Every now and again I am reminded the the social enterprise world is not the only movement looking for ways of combining social and environmental achievements with commercial goals. CSR (or CR or sustainability as it is now more often known as) and social intrapreneurship are examples of related movements that have realted aspirations. Social finance or impact investing is also increasingly gaining in prominence.
Further back in the public's consciousness lies the land of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing. It is populated by asset managers, bankers, private equity investors and pension funds, who wield influence behind the scenes, through the often substantial sums they can invest (or not). Whilst many of these investments still happen with a need for (near) commercial returns, ESG considerations are making more and more of a mark.
This November, London will be the backdrop for the TBLI Conference, a major annual conference in this field. Encouragingly, the conference includes a session on social entrepreneurs and social investing and On Purpose plans to be a part of it.
These different movements, which are all working to achieve social and environmental outcomes through commercial means, will need to come together more and more if serious system-level change is to happen.
Tom
27 Jul 2010
Big Business ... Big Responsibilities...
It's easy to slip into thinking that all big corporate organisations have a devastating impact on both the global economy and the planets resources... but here's a book to challenge that train of thought ..
How about thinking that because of their scale Big business has more potential to impact the world for good?!
It feels like it's book week at On Purpose as we celebrate the launch of this book last night. Big Business Big Responsibilities is written by a trio of forward thinking influencers:
How about thinking that because of their scale Big business has more potential to impact the world for good?!
It feels like it's book week at On Purpose as we celebrate the launch of this book last night. Big Business Big Responsibilities is written by a trio of forward thinking influencers:
ANDY WALES is Global Head of Sustainable Development for SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers. He is a board member of a number of key global water initiatives, and also leads a strategy encouraging local enterprise development across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009 and in 2010 was appointed a London Sustainable Development Commissioner. He has previously been Sustainability Director for Severn Trent plc and for Interface, Inc.
MATTHEW GORMAN is Director of Corporate Responsibility& Environment at BAA Ltd, the UK’s leading airport operator and an expert on climate change policy. He is deputy chair of the UK aviation industry’s sustainability strategy (‘Sustainable Aviation’). Prior to BAA, Matthew worked at Forum for the Future, a leading UK not-for-profit organisation. He has worked extensively advising FTSE 100 companies on corporate responsibility.
DUNSTAN HOPE is Managing Director of the Information and Communications Technology practice at BSR, a non-profit, business membership organization that advises Fortune 500 companies. Prior to BSR Dunstan spent five years in the corporate responsibility team at British Telecommunications. Dunstan has worked extensively on human rights and corporate accountability in Europe, the USA and Asia.
22 Jul 2010
Recruiting all social enterprise leaders of the future....
Are you interested in social enterprise?
Are you highly talented and looking for your next challenge?
Have you read our website to find out more and thought how much you'd like to be one of our Associates during 2011?
Are you free on Wednesday evening and can get to central London?
If you're reading this thinking Yes - Yes - YES ... then please join us on Wednesday evening where we're holding a recruitment event in Central London.
To come along please register by sending an email to rsvp@onpurpose.uk.com and we'll send you details.
Are you highly talented and looking for your next challenge?
Have you read our website to find out more and thought how much you'd like to be one of our Associates during 2011?
Are you free on Wednesday evening and can get to central London?
If you're reading this thinking Yes - Yes - YES ... then please join us on Wednesday evening where we're holding a recruitment event in Central London.
To come along please register by sending an email to rsvp@onpurpose.uk.com and we'll send you details.
14 Jul 2010
12 Jul 2010
Half time at On Purpose...
Last week our current Associates left their 1st Placement organisations and kicked off their new projects - (well those that aren't sunning it up as they take a breather in between placements!)
Halfway through our first year and it's clear that the Associates are beginning to look towards the future and what they may be doing - but what of our Placement organisations? How is their On Purpose experience?
