Cambridge Judge Business School Discussions on Social Enterprise Cambridge University

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairman and Founder of BRAC, the world's largest NGO, says the role of social innovation is important for developing countries where new ways have to be found to lift people out of poverty. Speaking to an audience of MBA students in the Cambridge Leadership Seminars he stressed the importance of proper research.

The vulnerable elderly could be one group to benefit if new models of social enterprise were funded and developed sooner rather than later.

Dr Helen Haugh, an expert in social enterprise at Cambridge Judge Business School, explains the need for social enterprises to professionally assess their markets, the sustainability of their revenue streams and full costs before starting up a 'start up' if they want to be in for the long term!

Fundamentally, says Dr Paul Tracey, the 'Big Society' is an organisational concept, but to date employers have been excluded from the narrative.

Is 'Enterprise Society' a myth or a reality? Academics from Cambridge Judge Business School express their concerns about the resources needed to successfully deliver it.

Now is the right time for the social enterprise business model to rise to the top of the agenda, argues Dr Helen Haugh. Its pro-social approach offers opportunities to find new ways of delivering existing services and delivering new services to meet un-met needs. This social innovation can be used to address various intractable problems that society faces globally around health issues, access to healthcare, inequality, education, poverty and social exclusion. However, Dr Haugh warns, organisations who apply the social enterprise model need ensure they retain its values-based distinctiveness by remaining focusing on the triple bottom line and avoid becoming absorbed by government or the private sector. The rewards though will be a more balanced economy made up of private, public and a prosperous and thriving third sector.