IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/5108.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Social Business Enterprises: Maximising Social Benefits or Maximising Profits? The Case of Grameen Danone Foods Limited

Author

Listed:
  • Asad Kamran Ghalib
  • Farhad Hossain

Abstract

Where the concepts of free markets and capitalism have been lauded to bring freedom and choice, they have been held responsible for bringing much worldwide social and economic disparity. Critics have blamed them for widespread crime, corruption and poverty. Wary of such consequences, entrepreneurs have come with an innovative idea - running businesses on a no-loss basis, combined with a social and moral cause. This paper looks at the core concepts that lie at the heart of capitalism and free markets, and redefines the enterprise as an entity that not only operates to maximise profits, but also works towards a righteous cause. The paper discusses the basic features of a social business enterprise (SBE) and provides an illustration of the theoretical framework; the second part of the paper presents the case of Grameen- Danone Foods Limited (GDFL), a social business enterprise. It carries a detailed analysis of its rationale, incorporation, product, operations, and the challenges it currently faces. The paper concludes with a note on the benefits which such a social enterprise brings, and surmises future prospects.

Suggested Citation

  • Asad Kamran Ghalib & Farhad Hossain, 2008. "Social Business Enterprises: Maximising Social Benefits or Maximising Profits? The Case of Grameen Danone Foods Limited," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 5108, GDI, The University of Manchester.
  • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:5108
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/bwpi/bwpi-wp-5108.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allen L. Hammond & William J. Kramer & Robert S. Katz & Julia T. Tran & Courtland Walker, 2007. "The Next 4 Billion," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 2(1-2), pages 147-158, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robert L. Williams, Jr. & Maktoba Omar, 2013. "Case Study: Utilizing the VFBOP model for entry into emerging markets: Grameen Danone Foods," Transnational Marketing Journal, Oxbridge Publishing House, UK, vol. 1(1), pages 59-71, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bucher, Silke & Jäger, Urs & Prado, Andrea M., 2016. "Scaling private health care for the base of the pyramid: Expanding versus broadening service offerings in developing nations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 736-750.
    2. Hirmer, Stephanie & Cruickshank, Heather, 2014. "Making the deployment of pico-PV more sustainable along the value chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 401-411.
    3. Gibson Meira Oliveira & André Gustavo Carvalho Machado, 2017. "Dynamic of Innovation in Services for Consumers at the Bottom of the Pyramid," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 14(6), pages 609-623, November.
    4. Baumuller, Heike & Husmann, Christine Ladenburger & von Braun, Joachim, 2011. "Innovative business approaches for the reduction of extreme poverty and marginality?," Working Papers 147921, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    5. Christopher P. Blocker & Kenneth C. Manning & Carlos A. Trujillo, 2023. "Beyond radical affordability in the base of the pyramid: The role of consumer self‐confidence in product acceptance," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 619-647, January.
    6. Thomas André & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2015. "Managing Base of the Pyramid as a Business Opportunity : A Longitudinal Field Study," Working Papers hal-01221651, HAL.
    7. Boidin, Bruno, 2015. "Économie politique de la santé comme bien public mondial," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 17.
    8. Pete Tashman & Valentina Marano, 2009. "Dynamic Capabilities and Base of the Pyramid Business Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 495-514, March.
    9. Sébastien Mena & Marieke Leede & Dorothée Baumann & Nicky Black & Sara Lindeman & Lindsay McShane, 2010. "Advancing the Business and Human Rights Agenda: Dialogue, Empowerment, and Constructive Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 161-188, April.
    10. Shaphali Gupta, 2020. "Understanding the feasibility and value of grassroots innovation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 941-965, September.
    11. Monica C. Diochon & Alistair R. Anderson & Yogesh Ghore, 2017. "Microfranchise emergence and its impact on entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 553-574, June.
    12. Syed Abidur Rahman & Azlan Amran & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh, 2016. "Enhancing the Wellbeing of Base of the Pyramid Entrepreneurs through Business Success: The Role of Private Organizations," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 195-216, May.
    13. Simon Joncourt & Heiko Gebauer & Javier Reynoso & Karla Cabrera & Ana Valdes & Katharina Greve, 2019. "Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 241-261, October.
    14. Manuel Stagars, 2014. "Impact investment funds for frontier markets in Southeast Asia: Creating a platform for institutional capital, high-quality foreign direct investment, and proactive policy," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(6), pages 347-352, December.
    15. Tassilo Schuster & Dirk Holtbrügge, 2014. "Benefits of Cross‐sector Partnerships in Markets at the Base of the Pyramid," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 188-203, March.
    16. Baker, Derek & Mtimet, Nadhem & Pica-Ciamarra, Ugo & Nsiima, Longin, 2016. "Consumers’ preferences for animal-source foods and retail outlets: The case of Tanzania," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(3).
    17. Rivera-Santos, Miguel & Rufín, Carlos, 2010. "Global village vs. small town: Understanding networks at the Base of the Pyramid," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 126-139, April.
    18. Rüdiger Hahn, 2009. "The Ethical Rational of Business for the Poor – Integrating the Concepts Bottom of the Pyramid, Sustainable Development, and Corporate Citizenship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(3), pages 313-324, February.
    19. Joy Olabisi & Eileen Kwesiga & Norma Juma & Zhi Tang, 2019. "Stakeholder Transformation Process: The Journey of an Indigenous Community," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 1-21, September.
    20. Ramani, Shyama & SadreGhazi, Shuan & Duysters, Geert, 2010. "On the Delivery of Pro-Poor Innovations: Managerial Lessons from Sanitation Activists in India," MERIT Working Papers 2010-018, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:5108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.