Analysis of Social Enterprise - Coursework Example

Introduction A close look at the ment by Pearce 2005gives insight into the backbone of social enterprises- the roles of the various stakeholdersin attempting to contribute towards the success of an undertaking. It implies the pooling of different abilities and knowledge into a single undertaking for the sake of coming up with results that benefit those individuals with certain needs. In essence, there can never be a social enterprise without the involvement of different people in the undertaking and the aspect of gaining from the undertaking. At the same time, the conglomeration of people performing different tasks within a particular undertaking calls for some form of orderliness so that all parties are aware of their roles and perform the roles at the right time- the smooth running of the undertaking. For this to happen, there must be an individual or a group of individuals, who lead the others in the coordination of the proper running of the undertaking and in decision making. In this case then, the idea of politics sets in. A social enterprise can be defined as an initiative that gathers people together around profit making ventures or empowerment for the sake of benefiting the society (Peter Thompson 2008). A social enterprise may come in different sizes and varied social goals. Politics can be defined as the use of power to influence decisions within a given group of people and which entails exertion of authority. From the definitions and the comments on the statement, I will undertake to analyze pierces’ statement by discussing the roles of the various stakeholders within a social enterprise in their endeavour to meet a social end agreed upon by members that form the body of the given enterprise. Main body The three major roles that social enterprises play including meeting the needs of a particular community, benefiting the members through creation of opportunities for self empowerment and creation of prosperity and chances for growth within a community, are made possible through the incorporation of people who work in different capacities to ensure the above roles are met (London 2001pp20-23). A social enterprise organizes a community around it. A community entails people with a common characteristic e.g. people living in the same geographical area or people with disabilities. The social enterprise serves the interests of the people belonging to a given community. Through the identification of the community with the social end of a given social enterprise, the enterprise is boosted by the support given to it by the community. Similarly, the social enterprise itself empowers the community through developing its skills and knowledge of working out similar problems that it engages in. it also helps the given community to develop ties that can assist them to cater for the problems they may face. Apparently, there exists a kind of a symbiotic relationship between the social enterprise and its beneficiaries suggesting mutual benefiting (Dart 2004p27). The affairs of the social enterprise are run by its management. This group of individuals must be knowledgeable in business skills to ensure that the enterprise maintains its profit base and remains on toes to avoid collapsing. At the same time, the management plays the role of harmonizing the various operations of the enterprise so that the goals of the enterprise can be achieved. The management ensures that all stakeholders understand their roles and offer support for them to better perform their roles. They also offer an ear to the concerns of all the stakeholders for the sake of finding solutions to the concerns. The group of workers are involved in the actual performance of the tasks the social enterprise engages in. Depending on the nature of the enterprise, they provide the services or the goods that the social enterprise needs to be operational. i.e. they engage into the profit making initiative that makes the structure of the enterprise. They also provide useful information about running the enterprise from the experience and the challenges they face often enough. Their role is very important to the enterprise and it determines its fate therefore, this group of people should of necessity be committed to their roles. The suppliers form the category of stakeholders who offer access to the goods or services needed by workers who then supply them to the community. To ensure a steady stream of quality supplies, there must exist a good relationship between the enterprise and the suppliers (Pearce and Kay 2003pp17-19). The customers form the category of stakeholders that buy products from the enterprise. To ensure a steady supply of the customers, the enterprise must engage in provision of goods or services that the customers draw enough satisfaction to prevent them from going off to other enterprises. Customer satisfaction must be considered in order for the enterprise to reach its social goal. A social enterprise is a business undertaking and therefore must have sources of finances to have it up and running. The start-up capital is important for the initial stages of a social enterprise for it ensures that the undertaking kicks off and remains in operation until such a time when it can start generating profit to maintain itself. There are a number of sources of capital available for the social enterprise including banks, contributions from members, and sponsors among others. Social enterprises can also get start-up capital in the form of grants for social development. Cash flow for keeping the enterprise going can be obtained from the sources named above as well (Dart 2004p23). Other sources of money to run the enterprise are micro finance institutions that can offer business advice too; savings and credit cooperatives; village banks and savings from the members. The social enterprise engages a number of expert advisors in their endeavour. This category of stakeholders forms the traditional school of government advisers and experts such as the certified business advisors or practitioners. This category offers inspiration for venturing into the deeper levels of the business undertaking. They also come in handy when a social enterprise threatens to fall apart as they can evaluate the situation and advise accordingly. They also impart the necessary knowledge required to efficiently run a business unit. To ensure that their social end is not missed, the social enterprise must discus its social goal appended to the business with the business advisors to assist them work out their judgements and advise accordingly (Peter Thompson 2008). The social enterprises are expected to take up responsibilities for proper running. The responsibilities might be legal requirements; corporate requirements or even responsibilities towards their employees’ wellbeing in the course of their work e.g. ensuring the employees are medically covered. The social enterprises are also expected to protect their environment therefore avoid engaging in businesses that results into emission of dangerous carcinogenic agents into the atmosphere or substances that can harm bodies of water or the soil. Legal regulations such as acquisition of a trading license may also apply to a social enterprise and must be adhered to avoid the consequences associated with the failing to meet the legal requirements. For the smooth running of the enterprise, compliance with all the necessary requirements is not an option. Regulations and the need for legislation may offer social enterprises with a chance of employment e.g. a call to clean up a park may offer employment opportunity for the unemployed. Regulation is the role of the group of stake holders known as the regulators (Defourny 2003p 32). The social enterprise may form a partnership with one of the organizations available for this. Various reasons may prompt a social enterprise to partner with the other local or international organizations e.g. to avoid unhealthy competition as the organizations attempt to overtake each other in provision of similar products. The selection of the organisation to partner with should be based on the inclination of the partner organization towards social responsibility and a significant similarity to the social goal of the enterprise. This is necessary to avoid a clash during the actual implementation of the requirements of the social enterprise that can easily crop up due to differing interests. At the same time, matching the principles and ethics directing the operations of the different organisations is important for an easier partnership (Peter Thompson 2008). Conclusion It is quite evident from the above discussion that the combined contribution of the different stakeholders within a social enterprise is not only necessary, but also important in ensuring that the enterprise realizes its social goal. This is so because all the stakeholders play a different but necessary role within the social enterprise. We find that no roles of any of the different stakeholders can be ignored because these roles compliment each other working in the sense of substructures working together to form a whole. The different roles played by the different stake holders often have to be controlled at some point thus necessitating the application of a decision making body that can manage to take into consideration the needs of the different stake holders. This then is where the idea of politics comes in handy. It is important to note that a social enterprise is a business undertaking and must be driven by the principles that all other forms of businesses utilize to perform. All the same, the overall driving force behind the social enterprises is to benefit the members and offer opportunities for the community to grow. This- the motive behind the creation- is the distinguishing factor between a business unit and the social enterprise. . References Dart, R. (2004) “Nonprofit Management and Leadership” Oxford University press pp 23, 27 Borzaga, C and Defourny, J (2001) “The emergence of social enterprise” books.google.com Defourny, J. (2003) “Defining social enterprise” Hurtig publishers p32 London, S. (2001) “Introducing social enterprise London” Oxford University press pp20-23 Pearce, J. and Kay, A. (2003) “Social enterprise in anytown” Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation London pp17-19 Peter Thompson (2008) “Social enterprise in Australia” retrieved on 15th April 2009 from http://www.ucwesleyadelaide.org.au/publications/resources/Social_Enterpse_Part1_2.pdf Read More