of just donating to, say, a refugee rooftop garden in the inner city, you receive in return the experience of having dinner in that garden using its produce. Or your donation to rescue chickens provides you with a monthly carton of eggs. </p>
<p>Now some may say that this is to the detriment of altruism – only giving if you get something in return. This may be true, but another way of viewing this trend is seeing how this shift from donations to value-exchange (reward) transactions begins to disrupt models of giving. This shift enables access to the retail spending market – a much bigger funding opportunity than donations. </p>
<h2>2. Social enterprise and social entrepreneurship</h2>
<p><strong>Action: Buy your gift baskets, with goods from social enterprises</strong> </p>
<p>These days <a href="http://www.uts.edu.au/about/uts-business-school/management/news/every-entrepreneur-social-entrepreneur-hartigan">all entrepreneurs need to be social entrepreneurs</a>, yet how you organise a business to achieve both social and financial returns <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/in_search_of_the_hybrid_ideal">presents many options and challenges</a>. </p>
<p>This includes: finding the correct legal structure, financing, tensions between serving customers and beneficiaries (if they are not the same group) and employees that understand this model. Debate still continues as to whether Australia <a href="http://www.employeeownership.com.au/a-community-interest-company-structure-in-australia/">needs a new legal structure</a> for social enterprises or <a href="https://chuffed.org/blog/the-social-benefit-company">not</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://au.whogivesacrap.org">WhoGivesACrap</a> is an example of a social enterprise generating stakeholder value (as opposed to only shareholder value). It’s a for-profit firm where 50% of profit from selling toilet paper and paper towels goes to building toilets and other projects in developing countries. </p>
<p>Another is <a href="https://thankyou.co">Thankyou.co</a>, which sells bottled water, body care and food products and has raised over A$3.7 million for safe water, hygiene and sanitation, and food security programs. It <a href="https://thankyou.co/structure">donates 100% of its profits</a> and consumers can track their individual impact through impact trackers on each product. </p>
<p>These business models have become increasingly attractive to consumers, creating a competitive advantage for firms. But it’s also also putting these organisations under increased <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/fundraiser-thankyou-water-drops-support-for-evangelical-group-20130820-2s987.html">scrutiny</a> with demands to be transparent about their onward donations.</p>
<h2>3. BCorporation certification</h2>
<p><strong>Action: Purchase gifts and services from certified BCorporations</strong></p>
<p>Nearly 10 years ago, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Lab">BLab</a> was created – a non-profit organisation that certifies companies as a BCorporation. This means the company is achieving certain levels of social and environmental performance, checked and certified by the organisation.</p>
<p>It’s based on the premise the businesses have a responsibility not only to shareholders but to the community and planet. In “<a href="http://bcorporation.com.au">using business as a force for good</a>”, there are now over 1,900 certified BCorporations in 50 countries, across 130 industries from food and homewares to manufacturing and services. </p>
<p>Increasingly, BCorporation firms are networking with each other, <a href="http://www.afr.com/leadership/entrepreneur/b-corporation-movement-wins-rich-backers-in-australia-20131119-jy9n4">building a global community of products and services</a>. As with other certification systems, a BCorporation stamp holds companies to account for their financial and social performance. For example, online craft platform and BCorp-certified Etsy was recently <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/74db0a52-50da-11e5-8642-453585f2cfcd">questioned about its tax practices</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bcorporation.net/become-a-b-corp/how-to-become-a-b-corp/performance-requirements">Certification</a> (and re-certification every two years) requires submission of supporting documents, disclosure statements and background checks of applicants. BCorporation certification is described as the business equivalent of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_certification">Fairtrade</a> certification on coffee. </p>
<h2>4. Microfinance</h2>
<p><strong>Action: Make a micro loan to a very small business</strong></p>
<p>It might be the season of giving by lending too. Microfinance has been around for over 30 years, with early proponents now <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Yunus">having won Nobel prizes</a> for their efforts. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance">Microfinance</a> refers to lending small amounts of money (say $25) to individuals or groups that mainstream banking often neglects. For example, <a href="http://www.grameen.com">Grameen Bank</a> was established to provide micro loans to rural women of Bangladesh. Some of these women use the loans to buy a cow, to then produce and sell milk in their village, and are then able to repay their loan. </p>
<p>Despite becoming more mainstream and global, microfinance still <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-dark-side-of-microfinance-an-industry-where-the-poor-play-cameo-roles/">has its issues</a>. One concern is that many loans are now being used for consumption rather than to start or grow an enterprise (resulting in borrowers struggling to repay loans). Author <a href="http://www.cgdev.org/blog/hugh-sinclair-replies">Hugh Sinclair</a> and others argue that the sector needs more regulation and transparency. </p>
<p>Despite these concerns, microfinance plays an important role in social enterprise development, especially where other financial services are difficult to access. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kiva.org/about">Kiva</a> is one of the more successful platforms in this space, connecting individual entrepreneurs (micropreneurs) or groups of entrepreneurs and NGOs with lenders anywhere in the world. Similar to other platforms, it uses an online payment system to transfer money as loans (minimum US$25) to entrepreneurs in developing and developed countries. </p>
<p>Since it began in 2005, Kiva has lent over US$936 million from 1.6 million lenders to <a href="https://www.kiva.org">over 2 million entrepreneurs across 82 countries</a>. It relies on ratings and transparency to make the platform work and to provide lenders in particular with a sense of security. </p>
<p>Amazingly, Kiva has 97.1% repayment rate. So it is highly likely that your loan of US$25 or more comes back to you, enabling you to lend it out again.</p>
<h2>5. Impact investing</h2>
<p><strong>Action: Consider superannuation funds or investment managers who invest ethically and for social impact</strong></p>
<p>Impact investing seeks a social and financial return. It is not an asset class, but rather a <a href="https://theconversation.com/impact-investing-grabbing-a-piece-of-the-650-billion-market-24837">lens through which to make investment decisions</a>. </p>
<p>Consumers and their investment managers are offering more strategies that achieve social impact. The global and growing impact investment market is <a href="https://theconversation.com/impact-investing-grabbing-a-piece-of-the-650-billion-market-24837">estimated to be worth $650 billion by 2030</a>. This coincides with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-free-superannuation-is-an-idea-thats-going-to-snowball-31464">fossil fuels divestment</a> movement.</p>
<p>This is also supported by shifts in philanthropy towards impact investing. For example, groups such as <a href="http://theimpact.org">The Impact</a>, led by Rockerfeller’s grandchildren, are redirecting family wealth into impact investing opportunities.</p>
<p>Market infrastructure (such as rules, ratings, platforms, assessors) is also emerging, such as the <a href="http://giirs.nonprofitsoapbox.com/about-giirs/how-giirs-works/159">Global Impact Investing Rating System</a> and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-stock-exchanges-do-we-need-them-35898">social stock exchanges</a> (platforms that connect investors and enterprises) to help direct funds into impact investment opportunities. </p>
<p>So, disrupting the retail spending market for good can start with individual purchasing power and transform into a bigger movement for social change. The business and organisational models are already there to increase opportunities for spending and investing - not just to avoid harm but to do good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Logue has received research funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.</span></em></p>Five tips on how to spend in a way that contributes to social movements this Christmas.Danielle Logue, Associate Professor in Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategy, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/599992016-06-15T10:25:50Z2016-06-15T10:25:50ZCan social enterprise revive the ailing third sector?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126597/original/image-20160614-22395-5b64kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charities today are in stormy waters. The banking crisis of 2008, the subsequent recession and repeated rounds of austerity have hit hard. On the one hand, there is increased demand for charities’ services, while on the other, less funds are available to provide them. </p>
<p>In the UK, charitable giving by individuals <a href="https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf-ukgiving2014%20and%20https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/personal-giving/caf_ukgiving2015_1891a_web_230516.pdf?sfvrsn=2">declined in real terms</a> by £3.4bn (12.7%) between 2010 and 2015, and in the decade to 2013, government grants to charities <a href="https://data.ncvo.org.uk/a/almanac15/government/#Grants_from_government_are_at_one-third_of_the_level_seen_ten_years_ago">fell by almost two thirds</a>. Yet in 2014, around 90% of charities reported that demand for their services <a href="http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/nine-ten-charities-report-rise-demand-services-acevo-survey-finds/policy-and-politics/article/1285359">had increased</a>, and that they expected it to continue to rise. </p>
<p>What’s more, the charity sector has recently been beset by a number of scandals, from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/14/bristol-pensioner-body-avon-gorge-olive-cooke">Olive Cooke affair</a> – where a pensioner died after being distressed by requests from charities – to the shambolic <a href="http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/blogs/content/20268/a_culture_of_arrogance_seems_to_have_been_at_the_root_of_kids_companys_woes">demise of Kids’ Company</a>. This led government officials <a href="http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/abandon-outdated-practices-charities-told-minister-rob-wilson/policy-and-politics/article/1396532">criticising charities</a> for their over-reliance on grant funding and “outdated operating models” and the launch of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-crackdown-on-unethical-charity-fundraising">a crackdown</a> on unethical fundraising practices.</p>
<h2>A new hope</h2>
