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Social and Environmental Dimensions of Organizations and Supply Chains pp 259–282Cite as

What Hybrid Business Models Can Teach Sustainable Supply Chain Management: The Role of Entrepreneurs’ Social Identity and Social Capabilities

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Part of the book series: Greening of Industry Networks Studies ((GINS,volume 5))

Abstract

Integrating triple bottom line (TBL; economic, social, and environmental) sustainability into supply chains is a major challenge. Progress has been made to address the economic and environmental dimensions in supply chain management research; however, the social dimension is still underrepresented. This chapter reflects on research that looked at the literature on hybrid business models and social entrepreneurship in order to bridge these streams of literature to literature on sustainable supply chain management. Following the literature analysis, case-based research related specifically to social businesses in catastrophe-ridden Haiti was performed. The insights provided by the entrepreneurs of these businesses showed organizations that target TBL objectives from their inception, the specific social capabilities employed to obtain the desired TBL objectives, and the specific supply chain structures that were needed to execute and achieve the TBL goals. The purpose of this chapter is to reflect on that research as it relates to the social businesses, consider the primary results of that research, and discuss how those results might guide further research in the field of sustainable supply chain management.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    At the start of the research project, the intended focus was on practices and processes, but during the refinement of the research approach, the underlying resources and capabilities came into focus. Therefore, the sub questions center on the underlying factors needed to move toward new practices and processes.

  2. 2.

    Building on stakeholder research (e.g., Clarkson 1995; Freeman 1984)

  3. 3.

    In line with this research, a study conducted by other researchers in parallel and with an overall business model instead of supply chain focus has also found that certain resources (e.g., “network” and “managerial resources”) are employed by social enterprises to achieve competitive advantage (Roy and Karna 2015).

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Acknowledgments

As interdisciplinary research poses particular challenges, we would like to explicitly thank a number of people who have been critical to perform this research project and/or significantly helped to take it forward since its inception in 2014: Yunus Social Business, both headquarters in Frankfurt as well as the Haiti subsidiary, for graciously offering their time, social business portfolio, and insights for this research project; Helen Walker, Britta Gammelgaard, Joseph Sarkis, Robert Klassen, and other colleagues for their comments offered during the ERS conference 2015 in Copenhagen, the IPSERA conferences 2015 in Amsterdam and 2016 in Dortmund, as well as the ISVC annual meeting 2015 in Eschborn/Frankfurt; Tobias Hahn and Brent Beal for their detailed comments during the 2015 AOM SIM (Social Issues in Management) paper development workshop in Vancouver; Yvonne Kreis for a very thorough friendly review of the research stream on creating an SRBV; Cory Searcy and the two reviewers at the Journal of Business Ethics, which have offered one of the most constructive and swiftest review experiences in this whole journey for the SRBV research stream; Rob van Tulder and the other participants at the research seminar presentation of this paper at Erasmus University Rotterdam in September 2015 for their suggestions on the SSCD paper; and, finally, Anne Synnatschke for her diligent editorial support for all the submission preparations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Applied Sciences Mainz, Lucy-Hillebrand-Str. 2, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    Lydia Bals

  2. Department of Strategic Management and Globalization (SMG), Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Kilevej 14, 2. Floor, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Lydia Bals

  3. University of Tennessee, 315 Stokely Management Center, Knoxville, TN, 37996-0530, USA

    Wendy L. Tate

Authors
  1. Lydia Bals
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  2. Wendy L. Tate
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lydia Bals .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, Flensburg, Germany

    Marcus Brandenburg

  2. Chair of Supply Chain Management, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

    Gerd J. Hahn

  3. German Graduate School of Management and Law, Heilbronn, Germany

    Tobias Rebs

Interview Guide

Interview Guide

Background Questions

  1. 1.

    State your name and describe your position in the business and how long you have been part of this business?

  2. 2.

    What is your professional background prior to establishing this business?

  3. 3.

    Describe the structure of the business (if possible and then provide an organization chart).

  4. 4.

    Approximately how many employees are involved in the business at all locations?

Understanding the Network and Setup of the Business

  1. 5.

    How did this idea to establish the chicken farms in order to finance schools come up? [This question was always adapted to the specific business, here exemplary for CHIFA.]

  2. 6.

    Describe in your own words the process steps involved in implementing and maintaining a successful social business model and a little bit of what is involved (and who is involved) in each step. Start from the time that the funding/loan is approved.

  3. 7.

    Discuss the amount of time involved in each step.

  4. 8.

    Discuss the stakeholders that are directly or indirectly involved in the business.

Your Social Business

  1. 9.

    What was your specific motivation for this social business?

  2. 10.

    How did you learn about YSB? How did you get in touch?

  3. 11.

    How has YSB helped you in establishing the business?

  4. 12.

    Who else has helped/played a major part in establishing the business?

  5. 13.

    How do you define “success” in your social business model?

  6. 14.

    Do you consider the success so far sustainable?

  7. 15.

    What do you see as the primary barriers to success?

  8. 16.

    What are the primary facilitators of success?

  9. 17.

    Can you describe the environmental, social, and economic impacts of your social business?

  10. 18.

    Were there differences between the planned and actual outcomes? How were these differences addressed?

  11. 19.

    Are there measures and metrics used to validate your performance and the business model’s performance?

Material/Service Flows

  1. 20.

    Discuss the process flows for materials and services – in terms of plan, source, make, and deliver.

  2. 21.

    Is there any type of advertising? What are the main attributes attracting customers?

  3. 22.

    What is the variety of the offering (narrow versus broad)? Are there plans to make any changes to these offerings?

Financial Flows

  1. 23.

    Discuss the flow and frequency of both upstream and downstream financial flows.

  2. 24.

    Are the investments given in a “lump sum” to the entrepreneur? If so, who manages the money?

  3. 25.

    How are payments made to suppliers, employees, and investors?

Information Flows

  1. 26.

    Describe and discuss the flow of information both upstream and downstream.

  2. 27.

    What types of information are shared?

  3. 28.

    How often is that information shared?

  4. 29.

    What means of communication are used?

Wrap-Up

  1. 30.

    From your perspective, is there anything that we should have asked about that we didn’t that might be relevant for the research?

  2. 31.

    As additional questions arise, can we follow-up with you?

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Bals, L., Tate, W.L. (2018). What Hybrid Business Models Can Teach Sustainable Supply Chain Management: The Role of Entrepreneurs’ Social Identity and Social Capabilities. In: Brandenburg, M., Hahn, G., Rebs, T. (eds) Social and Environmental Dimensions of Organizations and Supply Chains. Greening of Industry Networks Studies, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59587-0_15

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