The Rise of Social Enterprises
Exploring what makes a company the most inspiring to its customers
By Stephanie Akkaoui Hughes
FLAIR
art & architecture
“ If we want to know what a business is , we have to start with its purpose . And the purpose must lie outside the business itself . In fact , it must lie in society , since a business enterprise is an organ of society ” – P . Drucker .
Stephanie Akkaoui Hughes is an architect , entrepreneur and worldwide speaker , based in Amsterdam . After developing her vision on architecture and social development , called Architecting Interaction , Stephanie founded AKKA Architects . Driven by Architecting Interaction , AKKA is dedicated to create spaces that foster interactions , such as collaboration , learning , creativity and innovation . Previously , Stephanie worked at OMA , where she run three projects in Education City , including Qatar ’ s National Library and Qatar Foundation Headquarters .
Every day , we are confronted with some 5.000 messages from brands and companies . Almost 400 of those are advertisements . Only 3 % of those messages have any form of impression on us . The rest disappears in a sea of some 120.000 thoughts , 95 % of which are not even conscious thoughts . This means that getting attention for your products as a company is a very difficult task nowadays . And yet , social enterprises , even the youngest ones are proving particularly successful . They don ’ t ask for attention , yet they are getting it . They don ’ t sell themselves and yet they are being bought . What is the secret to their success ? Why are social enterprises especially inspiring to us as customers ? Why are we , now more than ever , receptive to them ? Why are we likely to buy their products even before they are produced ? What makes us prone to invest in their projects ?
In 1978 , the term ‘ social enterprises ’ was first used by Freer Spreckley in a publication called Social Audit – A management Tool for Co-operative Working published by Beechwood college , UK . Spreckley used the term to describe a range of socially and democratically owned and run cooperations that introduced a ‘ Social Audit ’ as a tool to measure their non-commercial activities along the financial audit tool to measure their commercial activities . Spreckley defines social enterprises as “ An enterprise that is owned by those who work in it and / or reside in a given locality , is governed by registered social as well as commercial aims and objectives and run co-operatively may be termed a social enterprise . Traditionally , ‘ capital hires labour ’ with the overriding emphasis on making a ‘ profit ’ over and above any benefit either to the business itself or the workforce . Contrasted to this is the social enterprise where ‘ labour hires capital ’ with the emphasis on personal , environmental and social benefit .”
Since then , definitions vary and if anything , social enterprises are being more and more widely interpreted . In any case , social enterprises inspire us . And when you offer inspiration , you receive attention in return . A study made by Dutch company Synergie _ has shown that what all successful social enterprises have in common is one core message : they offer a perspective for a better world , a better future . And they do that on two complementary levels : they tackle the big questions and yet work with very small steps towards a very tangible solution . And most importantly , they involve their customers in their ambitions .
Synergie ’ s yearly study of the most inspiring organisations has shown that the 40 most inspiring organisations of 2016 are dominated by social enterprises , in fact the top 3 are all social enterprises . Social enterprises offer a vision , a new perspective and a real possibility for a new reality . They offer alternative answers to questions about energy , the environment and social issues . They offer a perspective about the future . Not a large and abstract perspective but a concrete , close and relatable one . They show that it is possible to improve things and that a solution is within reach . They offer a future vision but also an action plan . They are both aspirational and operational , which appeals to both sides of our human nature www . society . qa 37