Conservation Entrepreneurship/Annotated Bibliography
ANNELENA PORTO DELGADO
Moore, G. (2004). The Fair Trade movement: parameters, issues, and future research. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1-2). pp. 73-86
This article brings out information about one of the main beginning in fair trade, which occurred with coffe and chocolate. With an unfair trade for small producers in South, and consumer demand that ruled the market and consequently exploited small farmers. This text is a good overall about the gap among suppliers and demand. Perspectives of ethical consumption within coffee market are good to understand the emergence of fair trade as a new model of business.
Levi, M., & Linton, A. (2003). Fair Trade: A Cup at a Time?. Politics & Society Journal, 31, 407-432. doi: 10.1177/0032329203254862
This paper also investigates the relationship among Southern producers and Nothern consumers such as many authors refer fair trade to. The relation between both parts describing interesting characteristics of fair trade. This article has good descriptions and nice highlights for deficiency in the process and how ethical it has been done in these 40 years of existence. Going through the topic's definition to its goals, and characteristics of the market.
COLLINS NUNYONAMEH
The Fair Trade Resource Network (2010), The New Consciousness Consumer: Expanding Economic Justice through Fair Trade, Boston, Red Sun Press
This book provides comprehensive and detailed information on the concept of fair trade. Targeted at both those already involved in the fair trade movement and those outside of it, the book describes or defines fair trade, its goals, and differentiates fair trade from other types of trade. The authors further provide very useful and current statistical data on the fair trade industry, highlighting the challenges and making compelling arguments why an outsider must consider supporting fair trade. This book is especially ideal for those interested simply expanding their knowledge about fair trade, as well as researchers interested in understanding key trends in that industry.
Arnould, Eric J., Plastina, Alejandro, and Ball, Dwayne (2009), Does Fair Trade Deliver on Its Core Value Proposition? Effects on Income, Educational Attainment, and Health in Three Countries, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 28 (2), 186–201
This paper provides some partial, extremely useful answers to a lingering question on concept and practice of fair trade, which is whether fair trade delivers on its normative underpinnings of delivering benefits to small producers? While discussing the arguments, justifications and denunciations of the fair trade concept, the authors demonstrate that fair trade does deliver on some very important indicators of socio-economic improvement: health and education. Policy makers, industry insiders, researchers and students may find this paper very useful and informative.
Denyse Mello
Strategic Management: New Ventures and Small Business - ArnoId C. Cooper, Kvannert Graduate School of Management? Indiana - In Long Rhnge Planning. Voi. 13. No. 5. pp. 39 to 45, 1981
This article Cooper Discuss the factor the influencing the formulation and implementation of strategy in new and small firms. The authors argue that small businesses differ significantly in their resource positions, the goals of their founders and their potential. They also be different in stage of development: thus strategic management is examined independently in the start-up stage, the early-growth stage, and the later-growth stage. lntracorporate entrepreneurship in established firms is also considered. However, in spite of this variety, small firms create an environment for strategic management in which both the opportunities and constraints are different from those in large organizations.
Antinori, C. & D.B. Bray. 2005, “Community forest enterprises as entrepreneurial Firms: Economic and institutional perspectives from Mexico,” World Development, 33: 1529-1543.
Study of community-managed forestry enterprises (CFEs) operating in competitive markets. They argue that a rights to forests are decreasing globally, but collective management of timber operations presents an emerging community forestry policy option. CFEs have unusual institutional features that force “a reconsideration of theories of the firm, unique management tensions, varieties of possible institutional arrangements governing stocks, and flows of the natural resource, and may have special importance in delivering both economic equity and environmental protection” and, more significantly here, that stand as a type of extra-state power.
Agrawal, A. & S. Goyal. 2001, “Group Size and Collective Action: Third-party Monitoring in Common-pool Resources,” Comparative Political Studies, 34: 63-93.
This theoretical article examines the hypothesis that group size is inversely related to successful collective action, and could be applicable to entrepreneurial enterprises focusing on community-based action, be it development or conservation. It combines the analysis of primary data with a game-theoretic model. The model considers a group of people protecting a commonly owned resource from excessive exploitation. The authors view monitoring of individual actions as a collective good and focus on third-party monitoring, such as that of the state. As group size increases, so does the cost of monitoring, making ideal resource-management groups small-to-medium sized.
Kamenetz, A. (2010, November). Starbucks' Cup Problem. Fast Company , pp. 116-121, 175.
This article begins with a business in Cedar Grove that takes waste (for a fee) and turns it into compost which it then sells. Unfortunately for Starbucks their cups are currently not made in a way that makes it possible for them to be disposed of with this process. The problem with the current way that the cups are made is that it is necessary to use a plastic lining to ensure that the cups remain waterproof. Since current recycling plants can only recycle plastic or paper, and not items that are combination of the two, paper cups end up in landfills creating a massive problem for the environment.
1) Before reading this article I didn’t believe in Starbucks’ commitment to the environment, or to several others that they have claimed, but this has changed my mind. I was initially interested in reading this article because I personally deal with the dilemma of the Starbucks cup every time I want (or need) coffee but do not have my own thermal cup with me. I cannot buy a coffee and ignore the fact that the cups aren’t recyclable or that there is a considerable foot print in the making of each cup. Considering that I often choose not to buy a coffee for this reason, it makes good business sense for Starbucks to consider the issue and make the changes necessary to become environmentally sustainable – especially considering that there product is a luxury item and not something is actually needed.
2) In reading this article I was impressed with the apparent commitment on Starbucks’ behalf. In addition to creating a number of changes within the company, including creating the corrugated heat sleeve that cut down on double-cupping, they also held Cup Summits to bring the issue to the forefront of the industry. These summits were open to Starbucks’ direct competitors like Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds, as well as cup manufacturers, and recyclers and invited each to the discourse regarding the nature of the problem and possible solutions. I think this was a brilliant move on Starbucks’ part because, while others may have been slower to realize the problem, it is an issue that is affecting each but, more importantly, by getting everyone in the industry on board Starbucks no longer has to bear the whole burden of funding research and the development of alternatives.
