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delivery. When combined with new technology and new behavioral understanding the possibility of developing effective interventions should be greatly increased.
Implications for Social Business
It is now accepted by a growing number of for-pro t agencies and not-for-pro t social businesses that building pro ts or even operating surplices is not
a wise corporate goal if pursued to the exclusion
of a contribution to wider social bene t. It is also increasingly perceived as an insuf cient license to operate. Pro t without social contribution is increasingly an unsustainable business strategy. Many companies known for their hard-nosed approach to business have embarked on important efforts to create social value
by re-conceiving the intersection between society and corporate performance. These efforts are supported by academics and theorists such as Porter & Kramer, (2011) who have developed a new narrative around the concept of ‘creating social value’ to enhance previously promoted conceptions of social bene t such as corporate social responsibility.
Social businesses are clearly vehicles in their own right for promoting social good. Social businesses that apply the power of new technology, management science and Social Marketing are well placed to make a signi cant impact on social challenges. Social businesses if they are to thrive will also need to be at the cutting edge
of best practice in all these elds. Social businesses also operate in highly competitive elds and so will
only survive if they apply best practice. As many social businesses have developed real expertise in these elds they are also well placed to share this know-how with other sectors. They should seek out and contribute
to multi sector coalition movements and networks to help share good practice. They can also make a strong contribution in the area of capturing understanding about what works in what situations and making this available via publication and dissemination of their evaluation program results. Many social businesses also operate with a strong commitment to engaging citizens and users of service in the prioritization and delivery of services. This experience should also be shared with other sectors together with target audience data (Suitably anonymised) to enhance collective efforts to understand target audiences needs and preferences.
Conclusions
The world faces may complex challenges but we are now in the fortunate position that we have far greater understanding about how to design and deliver effective social programs. We also have
the benefit of new technologies that can enable action and populations that often want to engage in finding and creating solutions. Social businesses are often at the forefront of innovation and many are well placed to apply new understanding from both marketing and behavioral science to the design of interventions and programs of action. Applying this understanding about how we make decisions and how we can be helped to opt for socially and personally responsible actions will enable social businesses from all sectors to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of their interventions. It will however also require social businesses to fundamentally review and assess how they currently provide the goods and services they do and to decide if current systems are compatible with what we now know about how people make decisions and how we can encourage them to act in socially responsible ways.
This confluence of opportunity is however one that also sets out a couple of challenges to social business and the for-profit sector. The first challenge will be to act as a torch bearer for an evidence, insight and science based approach
to social program design. The second challenge will be to act as an active agent to spread good practice through the establishment of trials and robust evaluations of programs. Through such actions social businesses can help confront practice that is not based on evidence and experience about what works and what does not.
Author’s note: This paper is based on a presentation given by Professor French at the Anadolu University ‘Social Business is good business’ conference held at the University in May 2013. A video of the presentation is available at: http://sbau.anadolu.edu.tr/videos.php
References
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