Category: Organization Development

Research shows that successful social enterprises often share common characteristics.

There are many theories why some social enterprises flourish while others languish. Is it leadership, business planning, funding, market or timing that makes a successful social enterprise?

Joining Vision and Action is dedicated to providing social enterprises, nonprofits and government agencies with the tools and resources they need to succeed, sustain and scale. We bring research and innovation to this work, which we call implementation science. This allows our team of experts to provide more effective and imaginative tools to increase community impact.

So we took a deep dive into the research into what makes for a successful social enterprise. We studied what works and what doesn’t, to help practitioners, leaders and funders gain research-backed perspectives on the common ingredients for success.

This blog provides several highlights from that research. A full description of the characteristics that make successful social enterprises, references, and a worksheet to apply them to your situation, is available here.

Buy-in from existing organization

If you are starting a social enterprise as part of an existing nonprofit, the board, executive director and other management must agree that operating a social enterprise would be beneficial to the organization. In addition, there needs to be a ringleader/champion responsible for the coordination, support and expertise in the social enterprise. This person should possess both the skills necessary to run an enterprise and the passion to carry the idea through to reality.

Active and Fluid Business Plan

Having a “road map” to follow is essential to the success of an enterprise. Starting with a business model canvas helps you develop your hypothesis surrounding the main areas of your business. Once you have tested that hypothesis, a business plan is useful–as long as it is ACTIVE and constantly updated as you begin piloting your project. Successful social enterprises are able to strike a healthy balance between planning and practice.

Use of Data to Drive Decision-making

It is becoming increasingly important for social enterprises to demonstrate their impact; having accurate data available is critical for decision-making. Successful social enterprises have a “dashboard” to provide key stakeholders with the right data to inform good decision making. Once that information is in hand, it’s important that it actually gets put to use; organizations must be willing to self-correct if the data points in a new direction.

Specialized Niche/Competitive Advantage

Market demand is a major determinant to the success of any enterprise. If the product or service created is not meeting a need, the enterprise will not be financially profitable. The product or service must have a unique quality that separates it from competitors, as well as a strong identity that allows it to stand out in the marketplace.

Ability to Adapt to Change

The culture of a startup is constantly shifting as the organization grows. Furthermore, even established social enterprises must continuously change to adapt to the broader market. Learning how to manage organizational change is a key to longevity.

The research shows that these five characteristics are among the most important ones to focus on in developing or expanding a social enterprise.

Do you want to see your nonprofit develop its own source of unrestricted income? Are you starting a new business to change the world? Do you feel passionate about a cause but unsure how to make a sustainable impact?

Whether you’re part of an established organization or founding a startup, whether you’re representing a nonprofit or an LLC, the Mission, Inc. Basecamp will show you how to align people, planet and profit in the creation of a successful enterprise.

The Basecamp is an intensive five-day training, developed as a collaboration between JVA and the authors of Mission, Inc.: The Practitioner’s Guide to Social Enterprise. Combining engaging, interactive facilitation with practical, on-the-ground advice from experienced social enterprise leaders, the Mission, Inc. Basecamp will equip you with essential tools and strategies for success in your social enterprise. Held twice a year in Denver. To register, click here.

Rolfe Larson — Rolfe@JoiningVisionAndAction.com JoiningVisionAndAction.com

Connectivity comes at a price

There’s a clear trend towards connecting just about everything to the internet. It makes things more convenient, it makes devices of all kinds more dynamic, and people just plain like it. But, with those positives come risks as well.

As with anything that has internet connectivity, your connected “things” can be hacked. And if that possibility exists, someone will find a way to use it for malicious means.

Learn more about the dangers the “Internet of Things” is creating in this Symantec infographic:

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/05/09/insurance-against-cyber-bullies/#sthash.WmbWUSBC.dpuf

As this issue gains recognition, new services arise

Insurance giant Chubb’s new offering of cyber bullying coverage for its homeowners insurance clients is a sign of the times, as more and more the issue is being recognized as a significant, and often financially harmful, problem.

Reuters reports on the coverage:

Up to 40 percent of adult Internet users are dealing with this issue, according to 2014 Pew Research Center data. Chubb’s coverage is included in the company’s Family Protection policy, which costs around $70 a year. It covers up to $60,000 in compensation to clients and their families to pay for services including psychological counseling, lost salary and, in extreme cases, public relations assistance.

Having helped clients mitigate damage caused by cyber bullying to their reputation and finances , we are glad to see insurance providers enabling victims to recover without taking the full burden of the expense on their own.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/04/29/is-your-online-reputation-getting-the-attention-it-deserves/#sthash.CETsWM7D.dpuf

Protect this most valuable asset

You simply can’t afford to ignore your online reputation. Stakeholders, both current and potential, will be searching your name, looking through reviews, and investigating your social media presence before choosing to do business with you.