<p>But in a gloomy third sector, there are glimmers of light. In the north-west of England, one socially-minded company has increased its turnover by more than £3m in the last two years. It has donated (or sold at a discount) thousands of items of secondhand furniture to people on low incomes. All this, while providing training programmes to 25 unemployed people, 75% of whom later went on to paid employment. Perhaps the most surprising part of this success story is that only 1.4% of the company’s income came from government or charitable grants. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://cmsadmin.s3.amazonaws.com/65790/frc_integrated_report_2015_digital.pdf">Furniture Resource Centre</a> (FRC) makes almost all its money through sales to local authorities, housing associations and individuals. It employs 70 people and made a pre-tax profit last year of more than £600,000. But this profit is not distributed to private shareholders through dividends: instead, they are invested in building up reserves, which will enable the company to survive should it enter a particularly challenging time. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125735/original/image-20160608-3497-izfowr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">FRC in action.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Brady</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This is because the FRC is a social enterprise, which means private shareholders are nowhere to be seen. Social enterprises are businesses which trade in goods and services, and compete with mainstream private sector companies, in order to serve one or more social or environmental purposes. They are similar to charities in their mission, but more like businesses in their approach to the market and belief in profit. </p>
<p>While some social enterprises, like FRC, reinvest their profits back into their business, others direct their surplus toward organisations which have a similar social purpose. For instance, the health and social care enterprise <a href="http://www.provide.org.uk/resources/uploads/12669_Provide_Annual_Report_Aug_2015_-_web_1.pdf">Provide</a> donated around £180,000 of its profits in 2014-15 to local charities, university bursaries and grant schemes. </p>
<p><a href="http://socialenterprise.org.uk/uploads/editor/files/Publications/FINALVERSIONStateofSocialEnterpriseReport2015.pdf">Social Enterprise UK</a> – the sector’s trade body – paints a picture of a thriving social economy. An estimated 70,000 social enterprises, around half of which were founded in the last five years, employ a million people and contribute £24 billion to the economy. According to the organisation, social enterprise is “outperforming its mainstream small and medium-sized enterprise counterparts in almost every area of business: turnover growth … job creation [and] innovation”. </p>
<p>A sector like this – thriving, innovating and expanding – would normally be a prime target for investors, eager for a piece of the action. Yet these investors are often excluded from social enterprises. Their structure may prevent it (many are, confusingly, also charities), or their directors may have a principled objection to private profit being made from socially beneficial activity. If it remains principled but undercapitalised, the social enterprise economy could risk being sidelined. </p>
<h2>Introducing … the B Corp</h2>
<p>Enter, from stage left, the brash American cousin of social enterprise: the benefit corporation – or B Corp, for short. B Corps are for-profit companies which are certified by an independent process for having high levels of environmental and social performance, transparency and accountability. B Corps are hungry for private and corporate investment, and able to win it. For instance, child-centred education platform Altschool recently raised US$100m from Mark Zuckerberg, among others, as it aims to scale up its service.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps/about-b-lab">B Lab</a> – the certifying body – has driven changes to legislation in 30 US states to allow companies to formally establish themselves as B Corps. B Lab also continues to certify what it calls social enterprises – but which people in the UK would see as private sector firms – in the US and internationally, regardless of their legal structure.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126591/original/image-20160614-22395-wvlza6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Big Issue goes B Corp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Now the B Corp is starting to make an appearance in the UK, too. Since B Lab UK launched in September 2015, they have certified <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fP2EXpHF7O-uoWRpnNI4FHhdK4cx1UgpczgS-lClLB4/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=6000&slide=id.p5">90 companies across 13 industry sectors</a>, embracing the stalwarts of the social enterprise sector such as the <a href="https://www.bigissue.org.uk/">Big Issue</a> and <a href="https://charitybank.org/">Charity Bank</a>. These appear alongside interesting brands including <a href="http://www.lilyskitchen.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwhN-6BRCJsePgxru9iIwBEiQAI8rq8wh4UysfDJ_Nwc1v27NQtNdpnkWGerj3quFIQ9tSkw0aAqQt8P8HAQ">Lily’s Kitchen</a>, a manufacturer of “proper food for pets” which is firmly in the for-private-profit camp. </p>
<p>Social Enterprise UK is cautiously supportive of B Corps, while pointing out that they are not all social enterprises by the UK definition. Furthermore, the global count of certified B Corps (around 1,600) is dwarfed not only by the 70,000 social enterprises in the UK, and the 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales alone. They’re even less common than <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-regulator-of-community-interest-companies">Community Interest Companies</a>, a legal form for the sector which was only launched in 2005. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/1274611">the Economist</a> pointed out as far back as 2002, there’s a certain appeal to a concept which combines “the comforting European savour of ‘social’, plus the sharp American tang of ‘enterprise’”. The best way to combine these elements is still disputed, but as charities come under ever greater pressure to do more with less, social entrepreneurship has the potential to breathe new life into the third sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Brady is course leader for Anglia Ruskin University's BA in Charity and Social Enterprise Management; some students on this course receive bursary funding from Provide CIC, one of the social enterprises mentioned in this article.</span></em></p>There are plenty of different ways to go about solving social problems and some are sceptical of the role that traditional business can play.Andrew Brady, Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Management, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/520392016-02-09T11:37:28Z2016-02-09T11:37:28ZStudents who do nothing but study may struggle to get a job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109835/original/image-20160201-32222-1lgyhip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C44%2C971%2C785&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Make the most of being a student. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">iko/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ernst-and-young-drops-degree-classification-threshold-graduate-recruitment">Ernst and Young</a> was the first prominent graduate employer to decide that its own entry criteria were a more accurate judge of job applicants than the degree classifications on their CVs. But similar moves away from a reliance on degree grades are now <a href="https://next.ft.com/content/b8c66e50-beda-11e5-9fdb-87b8d15baec2">taking root</a> at other big accountancy firms PwC and Deloitte, too. </p>
<p>The latest <a href="http://www.emerging.fr">Global Employability University Survey</a>, published in November 2015, reinforces the message that employers are placing a lower value on degree grades. But the survey also appears to suggest that extracurricular activities are equally lowly regarded, with just 10% of European employers citing this as a criteria they use to make recruitment decisions. </p>
<p>These results appear to contradict the findings of our ongoing research into the motivations behind the growth of social entrepreneurship – broadly defined as the act of blending social missions with innovative business practice, among university students in the UK.</p>
<p>As part of our ongoing research we have asked 150 students across the UK who were taking part in extra-curricular social entrepreneurship to reflect on their experiences. They believed that these activities were not only complementing their degree programmes, but were even more valuable for their future employability than their degree programmes. </p>
<h2>The right skills mix</h2>
<p>Yet the most important criteria employers use for recruitment decisions, according to the Global Employability University Survey, is the skills profile of applicants. Over half of all European employers cited specific skills, including innovation, leadership, networking and design skills, as the most important factor in their recruitment decisions. </p>
<p>Over recent years, societies such as <a href="http://enactus.org/">Enactus</a>, the global social enterprise organisation, has grown exponentially, with several university societies, such as those at my own university, Southampton, but also at Sheffield and Nottingham, doubling or tripling membership over a five-year period. </p>
<p>We’ve also seen the rise of social impact societies such as <a href="http://www.studenthubs.org/">Student Hubs</a>, which offer volunteering and placement opportunities in local communities, as well as more subject-specific organisations such as <a href="http://www.ewb-uk.org/">Engineers Without Borders</a>. </p>
<p>Some of the growth of these societies should certainly be attributed to the rise of social and environmental consciousness among students, but there’s also emerging evidence of students making strategic decisions about how to use their free time outside formal teaching. Students are starting to discern between extracurricular activities which boost their employability – usually by developing soft skills or exposing them to new networks – and those that don’t.</p>
<p>Such decisions are informed by the close relationship that some student societies have started to enjoy with corporate employers, such as KPMG, Deloitte, Waitrose and Barclays. Society alumni who have gone on to work for top-level graduate employers also feed their experiences back to university students.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109839/original/image-20160201-32237-18a5a3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Make sure you know what they’re looking for.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roobcio/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>The kinds of skills cultivated through social entrepreneurship are linked to the <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/growth/articles/from-brawn-to-brains--the-impact-of-technology-on-jobs-in-the-u.html">soft skills that graduate employers have repeatedly told us they prize</a>, but which they believe graduates lack. Chief among these are creativity, resourcefulness, team-working, innovation, resilience, IT skills, and innovation. They are also the skills which will <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-future-proof-university-graduates-48639">future-proof graduates</a> against the changing nature of skilled work. </p>
<p>Entrepreneurial extracurricular activities also offer students the opportunity to develop their professional networks. In an age in which <a href="http://archive.skoll.org/2015/06/06/how-to-find-a-job-in-the-twenty-first-century/">“the post and pray” method</a> of sending off CVs to find work is obsolete, adeptly mobilising networks is as critical as being able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and skills. </p>
<h2>Give students a helping hand</h2>