Stephen Cornell. (2006). What Makes First Nations Enterprises Successful? Lessons from the Harvard Project. Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs (JOPNA).
This paper reviews the outcomes of several First Nation business ventures that were examined by Harvard students to determine what broad lessons should be applied to other First Nation businesses. The author, Paul Cornell, describes different types of First Nation business partnerships, models, problems and levels of involvement by the tribe’s representative body (Tribal Council). The author’s analysis is primarily focused on five topics that he believes have a significant impact on these businesses but is sometimes ignored. The five topics are: clarity about the goals of the business, management of the politics-business connection, enterprise boards, dispute resolution and the need to educate the community about the business’s goals and activity.
1) I personally found Cornell’s paper to be rather blind to the challenges that First Nations must overcome in order to start and be successful with an entrepreneurial endeavor. Many of the reservations in both the U.S. and Canada face conditions that are more common in the Third World such as extreme poverty (on a household and community level), energy poverty, water scarcity and a stark lack of education and infrastructure. While the author was focused more on the business model First Nations should use, and less on how to actually come up with the financial capital and infrastructure, it is still vital to address these issues because they will most certainly present ongoing challenges to the success of the business.
2) I had much more appreciation for the analysis and thought given to the level of involvement that tribal leaders should have in the business and felt that this analysis could be quite useful to First Nations who are grappling with that question. Cornell addresses this situation primarily in the context of managing the politics-business connection, the composition of the enterprise board and dispute resolution though it does of course fall in to each of the topics he discussed. The dynamic between a tribe and its nation-owned business is one that I found to be very interesting and enlightening and I agree with Cornell when he argues against there being too much involvement by Tribal Councils because it would undermine the success of the business by bringing politics and personal relationships into the mix. This is also true in dispute resolution, something that is usually handled by the Council yet, in regards to a business, would undermine the authority of the business’ leadership and would also put the needs of the business behind the politics and personal relationships of individuals on the Council.
Angela (Reid) Quashigah
Annotated Bibliography:
1). Dees, J. Gregory. 2007. "Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously." Society 44, no. 3: 24-31.
Summary:
Dees defines social entrepreneurs as people who apply a businesslike sense of innovation to solve social problems. He cites several recent examples of social entrepreneurship and discusses its emergence in academia and society. Dees traces its roots back to the history of poverty alleviation in Europe, starting with charity from the church, and transitioning towards government efforts at addressing social problems. He then cites examples to support his claim that the private sector is actually better equipped to solve soceity’s problems through the idea of social entrepreneurship. Unlike government programs, private social entrepreneurs have less restrictive rules, can tailor their programs to specific groups, can access private funds, have more specialized skill sets within their organizations, and can work across political and social boundaries. However, society does not currently acknowledge the value of social entrepreneurship.
Discussion:
Although the private sector may be better equipped for handling social problems, the ultimate responsibility for social issues lies with the government. While social entrepreneurs may be able to innovate the best solutions at times, it is up to the government to ensure that social issues are being properly addressed and to provide a level of equity for all citizens. When governments fail in this regard, it is up to the international community to protect the human rights of all citizens around the world. Governments should encourage and employ the private sector as a crucial tool in meeting society’s needs, rather than bombard it with over-regulation or out-compete it with provisions free-of-charge.
There does not need to be a strict divide between socially-purposed ventures and for-profit businesses. A social venture ought to operate just like a business if it is to be successful, while in turn, shouldn’t a successful business make the effort to do some social good at the same time? I envision a future in which these organizations are one-and-the-same, with consumers voting their value preference through their purchasing power and other forms of support. Capitalism encourages value creation in business, while social problem-solving has generally invoked charity; what we need to do is combine the two into a cohesive entrepreneurial approach to create real social change.
2). Shaoming, Cheng, Roger R. Stough, and Randall W. Jackson. 2009. "Measuring and building high-quality entrepreneurship: a research prospectus." Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences 22, no. 3: 329-340.
Summary:
This article points out the importance of entrepreneurship in reducing poverty and addressing other social issues. It highlights the fact that strategies are shifting from large businesses to small-scale entrepreneurial enterprises. Such small businesses are especially beneficial for economic development in rural areas across America. Shaoming, Stough, and Jackson (2009) discuss the difference between something that is simply a new venture and something which is a product of true entrepreneurship. They assert that true entrepreneurship continues to expand over time and with an ever-present flow of new ideas and innovations, while new ventures could simply be a product of need or convenience. Most measures of entrepreneurship thus far have been solely quantitative. The authors developed an equation for measuring entrepreneurship quality. It takes into account average initial employment and percentage of high-growth firms in each employment category, summing to provide an entrepreneurship quality index value for each sector.
Discussion:
The entrepreneurship quality index was developed using information from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) of the U.S. Census Bureau. While LBD data is not publicly accessible, the entrepreneurship quality index will be available for use in planning and development. This information will allow funding agencies to direct their support towards the most promising initiatives. It will also allow government agencies to implement programs for encouraging quality entrepreneurship in rural areas. While quality entrepreneurship is important, we should not totally disregard quantity either. An ideal entrepreneurship index would take into account both quality and quantity, as well as other factors, resulting in a multidimensional entrepreneurship index.
Another challenge for measuring quality of entrepreneurship is taking it beyond rural America and into the international market in today’s ever-expanding global economy. An ideal multidimensional entrepreneurship index would be used across time and space to classify ventures on an international scale. Challenges encountered around culture and politics are those which must be addressed anyway in order to function in today’s global market.
The authors should have included some concrete examples of the implementation of their index in the study. I am interested to learn how current well-known entrepreneurial enterprises would measure up in this study or how they would rank in relation to each other according to this index.
DAVID MACCA HANSON
1) Burlingham, B. (2005). Small Giants: Companies that choose to be great instead of big. New York, NY. Portfolio.
