Social Enterprise and Future - Essay Example

 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AND FUTURE Introduction Social enterprise is a common practice in the 21 century with much business taking the route directly or the use of Corporate Social Responsibility. However, there are companies that have developed entirely as a social enterprise. It is often thought that social enterprise should not make money or generate revenue. However, no business can succeed in thought model because business must be able to sustain their operation and be able to also support the different social issues that the company or organization has focused. Some of the social enterprise organizations have focused on the development of one to one model which is a better approach compared to other approaches employed by the donor dependent organization (Arnold, Beauchamp, and Bowie, 2012, p. 63). Among the most successful companies using the model is the TOMS shoe which offers shoes to the less fortunate in the society. Other organizations that run charity program or operate as charity organization include the Marie Curie Shops which focus on supporting the terminally ill cancer patients in UK. Social enterprise focuses on the issues affecting the society and develops approaches that ensure that they are self-sustaining and support the different social issues that they focus on within the organization mandate and objectives (Arnold, Beauchamp, and Bowie, 2012, p. 23). The success of the organization is dependent on the understanding of the society the role of the organization and its operational model. For instance, TOMS shoe has been able to achieve success by preaching one for one campaigning which implies that when one purchases a shoe, one pair of shoe is donated to the less fortunate people in Africa and less fortunate persons in the world. The same concept is applied in other charity organization and social enterprise with the focus being on the offering or product and services to the less fortunate in the society with massive success (Benioff, 2012, p. 65). Social enterprise is concept that focuses on social issues in the development of a profitable business which its profits is used in the support of the different program and less fortunate in the society. In fact, the concept of social enterprise depends on the existence of social issues within the society which are always presents in all cases. For Marie Curie shops, the focus is on supporting the terminally ill cancer patients. Cancer has becomes a global issue with many organization being engaged in the support of the chemotherapy and other support services offered to in the health sector. Other charity organizations focus on issues of security safety and the elderly. For charity organization, the concept of business must be maintained while also focusing on offering services for free or at subsidized rate (Bishara, 2011, p. 63). Technically speaking, there is no charity organization because all businesses must focus on the increasing the capital based or receiving revenues at the end of every operation. In charity business set-up, the profitability of the business is hid and its role in countering a social problem is presented to the public. However, with proper strategy and business model, it is easy for the social enterprise to become successful in the long term. However, the challenge of the businesses is presenting the idea to the public and the public reciprocating the approach and changing the focus of the business. Innovation and social enterprise business strategy The success of a business idea is on the ability to own it through the patent. The patenting of business ideas ensures that the idea is by the organization, and any of its use will lead to monetary value (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, p. 36). The major challenge with patents is the process involved in obtaining the patents. The patents are to be used to protect intellectual property such as software. Changes in design and technology must be evaluated on the basis of success that they can bring to the society while the originators must be able to obtain a reward from the advancement. The commercialization process involves several steps that must be addressed in order to achieve success. These steps include; invention disclosure and assessment disclosure. Upon receiving the invention, the review offers insight on whether the protection of intellectual property is necessary. The major challenge has been the rights of the initiators who may be employees of the company. In order to succeed, the company must have a reward system that recognizes the role of the employees in innovation. It is vital for the employees to own the innovation which will in turn encourage creativity within the organization. Individuals should be allowed to apply for patents for their innovations because they own it and it should not be taken away from them. However, the current situation does not encourage individuals to apply for intellectual property ownership leading to the development of several issues including fear and loss of wealth generation opportunities (Black, 2009, p. 23). The failure to address such issues affects the creativity of the employees leading to reduced improvement in technology. When individuals own patents, it is easier for other to struggle to develop new technology because there is room for creativity. For charity organization, patenting of the business idea or design will lead to long term sustainability of the whole business. In fact, the major challenge in the case is the ease of obtaining a patent rather than the business focus. Charity organizations are viewed as necessary but organizations that do not require patenting (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, p. 28). However, for the innovation within the organization is successful, there is need for the organization to patent. The motivation of employees is vital aspect in the success of any business. The role of motivation in production and service delivery is known. However, several challenges exist in the process. The use of incentives and rewards has been employed over the years with varying degree of success. In spite of the success, the major argument by Dan Pink is that motivation is not based on rewards. In fact, rewards narrow the scope of reasoning, which lowers productivity. From the various examples such as the success of Wikipedia as a free education site compared to Microsoft Encarta, Pink illustrate the need for intrinsic motivation and not the use of incentives. The use of incentives and rewards may be success in menial jobs, but when addressing jobs involving creativity they lead to serious problem. Scientific evidence presented by Pink like the candle experiment emphasizes the argument that motivation does not depend on set rules and goals but intrinsic drive. Intrinsic drive does not depend on working environment to achieve success (Buglear, 2010, p. 45). In fact, working without boundary of time, location and schedule may prove successful. The success of Google innovations is based on the freedom of operation and lack of fixed schedule. It depends on personal drive. Personal drive in social enterprise is vital because it enable the business to reach the society and allow for the replication of the various issues. Self-drive is an important aspect in motivation. Success