We took some time recently to review with the placement organisations their experiences of the first cohort of On Purpose Associates and we're delighted that they're proving a resounding success. For all of the current Associates who are moving into their second placements we received the following feedback. They have all exceeded the expectations of the host organisations, they've added value beyond the scope of their objectives and they've had a positive impact on the teams that they're in. Most of them have brought skills into the organisations that they don't otherwise have access to and have challenged organisational thinking in a positive way.
All of this is exactly as we expect to hear - the concept is working well and proving valuable to both the placement organisations and our Associates - we're running a review with how the Associates value their On Purpose experience and will be sharing that with you soon.
But I've saved the best until last - aside from the organisational impact that our Associates have had we are delighted that they are already saving their organisations on average in excess of 3 times their cost each.
Halfway through our first year and it's clear that the Associates are beginning to look towards the future and what they may be doing - but what of our Placement organisations? How is their On Purpose experience?
We took some time recently to review with the placement organisations their experiences of the first cohort of On Purpose Associates and we're delighted that they're proving a resounding success. For all of the current Associates who are moving into their second placements we received the following feedback. They have all exceeded the expectations of the host organisations, they've added value beyond the scope of their objectives and they've had a positive impact on the teams that they're in. Most of them have brought skills into the organisations that they don't otherwise have access to and have challenged organisational thinking in a positive way.
All of this is exactly as we expect to hear - the concept is working well and proving valuable to both the placement organisations and our Associates - we're running a review with how the Associates value their On Purpose experience and will be sharing that with you soon.
But I've saved the best until last - aside from the organisational impact that our Associates have had we are delighted that they are already saving their organisations on average in excess of 3 times their cost each.
8 Jul 2010
Marketing magic
Our training last week was on Marketing. Nadine Walter (ex McKinsey and now a Professor at Pforzheim Business School in Germany) took us through the basics of how to develop a marketing plan. Ranging from the internal company and external market analysis over the consumer segmentation to the marketing strategy, mix and implementation.
It was whirlwind, whistle-stop tour of the major frameworks in the field and really great to understand, at a high level, how all the various concepts (that you often only hear of in isolation) fit together. From PESTEL and Porter's 5 Forces over 7S and the BCG matrix to the Ansoff matrix we must have done more frame work than you can in an afternoon at the National Gallery!
As always, the real guru doesn't necessarily use all the frameworks, but knows when (and when not) to apply them and how to take the thinking from various ones to pull together real insight. And it's always refreshing to hear about situations where people achieved success by not following the traditional approach, like Red Bull.
Who do you think are the best social enterprise marketeers? Innocent stands out, of course, and (RED) is a big brand now; I like One Water's 'When you drink One Africa drinks too'. Interestingly though, 2 of these 3 examples are cause-related marketing schemes (what I sometimes call philanthropic rather than social enterprises) and the last, Innocent, is a business with a strong social influence. Thinking of more 'classic' social enterprise (that achieve direct social impact rather than through contributing profits to a charity) that are really well marketed is much more difficult. Do you know of any?
3 Jul 2010
The case for talent
Sir Ronald Cohen was recently praising, in the Daily Telegraph, the virtues of the innovative social impact bond and predicting the rise of social finance.
Along with it, he emphasises both the importance of attracting the best people to social enterprise and the commitment that many people feel towards this field:
"Some of the most talented people are being drawn to it [social finance and social enterprise]. We are appealing to peoples' sense of social obligation and of social mission.
"About a fifth of recent Harvard Business School graduates have been drawn to social enterprise type organisations."The social enterprise field is, of course, already populated with hugely inspirational and talented people. Like all industries though, it will only continue to be as good as the talent it is able to attract, develop and retain.
Social enterprises need to offer the career prospects, development opportunities and salaries that compete with other top employers, not only during a recession, but also once the big private and public sector guns start hiring again.
Managing a social enterprise is a difficult undertaking. It requires not only solid commercial skills but also well-honed social sector know-how. Developing leaders who spend significant amounts of time in social enterprise from an early age, who know and can manage the tensions, quirks and intricacies that are unique to these organisations has to be a priority for the sector.
Neglecting to develop the next generation of talent risks social enterprise delivering on its promise; bringing in the best and brightest minds will mean that innovations like the social impact bond will be but the first steps towards a brighter, fairer and more inclusive economy.
