Edgard Barki

A three-pronged approach to social business: a Brazilian multi-case analysis

Social businesses present a new paradigm to capitalism, in which private companies, non-profit organizations and civil society create a new type of business with the main objective of solving social problems with financial sustainability and efficiency through market mechanisms. As any new phenomenon, different authors conceptualize social businesses with distinct views. This article aims to present and characterize three different perspectives of social business definitions: the European, the American and that of the emerging countries. Each one of these views was illustrated by a different Brazilian case. We conclude with the idea that all the cases have similar characteristics, but also relevant differences that are more than merely geographical. The perspectives analyzed in this paper provide an analytical framework for understanding the field of social businesses. Moreover, the cases demonstrate that in the Brazilian context the field of social business is under construction and that as such it draws on different conceptual influences to deal with a complex and challenging reality.Empresas sociais apresentam um novo paradigma para o capitalismo, em que as empresas privadas, organizacoes sem fins lucrativos e da sociedade civil criam um novo tipo de negocio com o objetivo principal de resolver problemas sociais com sustentabilidade financeira e eficiencia por meio de mecanismos de mercado. Como todos os fenomenos novos, diferentes autores conceituam negocios sociais com visoes distintas. Neste artigo, visa-se apresentar e caracterizar tres perspectivas diferentes de definicoes de negocios sociais: o europeu, o norte-americano e as perspectivas de paises emergentes. Cada um desses pontos de vista foi ilustrado por um caso diferente do Brasil. Conclui-se com a ideia de que todos os casos tem caracteristicas semelhantes, mas tambem algumas diferencas relevantes que sao mais do que apenas geograficas. As perspectivas analisadas neste trabalho fornecem um quadro analitico para compreender o campo dos negocios sociais. Alem disso, os casos demonstram que, no contexto brasileiro, o campo dos negocios sociais esta em construcao e, como tal, recorre a diferentes influencias conceituais para lidar com uma realidade complexa e desafiadora.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SOCIAL BUSINESS: RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE RESEARCH

Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business (SE/SB), inclusive business, businesses with social impact and a higher purpose are becoming increasingly important both in academia and the busi -ness world (Sassmannshausen & Volkmann, 2013). Since the influential article by Dees (1998), many different perspectives about social entrepreneurship and social business have been dis-cussed in academia. On the management side, these types of businesses have also proliferated in the last decades. Yunus with his work leading Grameen Bank has inspired many other entrepre -neurs and organizations to create a new kind of business more embedded with a social purpose.The main purpose of the Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business (SE/SB) field is to diminish vulnerabilities and social inequalities in the world. Indeed, SE/SB are emerging as prac -titioners of market forces that play an integrative role in bridging sustainable business models with society needs, that still exist because of opportunities arising from government gaps.According to Yunus (2010), one of the goals of SE/SB is to reduce poverty. Therefore, another stream of thought that is aligned with SE/SB is the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). From the semi-nal article by Prahalad and Hart (2002) much has been debated about BoP and how businesses might have a social impact. From a first approach based on the idea of a market base, the BoP field has evolved to a more inclusive perspective that has some relations to the concepts of SE/SB and currently has some of the same challenges of creating more inclusive approaches.The purposes of this article are twofold: firstly to examine some of the main themes dis-cussed about SE/SB up to the moment and secondly to present some major themes that we believe will be the focus in the next years.

Varejo: desafios e oportunidades em mercados emergentes

Presentation of the forum of articles from the Latin American Retail Conference (CLAV-2012) with thoughts on the evolution and perspectives for research in the area.

Negócios na base da pirâmide

C. K. Prahalad 2.ed. Porto Alegre: Bookman, 2009. 408 p.A primeira edicao deste livro e de 2004, sendo uma das publicacoes que mais influenciaram o mundo dos negocios para a base da pirâmide. O livro detalha como as empresas podem estabelecer negocios lucrativos na base da pirâmide, formada por 4 a 5 bilhoes de pessoas. Destaca tambem a relevância da inovacao e a influencia negativa do ambiente de corrupcao em paises emergentes. Traz diversos casos, dentre os quais o das Casas Bahia.

Social media crisis management: Aligning corporate response strategies with stakeholders’ emotions online

The article focuses on how the analysis of stakeholders’ emotions online can help companies facing a social media crisis determine the response strategy that will best minimize the reputational threat. The article indeed questions the relevance of classical crisis management theory to an online environment. Results show that social media have increased the unpredictability of corporate crises. Consequently, on social media, crises cannot be addressed with the methods that have prevailed so far. Rather, incorporating emotion-based analysis in six case studies showed how crisis analysis, and the subsequent response strategy, could be fine-tuned. The article builds on recent literature to develop a new analytical framework for response strategies and a model for crisis resolution—the social media crisis management matrix.

Tres perspectivas para negocios sociales: un análisis de casos múltiples brasileños

Social businesses present a new paradigm to capitalism, in which private companies, non-profit organizations and civil society create a new type of business with the main objective of solving social problems with financial sustainability and efficiency through market mechanisms. As any new phenomenon, different authors conceptualize social businesses with distinct views. This article aims to present and characterize three different perspectives of social business definitions: the European, the American and that of the emerging countries. Each one of these views was illustrated by a different Brazilian case. We conclude with the idea that all the cases have similar characteristics, but also relevant differences that are more than merely geographical. The perspectives analyzed in this paper provide an analytical framework for understanding the field of social businesses. Moreover, the cases demonstrate that in the Brazilian context the field of social business is under construction and that as such it draws on different conceptual influences to deal with a complex and challenging reality.Empresas sociais apresentam um novo paradigma para o capitalismo, em que as empresas privadas, organizacoes sem fins lucrativos e da sociedade civil criam um novo tipo de negocio com o objetivo principal de resolver problemas sociais com sustentabilidade financeira e eficiencia por meio de mecanismos de mercado. Como todos os fenomenos novos, diferentes autores conceituam negocios sociais com visoes distintas. Neste artigo, visa-se apresentar e caracterizar tres perspectivas diferentes de definicoes de negocios sociais: o europeu, o norte-americano e as perspectivas de paises emergentes. Cada um desses pontos de vista foi ilustrado por um caso diferente do Brasil. Conclui-se com a ideia de que todos os casos tem caracteristicas semelhantes, mas tambem algumas diferencas relevantes que sao mais do que apenas geograficas. As perspectivas analisadas neste trabalho fornecem um quadro analitico para compreender o campo dos negocios sociais. Alem disso, os casos demonstram que, no contexto brasileiro, o campo dos negocios sociais esta em construcao e, como tal, recorre a diferentes influencias conceituais para lidar com uma realidade complexa e desafiadora.

Três perspectivas para negócios sociais: uma análise multicasos brasileiros

Social businesses present a new paradigm to capitalism, in which private companies, non-profit organizations and civil society create a new type of business with the main objective of solving social problems with financial sustainability and efficiency through market mechanisms. As any new phenomenon, different authors conceptualize social businesses with distinct views. This article aims to present and characterize three different perspectives of social business definitions: the European, the American and that of the emerging countries. Each one of these views was illustrated by a different Brazilian case. We conclude with the idea that all the cases have similar characteristics, but also relevant differences that are more than merely geographical. The perspectives analyzed in this paper provide an analytical framework for understanding the field of social businesses. Moreover, the cases demonstrate that in the Brazilian context the field of social business is under construction and that as such it draws on different conceptual influences to deal with a complex and challenging reality.Empresas sociais apresentam um novo paradigma para o capitalismo, em que as empresas privadas, organizacoes sem fins lucrativos e da sociedade civil criam um novo tipo de negocio com o objetivo principal de resolver problemas sociais com sustentabilidade financeira e eficiencia por meio de mecanismos de mercado. Como todos os fenomenos novos, diferentes autores conceituam negocios sociais com visoes distintas. Neste artigo, visa-se apresentar e caracterizar tres perspectivas diferentes de definicoes de negocios sociais: o europeu, o norte-americano e as perspectivas de paises emergentes. Cada um desses pontos de vista foi ilustrado por um caso diferente do Brasil. Conclui-se com a ideia de que todos os casos tem caracteristicas semelhantes, mas tambem algumas diferencas relevantes que sao mais do que apenas geograficas. As perspectivas analisadas neste trabalho fornecem um quadro analitico para compreender o campo dos negocios sociais. Alem disso, os casos demonstram que, no contexto brasileiro, o campo dos negocios sociais esta em construcao e, como tal, recorre a diferentes influencias conceituais para lidar com uma realidade complexa e desafiadora.