Yet, so often company leadership has little to no interest in making sure this vital asset is protected until a crisis is burning bright. To shed some more light on this issue, Zeno has put together an infographic that shows just how often online reputation goes neglected:

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/04/21/spear-phishing-stats/#sthash.hGZZeSMm.dpuf

Eye-opening figures on targeted attacks

In our last post we discussed spear-phishing and “whaling” attacks – targeted hacks that take aim at specific companies and even specific individuals. According to Symantec, these attacks are drastically increasing, rising 55% in 2015 alone. This isn’t like being struck by lightning, either. Research found that large businesses targeted for attack were likely to be targeted again at least three more times throughout the year.

If you’re hungry for more info on these frighteningly effective attacks, click through to the Symantec infographic below.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/04/18/are-spear-phishing-and-whaling-attacks-putting-you-in-danger/#sthash.Z5PXs5NV.dpuf

Targeted attacks can cost you big bucks

Spear phishing, or using what appears to be a legit email to fool specific targets into divulging sensitive information or taking other detrimental action, is growing in popularity thanks to the widespread availability of personal information on the internet. The latest variant of the attack, being called “whaling”, even specifically targets upper management in order to make bigger scores.

Whether it’s posing as legitimate vendors invoicing for services, tricking employees into running malicious software, making away with confidential files, or yet another clever scheme, hackers are finding these targeted attacks quite profitable.

How costly can these events be? Try the $3 million Mattel nearly lost last month on for size.

The most effective way to reduce your organization’s vulnerability to attacks is by training employees from the bottom up on safe practices. Then, make those practices a part of the daily routine.

Of course there is no guaranteed protection against every avenue of attack, and that’s where a tested response plan and pre-approved messaging comes in.

Prevent what you can and mitigate damage where you can’t. That’s the name of this game.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/03/20/online-reputation-lessons-from-vw/#sthash.Lh41uJ14.dpuf

It takes work to share with people how great you really are!

Protecting and growing your reputation should be a daily activity for any organization. It’s no accident that you hear about certain brands over and over again. The smart ones are out there proactively working to make sure you know exactly how awesome they are.

Not sure where to get started working on your own reputation? This infographic from w3police will get you underway:

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/04/21/spear-phishing-stats/#sthash.qqtZCWBL.dpuf

[Editor’s note: The following guest post was originally featured in Tony Jaques’ Issue}Outcomes newsletter.]

Reputation crises can’t be foisted off on junior employees

It’s no secret that social media crises can shred reputation. So why do organisations keep giving interns and junior staff the keys to drive online activity?

A recent example was when the Virgin Australia corporate Twitter account sent an obscene message about Kanye West to its 240,000 followers. Naturally the post sparked national and international attention before it was taken down. Almost 24 hours later it emerged that a junior staff member at media company Carat had apparently accidentally posted to the wrong account.

Carat management apologised and said say they were “reviewing the appropriate disciplinary action.” But the obvious question is why a junior staffer had seemingly unsupervised authority over a major client’s brand.

Of course it’s not new. Think of the debacle during the Trump campaign when a poster for The Donald showed brave soldiers superimposed into a picture of the American Flag. Problem was they were in Nazi uniform and it turned out to be a stock photo of SS re-enactors. Trump blamed “a young intern.”

Or take the notorious case in 2014 when American Apparel posted a photo on Tumblr of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion to suggest a Fourth of July fireworks display. The company apologised and blamed “one of our international social media employees who was born after the tragedy and was unaware of the event.”

There surely is no shortage of such social media gaffes and ensuing reputational damage. Let’s not forget the homophobic Tweet by an employee of Vodafone UK; or the obscene Tweet by an agency employee on the Chrysler Autos Twitter feed; or the unfortunate young person at US Airways who accidentally attached a very adult pornographic photo to a response to a customer complaint.

In the Chrysler case, both the employee and the agency were fired, but celebrities and brands cannot simply distance themselves from words and images posted in their name. And nor can those who are supposed to be in charge. While it’s all too common to blame some un-named junior staffer – and genuine mistakes do happen – the reality is that inexperienced people should not be in charge of social media.

You wouldn’t appoint a new customer service operator to address the news media on behalf of the organization. Yet posting a Tweet is equivalent to having a news conference with the world. Most organisations have a clear policy on who can speak on its behalf when it comes to the traditional media, and the training they need.

Exactly the same should apply to social media. There should be very clear policies about who can post online, and who approves all posts. And if it all goes pear-shaped, then it is very clearly a failure of either the right protocols or the right training. It’s convenient but totally unacceptable to simply ‘blame the intern.’ If your company doesn’t have proper processes in place, then you’re at risk of potential crisis, and you only have yourself to blame for any reputation damage.

In the flood of online comment following the recent Virgin Australia debacle, one netizen with the handle Kahla said it all: “It’s time business stopped leaving social responsibilities to juniors and interns. Full Stop.”

Tony Jaques manages Australian-based issue and crisis management consultancy Issue}Outcomes, and is the author of Issues and Crisis Management: Exploring Issues, Crises, Risk and Reputation, available on Amazon now.

Avoid repeating Volkswagen’s mistakes

Volkswagen’s crisis will go down as one of, if not the biggest auto industry scandals in history. As such it presents many lessons, ones that could save much heartache and significant expense for others.

We came across an infographic from the UK’s Woodstock Motors that did a nice job of summing up VW’s lessons relating to online reputation management, excerpted below. For those interested we’ll link the full infographic after the jump.

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/03/01/how-are-you-viewed-on-the-internet/#sthash.SAiFnIZO.dpuf

Full infographic:

[Editor’s note: This post comes to us from our colleague Rick Kelly, director of Triad Strategies’ crisis communications practice.]

By most measures, Cedar Fair is a thriving enterprise. Its share price since 2010 has nearly quadrupled, most analysts rate its stock as a “buy,” and the $1.24 billion in revenue it generated in 2015 was its sixth straight annual revenue record. As the economy strengthens, the outlook is bright as attendance is expected to increase at its 11 amusement parks, four water parks and five hotels. Its ticker symbol is FUN. In terms of advancing a mission, we’d call this kicking butt.

In late January, the company’s Allentown venue, Dorney Park, announced it was starting its summer hiring process and expected to hire more than 3,000 seasonal workers this year. Christopher Emery, a 29-year-old with special needs, expected to return for his 13^th summer of cleaning restrooms.

We’ll let the Morning Call take it from there:

Claudia Emery, of Macungie, said her son looks forward to going back to Dorney each spring and takes pride in his work. This week, she said, the family was informed that the park’s interview process was changing, and that Chris would be required to complete some tasks with other potential employees, including building things with Legos and other group activities.

At the end of the session, Claudia Emery said, she was told that Chris didn’t do well on the test and would not have a job when the park opened.

“I had to hold everything back until we got out the door,” she said. “I told Chris that he was not going to work at Dorney this season. He didn’t understand.”

Claudia Emery said she had to console her son, who was very upset about not seeing his friends at the park. One of those friends, fellow Dorney employee Matt Redline, wrote an angry post on Facebook that quickly went viral:

“I can’t express how angry and hurt I am right now!!! This is my buddy Chris. I had the pleasure of getting to know him and his family during my 10 year employment at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.

Redline posted a photo of Chris proudly holding a certificate praising him for 12 years of service at Dorney. Redline blasted Dorney officials in the post.

As one would expect, Facebook, the Twittersphere and other social media channels erupted, and the news articles spread internationally.

By the next morning, Dorney Park had retracted its decision and posted the following, attributed to the vice president/general manager:

“We respect, value and appreciate all of our dedicated associates. I’ve known Chris for many years, and when I became aware of this situation I requested that we immediately reach out to him and his family to let them know that we would happily welcome Chris back for a 13th season.”

Under the circumstances, the park acted just about as quickly as it could and did the right thing. It didn’t satisfy Mrs. Emery, however, who at last report said she would decline the offer in order to avoid subjecting her son to more humiliation. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police chapter and Autism Speaks said they would take their annual Dorney Park events elsewhere. There’s no telling how many others who learned of this episode have taken Dorney Park off their itineraries.

There are many events that can throw organizations into crisis – acts of nature, accidents, structural failures, actions of others, regulatory or legislative changes, and more. But the ones that sting the most are the ones that could have been avoided.

There’s nothing wrong with screening new employees for their suitability for employment, but when you launch a process that could result in turning away returning employees, that should constitute a red flag. When you turn away a returning employee with special needs, you should not only see the red flag, but smell it, hear it and taste it as well.

Every organization can benefit from someone whose radar is calibrated to identify “the worst thing that can happen.” Whether that person is an employee or a crisis management consultant, he or she should have the ability to assess potential consequences, estimate the probability of each and identify steps to mitigate or avoid the risk. The easiest way to manage a crisis is to not have it in the first place.

Will this episode prevent Cedar Fair from achieving another revenue record this year? Maybe not. But you can bet the company’s investors are not pleased about it, and neither are those whose job is to keep the investors happy.

For more information on Triad Strategies and Rick Kelly, visit TriadStrategies.com