What Social Entrepreneurs Work for - Case Study Example

Social Entrepreneurial Module Case Study Social entrepreneurship is where entrepreneurs discover a social problem and solve the problem in a business venture. Social entrepreneurs work to fix social problems in society (Bornstein & Davis, 2010). They invest in a complete change of the societal problem. Social entrepreneurs are interested in satisfying the society as the direct beneficiary in the business venture. Their goals are long-term rather than short-term. The problem being solved can be either economical, political environmental or health problems. Most entrepreneurs invest with a profit motive. Therefore, their goals are short term, and they are the beneficiaries of the business venture. Parallel to this, social entrepreneurs invest in long-term investments where society is the immediate beneficiary (Dees, Emerson & Economy, 2002). John Mackey started a healthy grocery using funds from savings and family borrowing. The main goal of John Mackey in starting the business was to help people acquire healthy groceries to reduce increased health problems. Later on, the business merged with two other groceries to form the ‘whole foods’. John Mackey is a social entrepreneur because his business had a long-term business venture with the first priority to promote society's prosperity to the maximum. He also confessed that he wanted to create a business venture that would promote human well-being for the community at large. He spent six years in school learning business entrepreneurship. He dropped from school frequently to support his social entrepreneurship venture. Leadership skills expressed by Mackey There are several characteristics that I learned from John Mackey’s entrepreneurship skills. There are various skills that I would relate to John Mackey’s entrepreneurship skills. First, he is skilled in the field of entrepreneurship. John Mackey spent years in college mostly learning the fields that he was interested in most. These skills helped him fulfill his entrepreneurship goal. This shows the need for one to have entrepreneurship knowledge, which helps one to make the right business decisions. Second, Mackey was determined to see his business venture succeed. He used six years in college learning and entrepreneuring at the same time. This shows how much determination it takes for a social entrepreneur to be successful. Third, Mackey was strategic in making his business decisions. He saw the need for his business to merge with two other groceries for the business to be more stable and increase the customer numbers. Lastly, Mackey was passionate about providing customers with the right commodities. He even posted on various companies' websites criticizing the inorganic products that they made. This shows his strong passion for healthy products. What makes Whole Foods a model 3 venture John Mackey’s Whole Foods is a perfect model 3 social entrepreneurship business venture. Model 3 states that social business ventures should be based on a non-profit motive (Elkington & Hartigan, 2008). The model suggests that social needs should be met first before the business focuses on acquiring profits. The Whole Foods business fulfills the model 3 requirements fully. This can be proved by the fact that the business has made organic foods concept the main core of the business venture. Although the business gets the profits from the sale of organic foods, the business aimed to make the world focus on producing organic healthy foods. The value equation of the Whole Foods company results positively. This is because the net value gained by the customers is less than the net value gained by the business. Whole Food sales maintain a 365 daily value equation on their products to their customers. The company gets substantial amounts of profits, but it cannot be compared to the health value gained by the customers. The company ensures its products meet the required quality by making their products healthy and natural. This shows John Mackey’s good-willed business venture. He put society's needs before his needs, and this shows the positive social entrepreneurship skills that lead to Mackey’s success. Case assessment John Mackey is among the best social entrepreneurs that I have ever researched on. According to various interviews, his close friends attribute his entrepreneurial skills to his good nature. His nature compelled him to start a business venture that will help the community at large rather than just selling things without considering the effects it has on the consumers. Also since the company is interested in the well-being of its consumers, it deeply investigates its workers before hiring them. This is for the company to acquire good workers who will boost the social entrepreneurial aspects of the company. Good leaders need to connect well with the people around them. The company commits itself to have good workers who get along easily and who value the company’s need for customer care. This case applies to the Whole Foods company where workers work hard to improve customer satisfaction for their products. The company mainly focuses on the character of its employees. Employees are required to be outstanding to fulfill the company’s vision. This shows John Mackey’s concern for integrity in his company. John Mackey’s character propelled the company to success. Similarly, good employees have also played a major role in making the business venture successful. However, various values have changed over the years. When Mackey started the business his first agenda was to create a healthy food-producing company to improve consumers’ health. This has changed as the value gained has reduced for the company to grow. Nevertheless, the company still maintains its thrive for a healthy nation. Mackey’s story of social entrepreneurship is very challenging to many entrepreneurs who think that the main reason for business success is focusing mostly on the profits. Mackey admits that most people differed from him as they thought he was making a wrong business venture. Consequently, he ventured into the organic grocery business, and his determination, as well as good entrepreneurial skills, made him succeed. Good entrepreneurs should be innovative and invest in areas everyone else is afraid of investing in (Yunus, 2007). Most entrepreneurs do not focus on the well-being of their customers, but they mainly focus on the profits earned in the business venture. This creates a situation where consumer health is ignored. Social entrepreneurs should be good-willed and skillful at the same time. The main idea for forming businesses is to make the desired profits. However, society plays the biggest role in business success, therefore, entrepreneurs should consider the well-being of the society in their business encounters. The Whole Foods business story shows how social entrepreneurship can be successful. References Bornstein, D., & Davis, S. (2010). Social entrepreneurship: What everyone needs to know. New York: Oxford University Press. Dees, J. G., Emerson, J, & Economy, P. (2002). Strategic tools for social entrepreneurs: Enhancing the performance of your enterprising nonprofit.. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Elkington, J. & Hartigan, P. (2008) The power of unreasonable people: How social entrepreneurs create markets that change the world. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Yunus, M. (2007) Creating a world without poverty: Social business and the future of capitalism. New York: PublicAffairs (Perseus Books Group). Read More