in education sector depends on the ability to motivate self and create a routine that is successful. The self-drive approach in education is evident in the development of participatory learning, which allows the student to experiment and learn by himself (Cory, 2004, p. 23). The process improves understanding of the student. For instance, Australian education system scraped the traditional classroom with a defined front and replaced it with a participative classroom. The approach ensured success and reduced school drop-outs. In fact, students were able to learn better in the new environment because they experimented with various set up improving cognitive development. In the 21st century, businesses that engage self-drive as a form of motivation achieve greater success. For instance, the development of social media platform such as Facebook is an initiative of personal drive (Crane and Matten, 2007, p. 83). Therefore, organization must engage workers through flexible programs that encourage workers to use their cognitive skills and reduce reliance on rewards and incentives that may not work in the current organization set-up. The disconnect between business approach and scientific findings must be bridged for successful employee motivation to be achieved. Social enterprise growth Social enterprise growth depends on similar factors as the financial oriented businesses which include the challenge of development and capital, customer perception and competition. The development of new products and design requires patenting and protection to ensure that value can be obtained from new innovation. The failure to patent or protects it may not only lead to loss but also discourage innovation (Hedmana and Djerf-Pierreb, 2013, p. 143). Most social enterprises are at ransom because of the minimal capital outlay. Patenting and intellectual property protection is expensive to undertake especially in where the two applications must be made. For the manufacturing social enterprise, it must protect the new product and also protect the design as an intellectual property. The success of the whole process depends on the fast obtaining of patent and intellectual rights before any deal can be struck. The usage of recycled fibers is both environmental advantage and product advantage (Jiang, Xiao, Qi, and Xiao, 2009). However, a social enterprise needs to develop a trademark for the recycled product and connect with the society in the process of developing the brand. The financial limitation of the company restricts its operation because it cannot manufacture the innovated product, but requires other established manufacturing companies to engage in the production of the new product. The partnership must be documented, and the agreement document be clearly drafted including the stipulation of the patent and intellectual property rights. the protection of the intellectual rights and the development of strategy to propel the social enterprises is vital in the development of a powerful organization and improve revenue. Volunteering and social enterprise development Volunteering is an approach to solve the problem of inadequate labor through the use of human resource that is offered freely without a reward or compensation in return. According to Meraz, volunteering has been part of the culture of countries such as Australia for years. Practiced during the settlement era, it has been on the public domain for a particularly long term is this term or time according to quote (Meraz, 2009, p. 63). Volunteering still remains outside the defined economic frame work of the capitalistic society, because capitalism has competition and financial as the ultimate goal. Volunteering, on the other hand, is different because it does not offer financial rewards to the volunteer but is based on the experience of personal fulfillment as a result of assisting others through solving their problems. For quality service to be obtained, the people in the sector must be committed to the cause with a passion to serve. Volunteering facilitates the commitment through offering of choice. Volunteer opt to do so through their personal will and not forced as such the interest towards the activity is beneficial. There are several benefits of using volunteering as a method of tackling the problem of understaffing in the CBOCs. The benefits can be outlined as below (German, 2011, p. 169). Benefits of volunteering in social enterprise There are several personal benefits to volunteering, but the focus of the study is not on the personal benefits. The benefits of volunteering to the organization especially in solving the understaffing in the health care are the focus of the study (Bell, 2010, p. 46). The personal benefits for volunteering include; improving of performance, increase personal, and job satisfaction, including the creation of positive attitude, and morale. Volunteering encourages the development of team work. It promotes leadership and skill development. Finally, it improves communication between the employee and their supervisors. Faster solution to understaffing at minimal costs Volunteering involves the use of people who have purposed to offer labor at almost free cost apart from issues of administration and planning. It is easier for the clinic to have the required staff at the shortest time especially if there is a surplus in the market for the field. Volunteering can be used to solve the understaffing problem. The beauty of volunteering is that, the new recruits will be people with interest on the health care at heart, thus; will be able to operate as with a certain degree of ethics and commitment (Armstrong, Cools, and Sadler-Smith, 2011, p. 98). In addition, the ease of solving the understaffing through increasing the number of staff can be solved in the process through identifying of the best suited volunteer and offering them permanent job opportunities after the volunteering. The volunteering will reduce the overhead costs compared to recruiting fully trained professionals. Volunteering offers flexibility due to the existence of part time or full time volunteering. The existence of the two models encourages the increase on the number of volunteers to the service. Employed health specialist with spare time can volunteer to work at the CBOCs thus increasing the amount of labor present (Chase, 2004, p. 158). It also offers the opportunity to manage the work force through engaging enough volunteers at all time. In the instance that there is a projected increase of patient for a short duration, it is easier to engage part time volunteer to deal with the increased traffic of patients. Full time volunteers may work for the duration of one to two years thus be full experience and with necessary skills in the health care sector. Conclusion The future of social enterprise depends on the success of replicating and using social media in marketing of the organization. Social media and the development of the virtual communities have been seen as a positive growth in the interaction between individuals. However, the understanding of the medium of communication is integral in the evaluation of the impact of social media in communication (Beverly and Thomson 43). The proponents of the social media argue that it has reduced social interaction based on the reduced physical contact between individuals. 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