The Social Enterprise

Much has been said about the social enterprise and much has been debated. It’s supposed to be the new wave of the future. But the arguments leave me confused. Totally.

What I understand and realize is this : When Carnegie came out with his Corporate Charity, later taking on the avatar of Corporate Social responsibility, to me that was the foundation of the social enterprise.

When an organization manufactures products, I feel there are two kinds of products that emerge:

1.       Economic products or commercial products. Products which are bought and sold for a profit and which are normally counted as growing the shareholder value.

2.       But, in addition, there are also social products which are generated alongside. Products which maybe intangible, which may be detrimental and which, if created knowingly, with positive intent, can contribute to the social environment thereby also contributing to the stake holder value. Today, these products also exist, mostly as by-products of our manufacturing or production process. And today, these are mainly detrimental.

The Social enterprise then, should look like a enterprise dealing in or working with the second category of products, that which have a positive value and therefore support the cause of sustainability and quality of life. These maybe in the area of food, energy, health, lifestyle, any aspect of our human life as we know it today. The success measurement of such products could be in terms of the natural resources they save or enhance, and the positive impact they create on our lives and that of our fellow men.

I think the call to action for our business leaders is very clear ! 

The future of business lies in building sustainable products.

Most of us think about sustainability as a far off effect of our lives on the ecosystem and nature that surrounds us. But think about this… everything we do or say, produce or consume, create or destroy , tangible or intangible , has a effect on the finite natural resources including our own psychology !

In a world fast depleting its resources, while we express our greatest concerns,  we continue to manufacture or produce products and articles which are depleting the same. Very soon there will be no “raw material” to produce from!

Today, the writing on the wall is very clear. The future of business lies in innovating and building sustainable products. Products whose life cycle is longer, and which at the end go back to reinstating the raw material it was made from. Not depleting it. Whether it is power, fuel or food, sustainable product development touches every aspect of our lives. Being “green”, “eco friendly”  etc are only buzz words at the end of the day. What and how these products use and deplete and how much they add back is what really matters.

As thought leaders and innovators, it’s time we all re-looked at the way we design and build products, measuring the amount of finite resources our products or their use will finally consume and how much they will add back. It’s time we even looked at the software games we build. Are they depleting us of our positive human emotions or are they building us into game warriors ? Just look around us, how many computer games we see which are based on education, peace, harmony etc.? How many computer games do we see that may educate us on the fact that the amount of poverty and the rate it’s growing is also leading us into a non sustainable mode ?

The future as we know it today is scary! Its time we went back to the drawing board !