<p>As the importance of skills over qualifications grows for employers when they make recruitment decisions, there will be a greater need to properly distinguish between employment and employability. Employability <a href="http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Employability-Degrees-of-value.pdf">cannot and should not be</a> reduced to measuring how many graduates are employed. It should be understood as a blend of knowledge, skills and social capital, with employment a desired outcome but not the ultimate benchmark. Universities should not be content simply to offer students a leg up to their first job, but must set them up for careers that they value, and for resilience and flexibility in a volatile graduate labour market. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, league tables of universities continue to privilege <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/pr/3636-press-release-218">short-term employment data</a>, ranking institutions on how many graduates have a job after six months, instead of looking at the skills they develop that could help them further into their careers.</p>
<p>Our ongoing research indicates that students are seeking out opportunities to grow their skills and social capital through extra-curricular activities. Often, it is a self-selecting few who corral the best opportunities. Even among those who do, many struggle to articulate the skills developed outside the formal higher education experience – explaining why extra-curricular activities are accorded such little significance by European employers. </p>
<p>To level the playing field, universities should be making the development of soft skills and network building a part of the curriculum. There are non-invasive, light-touch ways of doing this which might only require gentle tweaks to degree programmes and not place too great a burden on academics. </p>
<p>At the same time, the message shouldn’t be that business as usual will suffice – it is incumbent upon universities to take the issue of employability seriously, and not leave it as an afterthought.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pathik Pathak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some big employers are changing their entry criteria – and grades are less and less important.Pathik Pathak, Faculty Director of Social Entrepreneurship, Founding Director of the Social Impact Lab, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308952014-10-07T04:23:11Z2014-10-07T04:23:11ZConfronted by begging for spare change? Vouchers might be better<p>Even before reports of police <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/proceeds-of-crime-seizure-beggars-belief-20140820-3e109.html">seizing the takings</a> of Melbourne’s beggars as <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-your-coins-we-want-change-begging-should-not-be-a-crime-4658">proceeds of crime</a>, their plight has been a disturbing one in this, the world’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-19/melbourne-worlds-most-liveable-city-for-the-fourth-year-running/5681014">“most liveable city”</a> - and in <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-police-could-seize-beggars-coins-as-proceeds-of-crime-20140822-106tw0.html">other</a> major <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/newstart-no-start-when-diet-friends-and-health-go-begging-20140523-38uep.html">Australian</a> cities <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/craig-cook-i-wont-give-money-to-adelaide-beggars-again-and-i-want-you-to-do-the-same/story-fni6unxq-1226877121610">too</a>. Few of us are so callous or cynical not to feel uncomfortable when confronted by someone sitting on the footpath asking for a couple of dollars for a meal or somewhere to sleep for the night. Yet many of us decline to respond to the request. </p>
<p>Usually this reluctance to give is not for lack of generosity. Often the discomfort felt is quite genuine. Our <a href="http://chp.org.au/should-i-give-money-to-people-who-are-begging/#.U__WvMWSyao">reasons for not giving</a> are, however, fairly predictable and, if my experience is anything to go by, often the basis of lively if slightly anguished discussion at middle-class dinner parties, or even at outdoor restaurants virtually within earshot of the person whose need has prompted the discussion.</p>
<h2>The giver’s dilemma</h2>
<p>Typically, the reasons for not giving are our concern that a token dollar or two will do nothing to deal with the <a href="http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/begging.htm">real reasons</a> for the plight of the beggar. Indeed, the money may be used to maintain the substance dependency or bad habits arising from socio-economic disadvantage or emotional disorder that have led to the need to beg. And, let me own up: I believe these are often proper considerations, by which, rightly or not, I myself am largely persuaded.</p>
<p>At the same time, community agencies that seek to help the homeless usually depend on endless and distracting fund-raising campaigns and the efforts of volunteers. These organisations are forced to operate with resources so limited that they cannot do the work they wish - whether in the form of short-term shelter or longer-term support. They are constantly <a href="http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2012/08/homeless-services-crisis-levels-report#">turning away those in need</a>.</p>
<p>So all parties are left unsatisfied, and their needs unmet, by this situation. The beggar continues to beg, the many generous citizens who would genuinely like to help feel unable to do so, and the service providers are frustrated at constantly being short of the funds they need to do the work so clearly required.</p>
<p>There is a better way. I, and I am sure countless others, would be quite willing to buy, from a reliable community agency, a book of vouchers that offer a meal, shower, bed and transport - and perhaps longer or more substantial support, too. These vouchers could then in good conscience be offered to people seeking help, on the basis that those who accepted them genuinely needed, were willing to accept and would benefit from these services. </p>