SUMMARY: The author profiles 14 companies that chose to do something out of the business ordinary- they declined traditional growth models and instead, sought to develop their core competencies to be great. Bo Burlingham described this as the company’s mojo. Success came by getting richer but this was not always financial. Success could mean that the business’ clients were loyal and in some cases, really adopted the business as their own. In other cases, the business owners themselves were able to lead good lives because the business was their passion. It became not simply a place of employment but a place where dreams were realized. In profiling these 14 companies, Burlingham gives us a look into the daily business challenges of these non- traditional entrepreneurs such as dealing with shareholders, customers and the industry in general. These entrepreneurs, as Burlingham described them, had to be very creative in order to ensure business survival. In closing, this book shows that a company does not have to grow astronomically to be great.
DISCUSSION: Upon reading this book, I became obsessed with what Burlingham describes as a business’ mojo. The term ‘mojo’ is certainly not new. In actual fact, mojo has many meanings depending on the field of study or subject area. For example, in Management, a mojo alludes to the distinctive competence of a business or leader. In Economics, a mojo is a firm’s competitive advantage. Bo Burlingham, combined these two definitions to develop his own interpretation of a mojo. In other words, he used the unique nature of a distinctive competence and the competitive nature of advantage to define the term ‘mojo’. According to Zingales , the old nature of the firm was to focus more on the physical asset (Zingales, 2000). However, with the changing of the times, the new nature of the firm had more to do with the human capital than the physical asset. This is in the line with Burlingham’s focus on the mojo of the firm as a reflection of not only its lead-entrepreneur but also, the employees. That said, based on the understanding that a small, entrepreneurial firm or small giant is a reflection of the personality traits of the lead-entrepreneur, the mojo starts with the entrepreneur.
In my understanding, a mojo has many components since it is based on human nature and not economic nature. Therefore, a mojo involves love, passion, inspiration, trust, intimacy, discipline, perseverance, intuition, honesty, creativity and simplicity. The ability of the entrepreneur to transfer this mojo to employees has a lot to do with charisma. Either the mojo is transferred to the employees via the business itself (culture) or it comes directly from the entrepreneur via relationships. Relationships are key to the creation, development AND transfer of mojo. Also, as a sub-mojo, I would add ‘luck’. Although these entrepreneurs worked smart at creating and transferring mojo to the business and its employees and in so doing achieving success, one cannot discount the factor of luck in all this.
2) Johnson, Spencer. (1998). Who moved my cheese?: an a-mazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life. New York, NY. Penguin Putnam.
SUMMARY: The book features four characters- two mice and two humans. The mice are called Sniff and Scurry and the Hem and Haw are the humans. The story follows that all four characters team up (mouse with mouse and human with human) to look for cheese. They all eventually end up at the utopia of cheese, Cheese Station C. The humans, thinking this place to be the Holy Grail and end of their search, develop routines around this place. The mice on the other hand, consume what they can but know that this supply is not constant. As such, when the cheese runs out, the mice aren’t surprised but instead, have developed a plan B- they move on in search of new cheese. The humans however, are distraught at the cheeseless station. They begin to blame each other until Haw proposes to search for new cheese. Hem protests as he is afraid of the unknown and comfortable in his old routine. Meanwhile, the mice have found new cheese. Eventually, Haw moves on in search of new cheese- leaving Hem with a note that reads, ‘If you do not change, you can become extinct.’ He also ponders the question, ‘what would you do if you weren’t afraid?’ and sets off on his journey. After many empty cheese stations, Haw finally finds Cheese Station N- where the mice currently are. Reflecting on his journey, he decides to leave Hem some more pointers:
Change Happens; Anticipate Change; Monitor Change; Adapt To Change Quickly; Change; Enjoy Change!; Be Ready To Change Quickly and Enjoy It Again
DISCUSSION: This book, although simple in writing, highlights some important points that all conservation entrepreneurs should note. In essence, it posits that social entrepreneurs need to first realize that like life itself, change is an axiom. Change will always occur because we live in a dynamic system. For example, conservation goals may change, regular donors may lose interest, policies may become less conservation friendly, cultures may shift. Therefore, the onus is on the social entrepreneur to not only anticipate change but to learn to adapt quickly and effectively. This alludes to the premise of the Getting to Plan B book (Mullins, 2009). Additionally, this book mentions the ability to enjoy life/change- in essence, make your change management your passion. The entire change process is a constant dynamic that requires constant creation, revising and development of one’s entrepreneurial goals and associated strategy. Applying the principles in this book would undoubtedly help any social entrepreneur navigate through life’s many ups and downs.
Martinez, J. and M. Carbonell (2007). "Value at the bottom of the pyramid." Business Strategy Review 18(3): 50-55.
Abstract: Juan Luis Martinez and María Carbonell refute common misconceptions about doing business with low-income consumers and provide a model for doing well while doing good.
Summary: Martinez and Carbonell put forth the idea that marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) may be a source of new markets and an opportunity for revitalization as well as proving ethical commitments. They focus on the change in mindset necessary to selling to the BoP being that a company needs to first, get over the ideas that the poor have no money (refuted by their large numbers and aggregate power to spend), the spending of the poor is restricted to basic needs (the poor do buy items that make their quality of life better (i.e. televisions, etc.) even if they can’t buy a car), and that the poor only buy cheap things (stating that the poor end up paying higher prices since they can’t buy in bulk, so companies with established supply chains can take advantage of these larger margins.) Martinez et al. then state the companies need to adapt to this market versus still using a developed world model, as well as focusing on Business Social Action (BSA). The article concludes with a case study of Codensa an electricity supplier in Colombia and how it integrated an electrical device sales scheme into its current portfolio of activities. (Martinez and Carbonell 2007)
Discussion: 1. Martinez and Carbonell address the issue of marketing to the BoP as a means of opening up new revenue streams for a company. What are some of the issues for entering the BoP market? I believe that for Multi-National Companies (MNCs) with established businesses in the developed world, moving into BoP markets would be a logical choice. If procedures for understanding the nature of the market at the BoP are followed as outlined in this article as well as hiring open minded people who are experienced or excited by this market an MNC could have positive returns on their investment. As for a startup business accessing only the BoP, I believe that many more difficulties would arise. Without the capital, experience, distribution channels and steady income stream of a richer market, a small startup may use all of its capital before a profit can be generated at the BoP. A better understanding of the issues facing foreign startups is necessary.
2. Martinez and Carbonell introduce the idea of Sustainable Business Social Action (BSA.) BSA is represented here by marketing to the BoP. Can BSA be a substitute for CSR? A component of CSR? I think that it would be controversial in the public’s mind if a business only used new markets at the BoP as its CSR. People worried about CSR may outright reject the idea that marketing to the BoP is even a morally correct way to generate profit. If then it is deemed acceptable, subsidizing the BoP market to meet needs for CSR would inevitably be unsustainable. I think that issues of CSR will get confused and muddled by marketing to the BoP, but these must be addressed early and thoroughly before an MNC decides to pursue these opportunities.
McKenzie-Mohr, D., & Smith, W. (1999). Fostering sustainable behavior: An introduction to community-based social marketing. British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers.
1. This book introduces the concept of community-based social marketing (CBSM) as well as offers steps to take to apply the theory. The context that this theory is applied is in sustainable behavior. In order to implement CBSM it is first necessary to identify both benefits to the behavior change in addition to the barriers to the behavior. It is essential to conduct research to assess the target audience to be able to identify benefits and barriers. The next step in the CBSM process is to use a variety of tools to facilitate behavior change. Five tools are presented: obtaining commitment, using prompts, creating norms, and utilizing effective communication. Another common tactic is to reduce the barriers in order to help the target audience achieve behavior change.
2.Behavior is a difficult thing to change in people. CBSM should be used as one tactic to help people change. However, it should be used in addition to other methods. Regardless of the method used to facilitate behavior change, understanding the target audience is a primary requirement. This holds true in many sectors such as marketing and education.
Community-based social marketing can be used in educational programs. If the desired behavior was to increase fruit consumption, the first step would be to see why people have the fruit consumptions habits they have. If it is found that processed foods are cheaper and fruit is less socially desired then tactics could be taken to make fruit more accepted by society as well as cost effective. One of the CBSM tools that could be implemented is creating norms. Prompts could be used in this case but must be changed in order to maintain effectiveness. Again, CBSM could be useful in facilitating behavior change but should not be the only thing used.
Karnani, A. (2009). Romanticizing the Poor, Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Abstract: A critique on market-based solutions to global poverty. The author refutes several popular theories regarding "philanthrocapitalism" and microfinance, asserting that poor citizens in developing countries lack the resources and know-how to navigate a First World capitalist system.
Summary: Karnani states that the idea that poor are well informed and act rationally in relation to economics is false. He says that the poor have a history of making bad financial decisions that could be against their self-interest, as illustrated by the Bangladeshi man who spends 20cents a day on tobacco, when that money could be used to buy an egg for each of his children every day. Karani also posits that using profits to alleviate poverty in relation to the idea of microfinance is not desirable. He claims that most poor, uneducated entrepreneurs accessing microfinance, would rather be working a wage job, using the comparison to the U.S. where wealth and education levels are high, but 90% of the people work for someone else. By his calculations the market at the Bottom of the Pyramid is on $360 billion, vs $14 trillion as claimed by proponents of marketing to the BoP.(Karnani 2009)
Discussion: 1. Karnani suggests growing the governments in these countries and having them create opportunities for the poor through deregulation, infrastructure improvements, and focusing the government’s activities on labor intensive industry. While we can see immediate results from initiatives such as microfinance, and consumerism, what is an appropriate timeline for these macro and micro interventions? Can the problem of poverty alleviation not be seen as having more than one answer, but a multitude of answers that can work synergistically to improve the lot of impoverished?
2. Karnani has a section of the article listing “bad choices” that the poor make. These range from alcohol and tobacco use, buying a treat for your child to spending money on ceremonies and festivals. He claims that being poor hinders the ability to make good decisions. Therefore if products are marketed to the BoP, they will continue to waste money which could put them in dire economic straits. As an outsider looking in, it seems to be quite easy to make judgments about how people should spend their money. Especially easy to do, when there seems to be a zero sum gain, or negative repercussions. Is this idea coming from a feeling of superiority, or chasteness that the author holds dear, and may only be value judgment with data to back it up? Is it right to take a big brother attitude and claim that the poor can’t handle their finances and therefore should not have access to the market?
Davidson, K. (2009). Ethical Concerns at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Where CSR Meets BOP. Journal of International Business Ethics 2(1), 22-32.
This article seeks to refute some of C.K. Prahalad’s proposed strategy for eradicating poverty by engaging with the “bottom of the pyramid” (BOP). Davidson argues that corporate social responsibility (CSR) meets the BOP expectations and must be incorporated into BOP strategies if they are to have any chance of success in emerging markets. Unlike Prahalad, Davidson does not believe that merely engaging the poor will turn the income distribution pyramid into a diamond, nor does he believe that through commerce alone will the poor be able to move up the ladder and enter lower to lower-middle income tiers. Rather, Davidson points out that Prahald’s strategy has inherent problems, and because emerging markets represent a big growth area for companies, we must 1) consider what we already know about CSR and 2) realize the ethical questions that are raised by doing business with a large number of impoverished stakeholders.
Contrary to what I presented in class regarding Prahalad’s theory of engaging the poorest of the poor, I think the issue is more complex than he presents it to be. I read this article to familiarize myself with the other side of the argument, and I’m glad I did. As Davidson points out, not all products are created equal in ethical terms. This is especially so when they are marketed to the BOP. Like many of the readings we’ve discussed throughout the semester, concepts such as the “triple bottom line” and duty to multiple stakeholders are also mentioned in this article. Davidson shows that while there can be examples of “doing well by doing good,” for CSR to be properly understood more must be done. Simply doing good is not enough; companies must do the right thing. In terms of ethical considerations, Davidson explores 1) the fundamental relationship between buyers and sellers, and 2) to what extent MNCs should adjust their tactics and strategies in developing countries. He breaks down the second point into subcategories, such as advertising and promotion, branding, distribution to discuss the unique underlying ethical concerns in each sub-category. In my opinion, one of the most interesting subcategories was packaging, as he describes how single-serving sachets are misleading because per ounce they cost up to twice as much (meaning the poor may more on a per-unit basis) and the associated environmental problems that result from single-serving waste.
While much of the article can be summed up as a battle between an economist and an ethicist (free choice versus whether it is wrong to market certain products to developing countries in the first place), the author weaves in examples from real life that show the divide is murky at best. For instance, as the post on “Romanticizing the poor” mentioned, the example of purchasing tobacco versus an egg for your child, the case of Casa Bahia (which we’ve discussed in class), and previous practices concerning other big-name companies such as Nestle and Proctor and Gamble are discussed. The most difficult ethical issue - the vulnerability of the poor - seems to require a balance between respecting dignity and the rights of everyone, including the poor, to make their own decisions – even bad ones from outsider eyes. But, as the author cautions, we must also not be blind and exploitative. Companies must use some restraint and this is where CSR can guide their behaviors, because in developing countries they are more than a return to stakeholders; they are an essential part of society.
As an aside, I thought this article was a really nice complement to the recent MDP online lecture by Anthony Bugg Levine that we watched for the Global Classroom. Levine discussed many similar themes on why business is important to development and had a realistic middle ground approach. Interestingly, he pointed out that “Poor people already get most of their services from the private sector ” – something I certainly forget from time to time. And, like Davidson, he noted the ethical conundrum of the BOP penalty, which means for the poor mistakes are detrimental and they pay more for substandard service/products. In our future roles as development professionals his overview provided some thoughtful advice on the challenges to businesses in developing countries and reminded us that social good, sustainability and government must be considered.
Valkila, J., Fair Trade organic coffee production in Nicaragua – Sustainable development or a poverty trap? Ecological Economics (2009), doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.07.002.
This article seeks to assess the impact of Fair Trade organic coffee production on small-scale farmers in Nicaragua. The author argues it is important to understand how farmer welfare is impacted by the twin certifications of “Fair Trade” and “organically certified.” Understanding how certifications affect producers is important for two reasons. First, these labels are important because many coffee farmers transitioned to organic production in recent years; second, because there is an existing perception that organic coffee production leads to lower yields. In addition, the author suggests there is a lack of studies that analyze the “economic viability of organic coffee production or the advantages conferred by Fair Trade compared with organic certification alone.” Thus, this article analyzes the viability and advantages of Fair Trade organic production (including trade benefits) for small-scale Nicaraguan farmers that could improve their wellbeing, while also protecting the environment. The author finds that for low-intensity coffee production, coffee with both Fair Trade and organic certification can increase farmer income. The increase in income is very modest, however, because “so little coffee is produced by [these] marginalized farmers.”
Last week’s group presentation on Fair Trade got me thinking, especially after seeing the slide about all the different product certifications out there. There are many times that I buy products adorned with those certification logos, but in all honesty, I don’t know what they all really mean. More importantly, I didn’t know what those certifications meant to the person who is actually producing the product. When I stumbled across this article, I thought it would be a good case study to learn about how these certifications affect the production and farmer livelihoods, of even one segment of the population (small-scale farmers), for a product I truly love: coffee.
This article does a good job of discussing this multilayered problem. It addresses a number of issues in conjunction with small-scale farming, including yields and costs of production. I especially like what I learned about the environmental benefits of organic coffee. Coffee farms are located in some of the most diverse and most-threatened environments. Because of this, coffee farms often act as a “refuge for wildlife.” Moreover, coffee fields store carbon, protect watersheds, and use strictly organic fertilizers.
It was interesting to learn that although Fair Trade does not require organic production, it encourages farmers to work toward organic practices when feasible. Thus, there is an inherent pressure on Fair Trade farmers to produce organically, to perhaps overcome the apparent “mismatch” of supply and demand when Fair Trade coffee is not organically certified. Other information I learned from the article was disappointing. It is unfortunate that despite the Fair Trade organic coffee increasing some farmers’ income, these same farmers remain impoverished. When farmers lack funds or credit, it appears difficult to increase yields by engaging in higher intensity production methods. Although the author states that organically-certified farmers have a “strong identity as ‘ecologically sound producers,’” the added premium charged to consumers for organically-grown coffee does not seem to trickle down to growers in terms of their ability to intensify production or to purchase more land for growing. But on the flip side, it probably should be considered that if these farmers are performing such important environmental services, there could and should be another way to compensate them without their scaling up production.
Salafsky, N., Cauley, H., Balachander, G., Cordes, B., Parks, J., Margoluis, C., Bhatt, S., Encarnacion, D., Russell, D., & Margoluis, R. (2001). A systematic test of an enterprise strategy for community-based biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology, 15(6), 1585-1595.
1. The Biodiversity Conservation Network (BCN) established 39 community-based projects throughout Asia and the Pacific. Research was done to assess if the strategy of using environmentally linked enterprises was effective at achieving biodiversity conservation. Projects included ecotourism, production of essential oils, fruit processing, timber harvest, and natural pharmaceuticals. Based on the results the researchers made four general hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that the enterprise must be financially viable and must be linked to the biodiversity. It was found that only 7 of the projects were making a profit while the others had no revenue or were only covering their variable and/or fixed costs. They found a strong relationship between the success of the enterprise and the amount of community involvement. Despite what they thought, they did not find a strong link between the success of the enterprise and the success of conservation. Another hypothesis was "the enterprise must generate benefits for stakeholders in biodiversity" (Salafsky et al., 2001). However they found that conservation occurred even in cases when a cash benefit was not given to stakeholders. The researchers did find that some form of an incentive was necessary in order for action to occur. The last part of their hypotheses was that stakeholders should have the ability to manage internal and external threats to biodiversity. Through their study they discovered that strong leadership was very important. Overall they concluded that an enterprise strategy will not always facilitate conservation of biodiversity. The use of adaptive management was emphasized.
2. This article was very interesting and relevant to the topics discussed in the course. The researchers explained that enterprise strategy does not guarantee biodiversity conservation. They recommended using their decision chart but add that even if the assessment predicts success conservation is not necessarily guaranteed. This point reiterates the need to fully know the community and environment that is trying to be worked with. Having as much information in the beginning will help to create a better outcome.
