World Bicycle Relief: Social Enterprise Business Model

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Jan A. Van Mieghem ◽  
Vadim Glinsky
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sub Saharan

In this case, students assume the roles of FK Day and Dave Neiswander, leaders of the social enterprise World Bicycle Relief (WBR), which donates and sells bicycles in sub-Saharan Africa. As a social enterprise, WBR combines not-for-profit and for-profit activities. Starting as a traditional not-for-profit organization formed to donate bicycles after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, WBR eventually added a for-profit arm to facilitate growth and reduce its dependence on donations and grants. As a result, by 2017 WBR had distributed around 400,000 bicycles, primarily to schoolgirls, entrepreneurs, and health workers. As the organization grows, its leaders are interested in optimizing operations and entering new countries in Africa. What is the optimal distribution of WBR's resources between its for-profit and not-for-profit operations? How should it define the objective of its operations: should WBR maximize its social impact or the total number of bicycles in the field? Which countries should it enter? To answer those questions, students are required to analyze the social enterprise business model. This analysis starts at the strategic level and ties into the operational level. If desired, this analysis can be followed by an Excel optimization of WBR's operations. The case contains historical data on the organization and poses questions that can be analyzed from the perspectives of a number of academic fields. It can be used in various types of courses including strategy, not-for-profit organizations, operations, and finance. The instructor materials include a prepared Excel model that can be used to make the quantitative analysis accessible to students without quantitative backgrounds, videos from WBR, and a video that shows FK Day and Dave Neiswander answering questions in the inaugural use of the case at Kellogg.

Passionate Leaders in Social Entrepreneurship: Exploring an African Context

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Thorgren ◽  
Adesuwa Omorede
Keyword(s):  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Hiv Care ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Private Entrepreneurs ◽  
Enterprise Leader

Nonstate actors such as social enterprises are increasingly influential for addressing pressing social needs in sub-Saharan Africa. Moving responsibility from the state to private entrepreneurs calls for a greater understanding of how single individuals achieve their social mission in a context characterized by acute poverty and where informal institutions, such as trust and collective norms, are strong governance mechanisms. This study recognizes the role of leader passion as a key element for gaining people’s trust in the social enterprise leader and the social mission. Qualitative data were collected on 37 leaders of Nigerian social enterprises in arenas such as health, women’s rights, children’s rights, AIDS/HIV care and education, and sustainable development. Drawing on 100 semistructured interviews, the authors develop an inductive model illustrating how leader passion interrelates with the social enterprise organizing and outcomes.

Cost Stickiness in the New Zealand Charity Sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (03) ◽  
pp. 1950012
Author(s):  
Ahsan Habib ◽  
Hedy Jiaying Huang
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Stickiness

We investigate whether New Zealand charities exhibit cost stickiness, conceptualized as cost increases in response to an increase in income that are greater than the cost decreases associated with an equivalent decrease in income. Drawing on the holistic accountability rationale, we posit that charity managers consider themselves accountable to a wide range of stakeholders and, therefore, are more concerned about the social impact of their managerial decisions. As a result, charity managers will be reluctant to adjust resources downward immediately after an income drop, as such decisions could lead to the loss of trust and confidence of their internal and external stakeholders. Based on a large sample of charities in New Zealand, we find evidence of cost stickiness. Importantly, we find that cost stickiness varies across a number of characteristics of charities, including charity size, sources of income and expenditure, crisis periods, and the sectors within which the charities operate. Our study contributes to a hitherto unexplored setting and provides empirical evidence on the theoretical debate of hierarchical versus holistic accountability in the not-for-profit sector.

Applying Business Solutions to Social Problems

2017 ◽  
pp. 139-164
Author(s):  
Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Case Based

Although research on social entrepreneurship has been expanding in recent years, the literature regarding business models in the context of social enterprises is still limited. This chapter explores the issues of business models in both profit and nonprofit contexts and discusses how value, being both the foundation and the overall outcome of the business model employed, is created. It begins with the background on the characteristics of social enterprises. This is followed by the conceptualization of business models and their components designed to account for their unique. Then a case to illustrate it is presented. The objective of the chapter is twofold. First, it is to analyse how nonprofit business models are different from its for profit counterparts (at the conceptual level) and to introduce relevant analytical framework. Secondly, the chapter aims at providing a case based on the particular model of a social enterprise in Poland (social co-operative) in order to investigate whatever the business models for profit firms could be applied in the social enterprises.

scholarly journals The distinctive challenges and opportunities for creating leadership within social enterprises