29 Jun 2010
The Art of disruption ....
Earlier on last month we at On Purpose had heard how Michael Morley the chairman of Coutts Bank had an 'epiphany' moment about Social Enterprise when he 'job swapped' for a day with Nigel Kersaw, Head of Big Issue. You can read more about that here.
I saw this epiphany at first hand last night when Coutts in partnership with Real Business magazine hosted a 'Celebration of New Enterprise'. We were delighted to be invited along and the timing couldn't have been more perfect as this week Real Business published their latest article about On Purpose.
It was a great evening -it's always great to meet new faces and I heard how the recession has pushed innovation and market disruption to the fore - 'the art of disruption' has been favoured thinking during the recession and last nights gathering would recognise that therein lies the strength of an entrepreneurial mind!
But i also heard a really simple truth - Matthew Rock - founder of the Real Business magazine reminded us how it's really not that long ago when it was deemed unnatural for business to be run without social purpose.
You'll see that Tom has just written about 'Conscious Employerism' and reflected on Dragons Den's Doug Richards challenge that we should be counting down the last 100 enterprises that don't have a social focus.
What do you think? Can you see the day that we'll return (as Matthew Rock would hold) to a world where all business is social business? What disruption will need to be caused first?
I saw this epiphany at first hand last night when Coutts in partnership with Real Business magazine hosted a 'Celebration of New Enterprise'. We were delighted to be invited along and the timing couldn't have been more perfect as this week Real Business published their latest article about On Purpose.
It was a great evening -it's always great to meet new faces and I heard how the recession has pushed innovation and market disruption to the fore - 'the art of disruption' has been favoured thinking during the recession and last nights gathering would recognise that therein lies the strength of an entrepreneurial mind!
But i also heard a really simple truth - Matthew Rock - founder of the Real Business magazine reminded us how it's really not that long ago when it was deemed unnatural for business to be run without social purpose.
You'll see that Tom has just written about 'Conscious Employerism' and reflected on Dragons Den's Doug Richards challenge that we should be counting down the last 100 enterprises that don't have a social focus.
What do you think? Can you see the day that we'll return (as Matthew Rock would hold) to a world where all business is social business? What disruption will need to be caused first?
Conscious Employerism
The launch of the RBS Social Enterprise 100 Index was a glitzy affair - and rightly so. Lots of awards to high-performing social enterprises around the country in a variety of categories.
Doug Richards, of Dragons' Den and School 4 Startups fame interjected in an interesting way. In his usual engaging and assured way, he called for the Anti SE 100 Index. He looks forward to the days when rather than counting the best social enterprises we are counting down the last 100 enterprises that can afford not to be a social enterprise. The ultimate main-streaming of social enterprise throughout the econonmy.
Whilst this is a vision that I applaud, I also wonder how it is going to happen. Doug's argument seemed to rest, at least implicitly, on consumer power: ultimately, consumers won't buy goods and services that are not delivered by social enterprises. This is a powerful lever and initiatives such as the Social Enterprise Mark are tugging at it with all their strength.
It is worth remembering though that 'conscious consumerism' is not a new phenomenon. Fair Trade, for example, has been with us a long time and is going well - many reports acknowledge that such products are remarkably recession proof. Similarly, campaigning NGOs have for decades been mobilising consumers to boycott this company or that product. In the big picture though, much of this movement is relatively confined in its demographics and so is still relatively niche.
I believe there is another, much overlooked mechanism for changing the way companies operate: employees. Companies don't only respond to their costumers and shareholders, they are also themselves made up of people; interested, ever-more socially motivated and keen to make a difference - not only to the share price but also to the world they live in.
Changing business models, finding disruptive technologies and growing into new markets (such as those at the 'bottom of the pyramid') will occasionally be prompted by consumer pressure; sometimes (as in the case of banning CFCs from fridges) governments can legislate; sometimes new challenger brands such as the Body Shop help change an industry. In the end though, I believe that most innovation will come because employees are excited by more than creating shareholder value. They want to create new social business models and so find more fulfilment on what they do - those companies who cannot find ways of accommodating this will, ultimately, lose talent and fare poorly. Those who can embrace it will not only attract and retain the most exciting talent but also launch the most resilient and innovative offerings.