One strategy employed by conservation biologists is called adaptive management. The researchers suggested this approach as part of using enterprises to facilitate conservation. This entails making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. Shifts need to be made in the conservation strategy in order to effectively meet the goals. This reflects the type of strategy proposed in the Plan B book. Flexibility in changing plans is necessary for an enterprise and a conservation strategy to be viable.
Greyson Z. Nyamoga
Robinson, L. (2009). The problem with Social Marketing. Enabling changes. www.enablingchange.com.au
This article gives a detailed summary of the main critiques or problems of social marketing. It however explains some successful stories in implementing some programs using social marketing. It also explains the differences between marketing tangible goods versus social marketing in which we intent to address behavior changes. It is well addressed in this article that it is easy to market brands than to change individual’s behavior. The article also narrates that the principles of social marketing and community based social marketing are similar and that they both make use of market mix strategies commonly known as the four Ps (Product, Price, Place-Distribution and Promotion). The given criticism indicates that despite the fact that social marketing can be a useful tool but in some cases it has been ineffective due to its top down approach, power blindness and message fetish just to mention a few.
Therefore, Robinson suggests that to be successful and effective social marketing should encompass all stakeholders in the community including engineers, planners, politicians, regulators, facilitators, marketers and the community members themselves. Through this way all the needs of the community will be easily known and addressed depending on the community norms and set up. Robinson is in the opinion that working in multi-disciplinary, listening to both users and non-users, thinking on the same model that have worked somewhere else, being ready to abandon your own assumptions and thinking in terms of system will help the social marketing to be more effective.
McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2006). Fostering sustainable behavior: Community-based social marketing. Copyright © 2006-2010 McKenzie-Mohr & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cbsm.com/pages/guide/preface
The authors of this book introduces the concept of social marketing (SM) and community-based social marketing (CBSM) and tried to explain some theories and steps to take during its implementation in order to change individual behaviors. The authors narrated that in implementing these two one should identify benefits that will be associated with the behavior changes. They also mentioned some of the barriers hindering behavior changes. Identifying the needs of the community members is also an important aspect and research is therefore needed to assess their needs and the target audience to concentrate with. McKenzie and Smith said that to uncover the benefits and barriers one should undergo three steps: conduct a literature review, focus group discussion and undertake phone survey. They also explained about the five tools of enhancing behavior changes including commitment, prompts, norms, effective communication and incentives and motivation.
The author narrates that one of the most important thing in ensuring behavior change is to understand the audience we want to target. Since behavior is not an easy thing to change one should make use of the above different tools mentioned. Social marketing as well as community-based social marketing can play a significant role in changing behaviors if at all will be correctly used. The barrier observed will normally help to set goals and strategies on how to change the individual’s behavior in the community in question. Availability, accessibility, price and quality of the product or service may be among the barriers existing. Therefore, one will need to address these barriers in order to change the behavior of the targeted audience.
Camila Pazos Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know
Bornstein, D., & Davis, S. (2010). Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.
The book, Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know by David Bornstein and Susan Davis essentially explains how the field of social entrepreneurship has grown into a global movement that is hoping to produce solutions to many of the world’s toughest problems while transforming the way that human beings have been taught to think about global social change. It is a “general overview” filled with clear explanations about the origins, pioneers, definition, and factors that make up the field of social entrepreneurship, providing an impressive basis of knowledge for one who is hoping to learn about this field.
A key factor that is exemplified throughout the book is the fact that the field of social entrepreneurship represents a far better mechanism to respond to the needs of the most marginalized people around the world than anything that has ever been seen implemented. The authors claim it is a “decentralized and emergent force that remains our best hope for solutions that can keep pace with our problems and create a more peaceful world.” Social Entrepreneurship does not advocate for providing charity to individuals in need, but rather providing them with the tools to create a life of their own and emerge out of despair.
Another key aspect of the book is how it provides readers with an understanding about why it is important to take a standard business model and implement it in innovative social ways. What I think is particularly interesting about this book is how it provides a framework for working with communities to find the unique solutions to that particular community’s problems through the implementation of businesses.
Camila Pazos
Rethinking Community Based Conservation http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00077.x/pdf BERKES, F. (2004), Rethinking Community-Based Conservation. Conservation Biology, 18: 621–630.
Community development and conservation do not necessarily have consistent objectives. The results of community based experiments have been mixed, at best, and performance of many has been well below expectations. The question as to why they are not working is hard to address, but this article proposes that if conservation and development could be simultaneously achieved, then the interests of both could be served. The author proposes that the way in which both community development and conservation can have simultaneous interests is through paradigm shifts where 1) there is a systems view of the environment, 2) there is inclusion of humans in the ecosystem, and 3) there are participatory approaches to ecosystem management.
Today’s world is heavily dominated by human beings and I thought the idea that including humans when addressing conservation is a key factor that is sometimes neglected in the field of conservation biology. Instead of focusing only on the fact that conservation without taking into consideration development does not work, the author proposes to think about under what conditions traditional conservation works and does not as to find ways to make it work. The author claims that in order to do conservation and development successfully, human beings need to be taken into consideration because of the important interrelation, at so many different levels, that exists between humans, communities, and their environment, and not factored out of the equation or ignored.
/Social Marketing_ Annotated bibliography posted by Ana Lima
Erica Trejo
Tilley, F., & Young, W. (2009). Sustainability Entrepreneurs. Greener Management International, (55), 79-92.
This paper theoretically presents the idea of the ‘sustainability entrepreneur.’ It describes past theories about entrepreneurship and also about ecological modernization theory. It then moves on to describe how sustainable entrepreneurs are those whose enterprises contribute to creating social and environmental wealth. It argues that sustainable entrepreneurship is the way to have sustainable development fostered by entrepreneurship activities.
The paper describes the historical link between entrepreneurship and economics. This is seen through how entrepreneurship is discussed in the literature as a way to create wealth, economic development, new ideas, and employment. The paper then describes ecological modernization theory which states that economic development and environmental care are not mutually exclusive as previously believed. Finally, the paper moves onto discussing the authors’ model of sustainability entrepreneurship by stating two things about sustainability entrepreneurs. First, that sustainability entrepreneurs are not just economic actors, but are embedded in their social context which dictates their opportunities that they are attracted to doing entrepreneurial activities in line with their values. Secondly, that sustainability entrepreneurship is the only way that entrepreneurship can create sustainable development. To uphold this argument they describe how if sustainable development means achieving success in several different areas, then if entrepreneurial activity only contributes to improvement in one area, usually the economic , social, or environmental- that sustainable development cannot occur.