<p>Those who declined the help the vouchers offered could be assumed to be seeking a few dollars for the sort of purposes many would-be donors remain reluctant to support.</p>
<p>A more hard-headed analysis would suggest these vouchers would sometimes be accepted by those who intended to trade them rather than use them - and who, paradoxically, perhaps are therefore in the greatest need of the assistance they offer. Even then the final result of that trade would be that the vouchers would end up with someone who would benefit in the way intended.</p>
<h2>Voucher system offers broad benefits</h2>
<p>I do not for a moment suggest that the problems of homelessness and distress can so easily be solved. However, using this method, albeit on a small scale, all three parties involved can gain. </p>
<p>Those in genuine need of help can receive it. Those with a true wish to be generous in an effective way can offer it. And the agencies that issue the vouchers would have a new, larger and more predictable income stream from donors than is currently available to them. That would create an opportunity to better plan and expand their services. </p>
<p>Perhaps such an arrangement could be developed on a collaborative basis between several agencies working in this field. Government, too, could support such a program with subsidies based on the more targeted use of funds to provide services that this approach would allow.</p>
<p>One current popular expression in the community sector is <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-more-business-like-social-enterprises-improve-care-23643">social enterprise</a>. Among other things, this exhorts charities to be more business-like in their work, with more effective approaches to sustainability than reliance on government grants and donations from the public. At the same time business is urged to recognise that profitable activities should be directed at social as well as commercial purposes, and to form partnerships with community agencies.</p>
<p>A voucher system, with the more systematic approach it envisages to matching supply and demand in servicing a very specific market, might be one example of how this type of thinking might be advanced.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30895/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Liffman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even before reports of police seizing the takings of Melbourne’s beggars as proceeds of crime, their plight has been a disturbing one in this, the world’s “most liveable city” - and in other major Australian…Michael Liffman, Senior fellow and founding director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/289882014-07-10T05:13:49Z2014-07-10T05:13:49ZJeans designed by lions and tigers are a win-win for zoos<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53419/original/ywjwqzx7-1404904930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bespoke tearing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoo Jeans</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Japanese jeans maker has found a new way of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2014/jul/08/zoo-jeans-custom-ripped-lions-tigers">capitalising</a> on zoo animals. <a href="http://zoo-jeans.com/#the_story">Zoo Jeans</a> are producing jeans “designed by dangerous animals”. Denim is wrapped around tyres, which are then thrown to the lions who enjoy ripping and biting at the material. This produces that all-important designer, distressed look.</p>
<p>Rather than simply being a marketing gimic, there is actually value in this from an animal welfare perspective. Involving lions and the zoo’s other large carnivores in the activity is part of what’s called <a href="http://www.enrichment.org/">environmental enrichment</a>. This is the provision of stimuli to help improve well-being. It’s a win-win activity for many zoos, who can make alternative profits from their animals, which tend to be used to provide extra facilities for them.</p>
<p>Wrapping denim around a tyre to make enrichment devices for toothy carnivores is just one way that zoos have profited from their animals’ hobbies over the years. Since their inception, zoos have looked for different ways to fund their activities. London Zoo when it first opened would let in penniless visitors for a cat or dog <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Zoos_and_Animal_Rights.html?id=H3jOMqEjo3UC">to be fed to the carnivores</a>. Visitors with money were offered other things to keep themselves amused as they looked at the animals.</p>
<h2>Rides, artwork and dung</h2>
<p>One popular activity at zoos has been elephant rides, which expanded out to other animals. The Artis Zoo in Amsterdam used to offer paying visitors ostrich rides until one day when the ostrich took off with a hapless visitor on its back. The ride only ended some 10 miles from the zoo when the ostrich collapsed from exhaustion. These days, animal welfare and human safety regulations have rightly put an end to such animal rides in many countries.</p>
<p>Zoo Jeans’ use of zoo animals in its design process is not the first creative role that animals have played. Chimpanzees and elephants have been given paint brushes and blank canvases to create their own artwork. Perhaps the most famous example is Congo the chimpanzee, an artist admired by Pablo Picasso. He was introduced to art by zoologist Desmond Morris and, since his death, London Zoo has <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dead-chimps-art-sells-big/">sold pieces by him for more than US$25,000</a>. There has even been a <a href="https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/SPageServer;jsessionid=D79510C2281E95925C8C34CA6365A77F.app337b?pagename=chimp_art_contest">chimpanzee art competition</a>. I for one support this activity as the stimulus involved is enriching for the animals involved and the money made is fed back into their welfare. </p>
<h2>Team building</h2>
<p>Many zoos around the world have found a lucrative market in collecting the faeces of large carnivores <a href="http://peterdickinson.hubpages.com/hub/Lion-Dung-As-A-Cat-Repellent">for gardeners or foresters</a>. Funnily enough, this isn’t a kind of luxury fertiliser. In fact, it’s to repel the small carnivores that roam our streets. Domestic cats and foxes communicate their presence in a territory by marking it with faeces and they recognise when this has been done by another member of their species or another carnivore. The system is like traffic lights, if the faecal matter of another individual or large carnivore is new then small predators read this as a red light but if it is old then it is green for go. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53427/original/qp3qszyc-1404910278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elephant art.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tj2904/3008573433/">Tim Jackson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thus, gardeners can spread lion or leopard dung around the borders of their garden to keep out unwanted small carnivores such as the neighbour’s moggy. Foresters can use this dung in a similar manner to protect trees from deer damage. But obviously the process needs to be frequently repeated; happily most zoos have a constant supply of said material.</p>
<p>A number of zoos have now gone into attracting corporate business clients and one of the things that always sells is team-building activities. Companies are given the task of building environmental enrichment devices for the zoo animal of their choice. The team has to choose an animal, observe it and then build it the object of its dreams. Once built, the newly made enrichment device is safety checked by a zookeeper, before being sent down the animal enclosure’s chimney. </p>
<p>Playing the role of Father Christmas for a giant anteater is more fun and challenging than you can imagine. Having spent much of my career working on environmental enrichment, I can tell you it is one of the <a href="http://www.ufaw.org.uk/captive-animals.php">most rewarding activities you can undertake with captive animals</a>. It can also play an important role in helping revive zoos that are in decline. </p>
<p>Zoo Jeans are auctioning off their creations, with all profits going toward preserving the environment at their local zoo and the WWF.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oBkqfiN6zJM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Animals in action.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert John Young does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Japanese jeans maker has found a new way of capitalising on zoo animals. Zoo Jeans are producing jeans “designed by dangerous animals”. Denim is wrapped around tyres, which are then thrown to the lions…Robert John Young, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/236432014-03-18T01:03:13Z2014-03-18T01:03:13ZWill more business-like social enterprises improve care?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43365/original/5n667phr-1394164771.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Big Society policy of Britain's Conservative Party was to harness entrepreneurialism to social justice. The results have been mixed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Michael_Gove.jpg">Paul Clarke</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we hear more about looming federal public sector spending cuts and budget deficits, Australian governments seek new ways to meet diverse and growing human service needs. The challenges of an ageing population and a declining tax base combined with rising levels of disability in the community present an apparent perfect fiscal storm. </p>
<p>Ministers, from Health to Treasury, repeat the mantra that government must radically adjust its spending priorities. In short, we are told we need to search continually for new ways of organising governance. </p>
<p>The problem is this: how to make state and local government services more effective and efficient. In particular, the role of <a href="https://theconversation.com/co-operatives-and-social-enterprise-are-they-a-replacement-for-mainstream-capitalism-10520">social enterprise</a> is a cause for ongoing debate. </p>
<p>The big opportunity on the horizon for social enterprise development in Australia may be the <a href="http://www.ndis.gov.au">National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)</a>.</p>
<h2>Turning to third-sector services</h2>
<p>As in many other countries, governments in Australia have rolled back direct service provision. Beginning with the Hawke government and culminating in the Howard government’s <a href="http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/research/centreforappliedeconomicresearch/Documents/T.%20Eardley%20-%20Outsourcing%20Employment%20Services.pdf">privatisation of employment services</a>, Australia has outsourced many activities through a long-running, largely bipartisan, reform process. </p>
<p>In its place, the third sector – non-profits, charities, social enterprises and so on – has often become the frontline for service delivery. The sector has also been encouraged to take up the slack by government. </p>
<p>Increasingly, social enterprise has been placed at the heart of social innovation and change to meet the needs of citizens. In <a href="http://socialbiz.eu/european-examples/">Europe</a>, for example, social enterprises play many different roles in everyday life. Looking at public service delivery, the UK has tried to engage social enterprises and the public through the <a href="http://www.thebigsociety.co.uk">Big Society</a>.</p>
<p>Yet some recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2014/feb/17/social-enterprises-must-prioritise-viability">media coverage</a> illustrates the problem of achieving effectiveness and efficiency through social enterprise. </p>
<p>What do we mean when we talk about social enterprise? Is it a business, a charity, a non-profit, all or none of them?</p>