Here's to 'conscious employerism'!
Doug Richards, of Dragons' Den and School 4 Startups fame interjected in an interesting way. In his usual engaging and assured way, he called for the Anti SE 100 Index. He looks forward to the days when rather than counting the best social enterprises we are counting down the last 100 enterprises that can afford not to be a social enterprise. The ultimate main-streaming of social enterprise throughout the econonmy.
Whilst this is a vision that I applaud, I also wonder how it is going to happen. Doug's argument seemed to rest, at least implicitly, on consumer power: ultimately, consumers won't buy goods and services that are not delivered by social enterprises. This is a powerful lever and initiatives such as the Social Enterprise Mark are tugging at it with all their strength.
It is worth remembering though that 'conscious consumerism' is not a new phenomenon. Fair Trade, for example, has been with us a long time and is going well - many reports acknowledge that such products are remarkably recession proof. Similarly, campaigning NGOs have for decades been mobilising consumers to boycott this company or that product. In the big picture though, much of this movement is relatively confined in its demographics and so is still relatively niche.
I believe there is another, much overlooked mechanism for changing the way companies operate: employees. Companies don't only respond to their costumers and shareholders, they are also themselves made up of people; interested, ever-more socially motivated and keen to make a difference - not only to the share price but also to the world they live in.
Changing business models, finding disruptive technologies and growing into new markets (such as those at the 'bottom of the pyramid') will occasionally be prompted by consumer pressure; sometimes (as in the case of banning CFCs from fridges) governments can legislate; sometimes new challenger brands such as the Body Shop help change an industry. In the end though, I believe that most innovation will come because employees are excited by more than creating shareholder value. They want to create new social business models and so find more fulfilment on what they do - those companies who cannot find ways of accommodating this will, ultimately, lose talent and fare poorly. Those who can embrace it will not only attract and retain the most exciting talent but also launch the most resilient and innovative offerings.
Here's to 'conscious employerism'!
Problem solving and the pyramid principle
We've been having first class training on problem solving at On Purpose with trainers from the top management consultancies.
To date, we have learnt how to: (1) define a problem; (2), structure it so as to break it down into smaller problems you can tackle; (3) identify the analysis we need to develop in order to solve the problems; and finally (4) develop a presentation to communicate what is relevant to the specific audience.
(1) Defining a problem in a structured framework allows us to have a clear idea about what we want to achieve. The outcome is a full written statement of the problem + information on its context and other important matters.
(2) Once you have this question, the challenge is to identify the necessary analyses needed to solve the problem. That’s when we were introduced to one of our the core knowledge from this programme: how to break down a problem into its constituent parts, using issue trees. It is a simple concept of hierarchy that forces you to always think which is the most effective and efficient way to solve a problem.
If you are confused about this concept don’t give up. We have learnt that it is just a question of practicing, practicing and more practicing. At its most simple, you have to bear in mind that the ultimate question to solve is at the top of the hierarchy. All the analyses that you need have to answer a part of that overall question. If you follow this framework you will only perform relevant and necessary analyses and so avoid “boiling the ocean”.
If you are confused about this concept don’t give up. We have learnt that it is just a question of practicing, practicing and more practicing. At its most simple, you have to bear in mind that the ultimate question to solve is at the top of the hierarchy. All the analyses that you need have to answer a part of that overall question. If you follow this framework you will only perform relevant and necessary analyses and so avoid “boiling the ocean”.
(3) What next? More information does not necessarily mean more insight and may not help you communicate your solution. One way to communicate your solution effectively is to use the pyramid principle (http://www.barbaraminto.com/)
You get to see the final product before even start working on it. Very helpful technique!
I hope you'll enjoy thinking about these things as much as I did. For those of you who want to check examples before writing a presentation why not having a look at: http://www.slideshare.net/
Good luck!
Simone
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