Sustainability entrepreneurs face challenges since their wealth creation isn’t just monetary, but monetary measures are often what are valued in a society. The paper considers that a barrier to more of them is the value we place on economic entrepreneurs. However, it argues is that these types of entrepreneurs actually create social and environmental wealth over simply reducing negative impacts of business. Therefore, for future sustainable development, we need to foster entrepreneurs who are able to think of economic, social, and environmental concerns while fostering enterprises that create wealth in all three areas.
Erica Trejo
O'Neill Jr, G., Hershauer, J., & Golden, J. (2009). The Cultural Context of Sustainability Entrepreneurship. Greener Management International, (55), 33-46.
This paper talks about how sustainability entrepreneurship creates value in social, environmental, and economic sectors. However, to create this value, cultural considerations must be taken into account. Therefore, the paper examines sustainability entrepreneurship opportunities through the lens of a particular case study about the Navajo Nation. The paper develops a model called the Holistic Value Proposition. This model shows the true value created by sustainable entrepreneurs and how it is limited by stakeholder values, amongst other things. These stakeholder values are influenced by external factors such as culture, regulations, macroeconomics and location. Therefore, a discussion/trade off must occur for the venture to be culturally appropriate. These discussions often taken place within social networks of different scales.
Different cultures fall into different cultural dimensions which influence how they view acceptable leadership and how to structure organizations. The Navajo are very collectivist, and as such, have developed a business model that takes this into account. They have a history of self-reliance and are plagued with many social ills. Their history of independence and relying on solutions from within their tribe has influenced their desire to foster entrepreneurship within the One Nation. Due to the historical/cultural ties to land within the Navajos, sustainable entrepreneurship is a major goal.
The sustainable entrepreneurial project the paper examines it the construction of ‘green’ homes by the Navajo through using waste materials in the concrete production phase. The paper describes how the connection between each other and the earth, along with the need for economically viable business, is a great example of how sustainable entrepreneurship can create value at the social, environmental, and economic scales.
Jorge Bastidas
1) Golden Fleece Seeking Edge, Fashion Firm Bets on Rare, Furry Animals The Loro Piana family, which hails from Italy's northern Piedmont region, has been in the textile business for six generations. In 1992 Loro Piana made a deal with the Peruvian government to exclusive right to all the vicuna wool production from Peru that is the country that produce most of the vicuna fleece in the word; ensuring a steady income to Peruvian farmers. The contract was over in 2005 and Mr. Loro Piana is trying to persuade other governments (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile) to develop their production and similar deals.
Loro Piana was able to lock a great deal with the Peruvian government that was suppose to help the Peruvian Andean farmers by creating a constant income ($400 per kilogram). Even though this deals was generating an income to a few farmers most of the income from the final product was going to Loro Piana. As the deal was created vicunas were kept in semi-captivity and not how it was first declared that it was going to be. This methodology might be generating a lot of distress to the animals. Furthermore, more recently Loro Piana acquired some land in the Peruvian Andes and it is harvesting vicuna wool with basically little benefit to Andeans communities. Meichtry, Stacy. "Golden Fleece Seeking Edge, Fashion Firm Bets on Rare, Furry Animals." The Wall Street Journal 2007. Web.
2) Shearing the Edge of Innovation Patagonia following its philosophy of environmentally friendly products, is trying to develop successful organic wool products as it was the case with organic cotton products. Organic cotton was challenging, but has proven to be successful. Jill Dumain, Patagonia’s director of environmental analysis, explained the company desire and challenges to use organic wool from buying the wool, developing the products, and selling the products.
The article was very interesting it touches on many points discussed in class through the semester. Since organic wool is not a popular supply is very low, so the price is very high. Also the fiber is not the same as regular wool so it cannot be use in any product and designers had a hard time working with the wool and developing products. Once all the production issues has been met more issues become prominent; production is established, but there is not demand for the product. As it is the case with many eco-friendly products, the “green” attributes of a product are not enough to inspire a consumer to buy the product; there are more important qualities for consumers in the clothing industry. For example, and probably the most important, design. Customers need to be attracted to the product and the “green” label add to the quality, but can not be the solo attribute of the product. Speer, Jordan. "Shearing the Edge of Innovation." Apparel. 2006. Web.
ANTONIO CRESPO
Stølen K., Lichtenstein G. and N. Renaudeau d’Arc. 2009. Local Participation in Vicuña Management. Chapter 7 in: The Vicuña, The Theory and Practice of Community Based Wildlife Management. Gordon (Ed.). Springer Science + Business Media, New York.
This article makes a very well sustained critique of the Vicuña management projects and programes developed in the Andes following the logic of the community-based conservation (CBC) paradigm. It makes a thorough revision of the three major assumptions of CBC in vicuña management: a) Andean communities are well defined social units; b) Local participation has a similar meaning in all situations; and c) Benefits derived from vicuña management will result in in meaningful benefits to local people and positive attitudes towards conservation.
Altieri, M. 2004. Linking ecologists and traditional farmers in the search for sustainable agriculture. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2:35-42.
This article gives some scientific data to explain the relationship between traditional agricultural practices and sustainable use of agroecosystems. It talks about the enriching possibilities of a technical dialogue that can occur between ecologists and farmers. The complexity of indigenous knowledge is just beginning to be understood, recognized and put to the service of orthodox science.
Willandia Chaves
1. Mulder, M. B., Coppolillo, P. 2005. Conservation: linking ecology, economics, and culture. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
This book brings together the social, economic, cultural, and ecological aspects of conservation. Without picking sides, the authors give an overview of the history, development, and importance of conservation, from protectionism to community-based approaches. The authors point out the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to conservation, stressing that no single strategy can in itself provide a solution to the problems of conservation. Mulder and Coppolilo argue that a broad perspective on the issue is essential for successful conservation.
