Teaching Note

Teaching Notes

Raminta Pučėtaitė, Vilnius University Renata Matkevičienė, Vilnius University Aurelija Novelskaitė, Vilnius University

This teaching perspective could be taken either with a group of social entrepreneurs or undergraduate business students. Typical business models of social enterprises could be discussed to help them see how social enterprises can combine their social and economic missions. The audience could identify and argue which business model Workshops of Treasures has chosen and propose directions for its development/change. Descriptions of business models can be found at: https://bit.ly/3lcjDmi

I

Social business models

Cross-compensation

in this business model, one group of consumers pays for the specific social group’s purchases. Payment for the service

SE gets income from customers who pay for their service which is provided to those in need.

Independent help

SE provides a service/product to external market that a specific social group cannot reach. Earned income is used to finance social programs (e.g., betterworldbooks.com). Cooperatives

a company or an NGO that belongs to a community provides service to other community members. Employment and training

SE creates jobs and provides training (craft) to the specific groups. Intermediary: SE sells the products produced by a specific social group in the market under their brand (e.g., “Fairtrade”). Connector

SE connects a specific social group and new markets.

Alternative examples on social business models in practice:

Alter, K. (2007). Social Enterprise Typology. Available online: https://canvas.brown.edu/courses/1073328/files/6102 8038

If the case is analyzed with Master’s students the theory of the ethics of care could be taught alongside with business strategy models.

The article builds the basis for discussing how different stages of care relate to the development of a social business as depicted in Figure 1. This article proposes the idea that social entrepreneurs are caring entrepreneurs and, in this respect, is in line with the case organization which was founded on the basis of Christian virtue of care and the background of some founders and coordinators of the social enterprise in social care. The class discussion can also highlight the difference between social enterprise, for which care is the focus, and traditional enterprise, for which care as an ethical virtue is secondary.

A useful resource in this respect is:

Andre, K., Pache, A.C. (2016). From caring entrepreneur to caring enterprise: Addressing the ethical challenges of scaling up social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 133: 659 – 675.

II

Business ethics and business strategy

Recognition of opportunity CARING ABOUT TAKING CARE OF

Opportunity filtration

Exchange (info, the product is refined, etc.)

CARE RECEIVING CARE GIVING

Venture creation

Figure 1. Stages of ethics of care and social business development (Tronto, 1993 op. cit. Andre and Pache, 2016)

This teaching perspective could be taken either with a group of social entrepreneurs or business students. Specific types of partnership strategies could be discussed and developed in groupwork. For example, the discussion could center on strategies of integration, cooperation and networking as they rest on sharing and exchange.

III

Business strategy and partnerships

The groups of learners could come up with ideas how to develop the following opportunities arising from:

vertical integration with Betzepa community

the larger organization can serve as sales point of educational activities. cross-sectoral partnerships

providing social integration services to people with learning disabilities to Vilnius and other geographically close municipalities. networking strategies

with local communities and Christian NGOs to widen the scale of skills of people with learning disabilities; applying for external funds in tandem for the same (integration) goals.

IV

Marketing strategies

services to a wider society and arguing the market need for such supply) Writing a communication plan While preparing the plan for communication the students may be directed by the following guidelines: contribute to the formulated task think about measurement of the results Again, this teaching perspective could be taken either with a group of social entrepreneurs or business students who could apply marketing strategies and practices to propose a business development

diversification

(suggesting any new products that can be produced by clients-employees or/and strategy for social impact.

scaling across

(which partners/networks have to be mobilized to achieve stronger social impact?) scaling deep

(how can the current experiences of the clients be enriched? What is the current unique selling proposition of Workshops of Treasures and how can it be enhanced?) scaling up

(what are new market segments and how can they be reached? How large should new market segments be to earn profit; particular consideration could be given to the opportunities to increasing income from sales to Nordic societies; developing a new sales point via construction companies as business

V

partners).

Social enterprises need good visibility in society to get support for their activities and achieve social change. For that they need a good communication plan that could be implemented even with a “€0” budget. Students/early social entrepreneurs could be asked to take the role of a PR agency that proposes collaboration with the social business and make the enterprise’s activities and their outcomes more

formulate the task

that is going to help the business. It could be construction of an image, visibility of the company, it could be about presentation of the leaders of the business as influencers, etc.; create the main message

this is the most crucial aspect – a very clear and short message that could be spread about the enterprise should be created. It could be based on the mission of the company, and, of course,

select target audiences

visible. be approached at once, so a list of target audiences should be made and the most important selected for realizing the task. To be successful, the profile of target audiences has to be considered so that the message is more persuasive choose the means for communication

all the audiences cannot

that could deliver the message in the best way and that would use human and financial resources effectively. The means that are available to the enterprise should be considered, supporters of the enterprise in communication involved, etc.

VI

Relating a business problem to a research problem

However, there are several essential points which should be brought to the students’ consideration: How can the identified and clarified business problem be converted into a specific research problem/question(s)? How should the most efficient empirical research methods be selected for the business research? What are ethical implications in the designed empirical business research and how (if so) they could/should be resolved. Market research which examines all aspects of a social business environment asking questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business environment Useful resources Authenticity Consulting, LLC, Free Management Library. Basic Business Research Methods. Available This perspective can be applied with Master’s students.

As much as it is reasonable to ground business and marketing strategies as well as communication plan on factual knowledge, but not personal presuppositions and/or individual experience, business research perspectives can be introduced to the students based on the case. Business research is a process of acquiring detailed information of all the areas of business (i.e., market, financial, brand, product, risk, competitor, demand, distribution analysis) and using such information in maximizing the sales and profit of a business. Both quantitative (survey, content analysis, secondary data analysis) and qualitative (interview, focus group, etc.) methods can

be used for informative business research.

Additionally, considering specifics of social business, it might be relevant to stress the importance of marketing research, which is systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.

In this context, students could be taught several techniques of research types:

Product research

which looks into the products that can be produced with an available technology, and what product innovations can be developed with the Advertising research

which is aimed at improving the effectiveness of advertising

near-future technology at: https://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/

QuestionPro. 2020. Business Research: Definition, Methods, Types and Examples. Available at: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/business-researc h/