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Jackson ◽  
Matthew Nicoll ◽  
Michael J. Roy
Keyword(s):  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Legal Forms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to present a systematic assessment of the distinctive challenges and opportunities associated with creating leadership within the realm of social enterprise. A modified and expanded form of Grint’s leadership lenses heuristic framework (i.e. person, position, process, performance, purpose and place) is used to examine and highlight what is particular about creating leadership in social enterprises by virtue of their distinctive missions, strategic contexts, legal forms and organisational structures and cultures. Based on this initial exploration, five research priorities are identified to better understand and then develop leadership practice in the social enterprise realm. Design/methodology/approach An enhanced heuristic framework for systematically examining leadership within the social enterprise research literature has been applied, drawing on the leadership practice literature. The application is illustrated through six instrumental case studies. Findings While there are a number of similarities between leading in the social enterprise realm and leading within the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, the levels of complexity, ambiguity and the lack of an established theoretical and practical knowledge base makes creating leadership in the social enterprise sector that much more challenging. On the positive side of the ledger, the fact that the purpose is at the core of social enterprise means that it is relatively easier to use the purpose to create a basis for common meaningful action, compared to leadership within the private and public sectors. Related to this, given the strongly local or “glocal” nature of social enterprise, a ready opportunity exists for leaders to draw upon a place as a strategic resource in mobilising followers and other stakeholders. The novel, uncertain and pioneering nature of a social enterprise is also arguably more tolerant and accommodating of a leadership mindset that focuses on posing questions regarding “wicked” problems compared to public, private for-profit and, indeed, traditional not-for-profit sector organisations. Originality/value As far as we can ascertain, this is the first systematic attempt to examine the distinctive challenges and opportunities associated with creating leadership within the social enterprise realm. The application of the heuristic framework leads to the identification of five key inter-related lines of empirical research into leadership practices within social enterprises.

The Social Impact of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne van de Walle
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sub Saharan

What social enterprises can learn from the freemium business model

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Layrisse ◽  
Ezequiel Reficco ◽  
Andrés Barrios
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Value Capture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify how the value dynamics of the freemium business model (BM) play out in a social enterprise.Design/methodology/approachWe draw on a multiple case study of two social enterprises –one nonprofit (Aravind Eyecare) in Asia and one for-profit in Latin America (Biodent)– to analyze the implications of applying the value architecture of a freemium BM to social enterprises.FindingsThe freemium BM departs from standard practice when applied in social enterprises. Meaningful differences include the feasibility/desirability of converting free users to paying ones, the presence of significant variable costs –which requires balancing the ratio of free and paying customers– and the use of nontraditional pricing schemes to enhance value capture. The social freemium BM can increase scalability, value creation and value capture. Under this model, “beneficiaries” can be more than passive recipients of value and contribute to a venture's success in various ways –such as lowering its operational costs or enhancing its value proposition toward third parties.Originality/valueWhile in the past years commercial enterprises have been disrupted by the emergence of freemium platforms, the social enterprise field has barely taken notice. We extract lessons and implications from this paradigmatic change for the theory and practice of business model innovation in social enterprises, of particular relevance to Latin America, where social and environmental disequilibria remain a recurring feat.

Applying Business Solutions to Social Problems

2019 ◽  
pp. 783-808
Author(s):  
Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Case Based

Although research on social entrepreneurship has been expanding in recent years, the literature regarding business models in the context of social enterprises is still limited. This chapter explores the issues of business models in both profit and nonprofit contexts and discusses how value, being both the foundation and the overall outcome of the business model employed, is created. It begins with the background on the characteristics of social enterprises. This is followed by the conceptualization of business models and their components designed to account for their unique. Then a case to illustrate it is presented. The objective of the chapter is twofold. First, it is to analyse how nonprofit business models are different from its for profit counterparts (at the conceptual level) and to introduce relevant analytical framework. Secondly, the chapter aims at providing a case based on the particular model of a social enterprise in Poland (social co-operative) in order to investigate whatever the business models for profit firms could be applied in the social enterprises.

Emerging role of for-profit social enterprises at the base of the pyramid: the case of Selco

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Goyal ◽  
Bruno S. Sergi ◽  
Amit Kapoor
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Base Of The Pyramid ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze and understand the business logic of the for-profit social enterprises targeting the basic needs of the base of the pyramid (BoP) segment. A case study of an organization offering clean energy solutions to the BoP segment has been used to illustrate the socio-economic business model of the for-profit social enterprises, which can serve the underserved needs of the BoP segment using an inclusive approach. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses Selco, a social enterprise offering energy solutions to the low-income population in rural India. The qualitative case-based research involves the secondary data inputs from the online sources and primary data inputs from the field interviews with the different stakeholders at Selco. Findings The research findings recommend the following strategic choices for the social enterprises – focus on segmentation; field-based experimentation, innovation and prototyping; local skill-building and engagement; hybrid organizational setup; systemic behavior change orientation; customized value offerings; last-mile delivery and support; and collaboration with non-traditional stakeholders. Practical implications The lessons learnt through the analysis of Selco provide tools and strategies to enable the social enterprises to better understand their business model and make informed decisions resulting in the effective social interventions while remaining sustainable. The paper offers an actionable framework for creating an inclusive formal market ecosystem that is sustainable, scalable and socially relevant. Originality/value This study is an original contribution to the field of social entrepreneurship. It undertakes a field study of the social enterprise delivering inclusive energy solutions to the BoP segment in India. The study of Selco brings out the learnings regarding the key strategic actions, which can lead to sustainable business models for targeting the BoP segment in developing countries like India

Marketing in the social enterprise context: is it entrepreneurial?

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Entrepreneurial Marketing ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Embeddedness ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
The Uk

This paper presents some of the findings to emerge from a qualitative study of social enterprise in the UK. The findings discussed in this paper refer to the marketing activities of social enterprises and consider the extent to which these can be described as “entrepreneurial”. This discussion suggests that while social enterprises do engage in entrepreneurial marketing, the local embeddedness of their activities, their not‐for‐profit orientation and challenges posed by social exclusion impact on their marketing activities.

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