<p>There is no easy answer to this. As <a href="http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/social_entrepreneurship_the_case_for_definition">others have argued</a>, there are many different types of social enterprise. Also, there is still some debate about a precise definition, which often adds to the confusion.</p>
<h2>Balancing social and business goals</h2>
<p>Simply, social enterprises create social benefit through trading, so they “do good” using business methods. If they make a surplus, they reinvest that money back into their social mission and key communities. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2014/feb/17/social-enterprises-must-prioritise-viability">a February article</a> in The Guardian argues, making the most out of social enterprise might depend on the balance between the “social” and the “business”. This is important, because much of what social enterprises do centres on social missions.</p>
<p>For example, look at how central farmers and communities are for fair trade confectioner <a href="http://www.divinechocolate.com/uk/">Divine Chocolate</a>. For social enterprises like Divine, the social values are what make them a viable business. It just so happens that they are also, after much striving, a rather good business too. </p>
<p>From a government view, social enterprises in the public sector appear to make a lot of sense. Since social enterprises trade products and services to help raise funds, there is less burden on the public purse to support them over time.</p>
<p>Another benefit is that, unlike traditional public services, social enterprises can be more entrepreneurial. This is critical to their appeal, because this enables them to respond flexibly and more quickly to needs. </p>
<p>The concern is that to compete effectively in <a href="http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2013/12/09/social-enterprises-to-lead-the-prison-probation-privatisation">newly formed or privatised markets</a>, social enterprises face significant challenges. They need to be able to serve their social or environmental mission. That’s the priority.</p>
<p>In some markets, corporate competitors are better resourced and more experienced at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2013/mar/27/public-sector-bidding-social-enterprise">tendering for public sector procurement</a>. </p>
<p>And importantly, social enterprises aren’t like normal corporate businesses. The entire point is that they are different by being social. The social values are what make them unique, and offer something of real value to the <a href="http://www.streat.com.au">communities they serve</a>.</p>
<p>This makes the recent commentary on social versus business necessary. Overcoming barriers is critical in getting social enterprises to develop more sustainably in our communities.</p>
<p>As part of this, the federal Coalition <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-floats-big-society-welfare-reform/story-fn59niix-1226595061147#">toyed with following the Big Society</a> model. The clamour for increasing participation in public services resulted in a push for increasing social procurement in Australia. This means more demand for organisations that can deliver the social impact needed, in a timely and efficient way.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://cpd.org.au/2012/05/big-society-how-the-uk-government-is-dismantling-the-state-and-what-it-means-for-australia/">May 2012 publication</a> by the Centre for Policy Development looked at the broader issue of transferring the Big Society idea into Australian welfare systems. They argued that the Big Society’s loud rhetoric and post-election ubiquity masked the very real problems brought on by the global financial crisis and the government’s response to that crisis. </p>
<p>Also, evidence suggests that Big Society is <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/05/beware-big-society-lesson-labour-how-not-sell-big-idea?page=1">not working quite</a> as well as hoped.</p>
<h2>The NDIS test for social enterprise</h2>
<p>So what does this mean for government and social enterprise in Australia? </p>
<p>As the NDIS begins rolling out, how can social enterprise offer something different to existing providers? </p>
<p>The NDIS is all about creating a holistic support system for communities, families and individuals. Making this a success would require supporting all providers who focus on social benefit (that is, effectiveness) first. If this is the only criterion, then existing non-profits and charities are as well placed as social enterprises. </p>
<p>The ability to operate efficiently creates a different dilemma. How to run the social enterprise so it financially supports itself? How much emphasis will be placed on “business acumen” in social procurement tendering?
This opens up the possibility of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30387181_Corporate_creep_an_institutional_view_of_consultancies_in_a_non-profit_organisation">“corporate creep”</a> in how NDIS providers run their services. </p>
<p>The most important issue seems to be supporting social enterprises to quickly develop presence in our communities. To do that, they need to develop valuable relationships that enable their businesses to survive and grow.</p>
<p>The mutual dependence of social and business does <a href="http://www.echoinggreen.org/blog/tensions-of-starting-a-social-enterprise">create tensions</a>. But with the right environment and support, third sector organisations might work together to strike the balance between effectiveness and efficiency.</p>
<p>And, as with not putting the cart before the horse, the “social” should remain the driver of the “business”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As we hear more about looming federal public sector spending cuts and budget deficits, Australian governments seek new ways to meet diverse and growing human service needs. The challenges of an ageing…Chris Mason, Senior Research Fellow, Swinburne Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.