2. Wilhelm-Rechmann, A., Cowling, R. M. 2010. Framing biodiversity conservation for decision makers: insights from four South African municipalities. Conservation Letters DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2010.00149.x
The authors look at the level of understanding of the terms ‘biodiversity’ and ‘sustainability’ by decision makes in four municipalities in South Africa. They argue that, although conservationists have used priority maps to assist local government, the assumption that terms such as ‘biodiversity’ are appropriate when communicating the need to conserve nature may not be true. The authors found that the term preservation of nature is seeing as opposed to socio-economic development, and ‘conservation’ is interpreted as a socially unjust effort. The authors give some recommendations on how conservationists should frame conservation issues to when trying to influence decision making.
Jennifer Carr
1) Internal branding: Exploring the employee's perspective Ceridwyn King and Debra Grace Journal of Brand Management (2008) 15, 358–372. published online 7 December 2007
This paper discusses the importance of ‘added value’ in an organizations brand that results from operant resources and “explores the differential effect that internally oriented initiatives have on an organization's human capital and its subsequent impact on the organization's brand, from the employee's perspective”. The research for this paper was conducted by interviewing employees of organizations within the service industry. The following research questions were developed from which they created their interview questions:
RQ1: To what extent do employees understand what their organization's brand represents?
RQ2: How do employees acquire organizational knowledge to help them carry out their roles and responsibilities in accordance with their organization's brand promise?
RQ3: What factors are considered by employees to be necessary for them to successfully deliver their organization's brand promise?
RQ4: How does the organization's internal market orientation impact employees' relationship with the brand?
The discussion of the service-centered dominant logic of marketing, promoted by Vargo and Lusch was interesting in this article. The authors differentiate between operand and operant resources. Operand resources are those that are acted upon to produce a certain output or effect (e.g. natural resources) while operant resources are those that produce effects (e.g. human knowledge or skills) and are intangible and may be expressed as the firm's core competencies or processes. Operant resources are of significant economic value and enhance productivity.
The authors also discuss internal brand management which is based on the employee’s need to have a central theme upon which the employee can shape their behavior so as to be consistent with consumer and organizational expectations. The authors identify internal brand management as a means to create outcomes such as organizational success and employee satisfaction but that there appears to be a limited understanding as to the impact of such efforts from an employee perspective.
2) Negative Double Jeopardy: The role of anti-brand sites on the internet S Umit Kucuk Journal of Brand Management (2008) 15, 209–222. published online 8 June 2007
This study discusses the role of anti-brand websites and their importance in markets and the Negative Double Jeopardy (NDJ) concept: ‘the most valuable brands attract more anti-brand sites while less valuable brands do not have such hate attraction on the Internet’. The autor investigates the reasons of anti-brand sites and identifies the components of NDJ which are ‘Brand Rank’ and ‘Brand Consistency’.
Strong brands have multiple disadvantages over weaker brands. Many anti-brand movements focus their efforts into anti-brand hate sites. Brands with a high ranking and consistently listed on Business Week's ‘Top 100 Brands’ List—BW List may attract more anti-brand hate site attention than less valuable brands. Data for this paper was collected by using major search engines to determine the number of anti-brand websites for the brands listed in BW List. One of the websites examined was Walmart-blows.com. The autor organizes anti-brand sites into the following conceptual classification:
• Experts (high brand rank, high brand consistency)
• Symbolic haters (low brand rank, high brand consistency)
• Complainers (high brand rank, low brand consistency)
• Opportunists (low brand rank, low brand consistency)
Anti-brand sites can harm a company and its brand, but may also indirectly provide opportunities and benefits for companies. Therefore, the author outlines four possible strategies for handling NDJ effects which can be used to address each type of anti-brand site in different scenarios:
• Work with experts
• Monitor symbolic haters
• Talk to complainers
• Combat opportunists
David Morrissey
Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
In The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes a world that allows all people to participate in the global market, as they are no longer bound by geography or political boundaries. The engine that drives this “flattening” of the world is technology. It is through the Internet and telecommunications that a person in Bangkok or Bangalore can work for IBM almost as easily as a person in Seattle. In fact, technology has given some people that were once considered outside the mainstream to have an advantage when competing in a globalized world. Friedman lays out ten forces that have flattened the world, including insourcing, outsourcing, uploading, and supply-chaining. Of particular interest to this class are a chapter on the developing countries in the flat world and one on social entrepreneurship. While some people may critique Mr. Friedman’s view of globalization as overly optimistic, one of the messages of the book is that if there is a problem to be solved or an opportunity to be taken advantage of, location is no longer the barrier it once was.
Questions for Discussion:
1. What limitations do people have in places that are still considered “undeveloped” or “developing”? What opportunities can be found in these places that are not found elsewhere? What considerations must be taken to be successful in these markets?
2. What development or conservation work can be done from afar? How can professionals in these fields utilize technology to maximize their efforts?
Grandin, G. (2009). Fordlandia: The rise and fall of Henry Ford's forgotten jungle city. New York: Metropolitan Books.
There are many obstacles to starting an enterprise in a country that is not your home, perhaps the most debilitating of these is not knowing enough about the area in which you hope to work. This is one lesson Greg Grandin is able to teach in Fordlandia, the story of Henry Ford’s failed attempt at a rubber plantation, factory, and community in the Brazilian Amazon. Ford was not only a businessman, but also an idealist and sociologist of his own making, and his attempts at community building in the suburbs of Michigan showed that he could be successful at this also. He was successful because he cared not just about productivity (which he often obsessed about), but also about the living conditions of the workers. The story of Fordlandia tells of one man’s attempt to dominate the people and environment of the Amazon, all in an effort to build a Utopia in which people could have economic opportunity and a place to live that would meet basic human needs. Ultimately, however, the challenges of working in a remote jungle were too large to overcome, and the settlement was abandoned, leaving a reminder to those who might attempt to follow in Ford’s footsteps.
Questions for Discussion:
1. Did Ford and his team have enough information about the place they were working before they started? How might they have planned better? Should they have attempted this project at all?
2. Which obstacles that they faced can be attributed to poor management? How could they have handled personnel issues better?