Triple bottom line –economic, social and environmental benefits
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits for external shareholders. The idea of social enterprise has a long history around the world, though under different names and with different tendencies.[5] Whilst many social enterprises will today accept finance and other forms of support from the state, they are essentially enterprises that seek independence from both the state and private capital through strategies that create a social economy. A useful perspective, created by social enterprise consultants across four continents after a review by Social Enterprise Europe, highlights three factors which frame the business philosophy of a social enterprise:[12]
1) The extent to which it engages in ethical review of the goods and services it produces, and its production processes;
2) The extent to which it defines its social purpose(s), and evidences its social impact;
3) The extent to which it democratises ownership, management and governance by passing control of its human, social and financial capital to its primary stakeholders (producers, employees, customers, service users).
The Social Enterprise Mark: http://www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk/ In 2012 Social Enterprise UK had a 'Not In Our Name' campaign against Salesforce.com, a global software and CRM company, that had begun using the term 'social enterprise' to describe its products and had applied for 'social enterprise' trademarks in the EU, America, Australia and Jamaica. The campaign was supported by similar organisations in America (the Social Enterprise Alliance), Canada, South Africa and Australia. An open letter was sent to the CEO and Chairman of Salesforce.com Inc., signed by people and organizations from across the world, including Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder