Social Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth through Social Change

Social Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth through Social Change

by Jason Saul
Released October 2010
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9780470614501

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Book description

Could Wal-Mart offer a better solution to healthcare than Medicaid? Could GE help reduce global warming faster than the Kyoto protocol?

Social Innovation, Inc. declares a new era where companies profit from social change. Leading corporations like GE, Wellpoint, Travelers and Wal-Mart are transforming social responsibility into social innovation and revolutionizing the way we think about the role of business in society. Based on four years of measuring the social strategies of America's leading corporations, Jason Saul lays out the five strategies for social innovation and offers a practical roadmap for how to get started.

  • Explains the fundamental shift in the role of business in society, from social contract to social capital market

  • Identifies the 5 social innovation strategies: submarket products and services, social points of entry, pipeline talent, reverse lobbying, and emotive customer bonding

  • Offers step-by-step guidance for creating economic value through positive social change

Social Innovation, Inc. is about making social change work for the business, and in turn staying relevant in the new economy.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Introduction
  3. I. THE NEW ECONOMICS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
    1. 1. THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL CAPITAL MARKET
      1. 1.1. Size of the Social Capital Market
      2. 1.2. Drivers of the Social Capital Market
        1. 1.2.1. 1. Corporations Are More Powerful Than Governments
        2. 1.2.2. 2. Consumers Are More Powerful Than Citizens
        3. 1.2.3. 3. Social Issues Are Now Business Issues
          1. 1.2.3.1. Environment
          2. 1.2.3.2. Education
          3. 1.2.3.3. Health Care
          4. 1.2.3.4. Global Development
        4. 1.2.4. 4. Philanthropy Has Become a Commodity
        5. 1.2.5. 5. The Value of Intangible Assets Is Rising
      3. 1.3. What the Social Capital Market Means for Business
    2. 2. RESPONSIBILITY IS NOT A STRATEGY
      1. 2.1. From Social Contract to Social Capital Market
      2. 2.2. Why Companies Can't Win
        1. 2.2.1. 1. Being Good Is Defined as "Not Being Bad"
        2. 2.2.2. 2. Social Responsibility Is Now Just the Baseline for Doing Business
        3. 2.2.3. 3. Most Companies' Social Agendas Aren't Their Own
        4. 2.2.4. 4. Social Contract Strategies Weren't Designed to Produce Business Value
        5. 2.2.5. 5. Social Contract Strategies Weren't Designed to Solve Social Problems
      3. 2.3. We Need a New Approach
    3. 3. CORPORATE SOCIAL INNOVATION
      1. 3.1. Defining Social Innovation
        1. 3.1.1. What Social Innovation Is Not
        2. 3.1.2. So What Is Social Innovation?
        3. 3.1.3. How Social Innovation Creates Value
        4. 3.1.4. Why Social Innovation Makes Sense for Companies
      2. 3.2. Green: The First Color of a Rainbow of Social Innovations
        1. 3.2.1. Five Social Innovation Strategies
  4. II. FIVE STRATEGIES FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL INNOVATION
    1. 4. STRATEGY ONE: CREATE REVENUES THROUGH SUBMARKET PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
      1. 4.1. Tonik: Health Insurance for the Young Invincibles
      2. 4.2. The Innovation: Why This Strategy Works
      3. 4.3. The Backstory: How We Got Here
        1. 4.3.1. 1. Short-Tail Economics
        2. 4.3.2. 2. Bottom-of-the-Pyramid-ization
        3. 4.3.3. 3. Disruptive Innovation
      4. 4.4. The Formula: How This Strategy Works
        1. 4.4.1. 1. Identify the Social Problem That Makes Sense for Your Business to Address
        2. 4.4.2. 2. Understand and Address Unique Market Requirements
        3. 4.4.3. 3. Innovate
      5. 4.5. The Pitfalls: What to Watch Out For
        1. 4.5.1. 1. It's Not Just About Microfying
        2. 4.5.2. 2. Submarket Doesn't Mean Low Quality
        3. 4.5.3. Be Careful Not to Cannibalize
    2. 5. STRATEGY TWO: ENTER NEW MARKETS THROUGH BACKDOOR CHANNELS
      1. 5.1. Tesco: Building Oases in the Food Desert
      2. 5.2. The Innovation: Why This Strategy Works
      3. 5.3. The Backstory: How We Got Here
        1. 5.3.1. 1. Barriers to Entry Are Increasingly Social
        2. 5.3.2. 2. Interest in Private Sector Engagement Is Growing
        3. 5.3.3. 3. Philanthropy Has Its Limits
      4. 5.4. The Formula: How This Strategy Works
        1. 5.4.1. 1. Identify Social Barriers and Opportunities
        2. 5.4.2. 2. Tie Social Value to Your Core Business
        3. 5.4.3. 3. Find a Credible Partner
      5. 5.5. The Pitfalls: What to Watch Out For
        1. 5.5.1. 1. Don't Fall Into the Philanthropy Trap
        2. 5.5.2. 2. Think Beyond the Bottom of the Pyramid
        3. 5.5.3. 3. Be Careful Not to Overpromise and Underdeliver
    3. 6. STRATEGY THREE: BUILD EMOTIONAL BONDS WITH CUSTOMERS
      1. 6.1. OfficeMax's A Day Made Better
      2. 6.2. The Innovation: Why This Strategy Works
      3. 6.3. The Backstory: How We Got Here
        1. 6.3.1. 1. The Search for Meaning
        2. 6.3.2. 2. Cause Commoditization
        3. 6.3.3. 3. The Blanding of Branding
      4. 6.4. The Formula: How to Make It Work
        1. 6.4.1. 1. Own an Outcome
        2. 6.4.2. 2. Connect to Your Core
        3. 6.4.3. 3. Engage People in a Meaningful Way
        4. 6.4.4. 4. Let Others Tell Your Story
        5. 6.4.5. 5. Create a Wraparound
      5. 6.5. The Pitfalls: What to Watch Out For
        1. 6.5.1. 1. Don't Proceed Without Executive Buy-In
        2. 6.5.2. 2. Don't Guess
        3. 6.5.3. 3. Don't Confuse This with Cause Marketing
        4. 6.5.4. 4. Business-to-Business (B2B) Has Emotion, Too
    4. 7. STRATEGY FOUR: DEVELOP NEW PIPELINES FOR TALENT
      1. 7.1. High School, Inc.: Travelers' Hartford Insurance and Finance Academy
      2. 7.2. The Innovation: Why This Strategy Works
      3. 7.3. The Backstory: How We Got Here
        1. 7.3.1. 1. Failure of Public Education to Produce Job-Ready Talent
        2. 7.3.2. 2. Globalization Is No Panacea
        3. 7.3.3. 3. The Importance of "Middle-Skills" Jobs
      4. 7.4. The Formula: How This Strategy Works
        1. 7.4.1. 1. Build the Business Case
        2. 7.4.2. 2. Leverage Your Core Competency
        3. 7.4.3. 3. Choose the Right Pipeline
        4. 7.4.4. 4. Demonstrate ROI
        5. 7.4.5. 5. Get to Scale Quickly
      5. 7.5. The Pitfalls: What to Watch Out For
        1. 7.5.1. 1. Don't Conflate Pipelining with Philanthropy
        2. 7.5.2. 2. Don't Craft a Fifteen-Year Plan
        3. 7.5.3. 3. Don't Fall in Love with Your Partners
    5. 8. STRATEGY FIVE: INFLUENCE POLICY THROUGH REVERSE LOBBYING
      1. 8.1. Why Safeway Is Lobbying for Universal Health Care
      2. 8.2. The Innovation: Why This Strategy Works
      3. 8.3. The Backstory: How We Got Here
        1. 8.3.1. 1. A Shift from Direct Lobbying to Advocacy
        2. 8.3.2. 2. The Government Is Asking Business to Play a Larger Role in Social Change
        3. 8.3.3. 3. Increasing Social Expectations of Business
      4. 8.4. The Formula: How This Strategy Works
        1. 8.4.1. 1. Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You ...
        2. 8.4.2. 2. Establish a Direct Nexus to Business Value
        3. 8.4.3. 3. Find the Best Mechanism to Engage the Issue
        4. 8.4.4. 4. Be a First Mover and a First Problem-Solver
        5. 8.4.5. 5. Use a Wraparound Strategy to Scale
      5. 8.5. The Pitfalls: What to Watch Out For
        1. 8.5.1. 1. Don't Fake It
        2. 8.5.2. 2. Be Careful If You Are Coming from a Place of Low Credibility
        3. 8.5.3. 3. Don't Mistake This for Issues Management
  5. III. THE ROADMAP TO SOCIAL INNOVATION
    1. 9. CREATING A CULTURE OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
      1. 9.1. Minding the Gaps
        1. 9.1.1. The Language Gap
        2. 9.1.2. The Expectations Gap
        3. 9.1.3. The Skills Gap
      2. 9.2. How to Create a Culture of Social Innovation
        1. 9.2.1. 1. Master the Business
        2. 9.2.2. 2. Engage Key Stakeholders
        3. 9.2.3. 3. Reengage with Your Team
        4. 9.2.4. 4. Put a Stake—or Several—in the Ground
        5. 9.2.5. 5. Pilot-Test an Innovation
    2. 10. THE FORMULA FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION
      1. 10.1. Selecting the Right Social Innovation Strategy
        1. 10.1.1. Step One: Determine the Key Business Outcomes
        2. 10.1.2. Step Two: Analyze the Social Issues That Drive Your Business
        3. 10.1.3. Step Three: Identify the Core Business Assets You Can Leverage
        4. 10.1.4. Step Four: Innovate
      2. 10.2. Integrating with the Business
      3. 10.3. Measuring Performance
    3. 11. IMPLICATIONS OF THE SOCIAL CAPITAL MARKET
      1. 11.1. The Social Contract: Exercise the Option to Renew
        1. 11.1.1. Socially Responsible Investing: Shift from Ethics to Business Value
        2. 11.1.2. The Nonprofit Sector: Shift from Fundraising to "Selling Impact"
        3. 11.1.3. Government: Shift from Programs to "Purchasing Results"
      2. 11.2. Not Just Changing the World, But Making It Spin a Little Faster ...
  6. Notes
    1. Introduction
    2. Chapter One
    3. Chapter Two
    4. Chapter Three
    5. Chapter Four
    6. Chapter Five
    7. Chapter Six
    8. Chapter Seven
    9. Chapter Eight
    10. Chapter Nine
    11. Chapter Eleven
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Social Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth through Social Change
  • Author(s): Jason Saul
  • Release date: October 2010
  • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
  • ISBN: 9780470614501