Social Enterprise Analysis / Assessment

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Assessment of a Social Enterprise The social organization under consideration, in this case, is Terracycle. It is an organization that is actively involved in changing the future of recycling by making it easier to recycle items such as drink pouches, toothbrushes, and chip brushes. They use collection programs to collect different kinds of waste. The customers are allowed to ship directly to the company forms of waste, which helps them gain credits that can be redeemed for cash and be directed towards a nonprofit organization of their choice. This profit enterprise is tailored towards making the world a better place. The profits are generated because the collected waste is recycled and sold to the manufacturers who are in a position to make new materials and products (André & Pache, 2016).

The organization is more of a social enterprise than an ethical business because it centers itself on a social mission, and it uses commerce as a tool to maximize impact and sustainability.

Although the organization also creates profit, its purpose is social-based as opposed to companies that only take an ethics-based approach on specific issues such as the environment.

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The mission of the organization is to eliminate waste in the context of a profitable business. The major customers for the company are the manufacturers who use recycled waste to produce goods. Retailers, consumer product companies, cities, distribution centers, individuals, and small businesses fund the platforms that are used by the company to achieve its objectives (André & Pache, 2016). Considering that the company also makes some profits, it can plow back some profits in its activities.

The problem being solved by the company is eliminating wastes. Wastes can be harmful to the environment, while it can also be put to productive use. The company reutilizes waste by adopting a circular system of nature. The vicious cycle of waste is turned into a more virtuous one, thus reducing the amounts of packaging and products, which are dumped in oceans and landfills. The initiative also reduces the amount of new materials that need to be extracted from the earth to produce virgin materials for replacement products.

The organization’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include figuring out what motivates people and using the knowledge to incentive them to partake in sustainable activities.

The approach has helped the organization design solutions that work in modern life, such as creating circular systems that reduce the amount of waste in the landfills and the waterways.

Another goal is to find solutions that are tailored to change as far as sustainability is concerned (Chang, 2018). The organization is also committed to proving that every waste can be recycled in some way. The most important goal is to eliminate the idea of waste in which the organization strives to achieve in three ways: a) find ways of making things that are non-recyclable to become recyclable; b) integrate the recycled materials into high-end products; c) creating platforms that move disposable products into durable products without compromising the convenience and economics that make disposable products more desirable.

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Considering the organization's theory of change, the organization eliminates waste by finding ways to recycle traditionally "hard to recycle" materials. It further gives consumers and businesses to divert waste from landfill. In order to achieve these objectives, the organization leverages innovation by embracing some priority areas such as stakeholder engagement, partnerships, and business activities. The organization plans the necessary steps to achieve the impact and fine-tunes the business activities for a more significant impact. Since there is some profit motive in the activities of the organization, the assumption here could be that the social enterprises can look beyond social good and incorporate an element of profitability (Chang, 2018).

The organization provides value by first recycling wastes that could have been harmful to the environment. It channels the recycled materials to the companies that need them and also generates profits in the neglected area of recycling.

The organization was started by a parent company called TerraCycle US, LLC, and was established as a subsidiary that has been able to grow over time. The organization has exhibited a positive trajectory throughout its growth phases. One of the ways that the company has used in tracking progress is by doing frequent audits, which take into consideration the milestones that the company has made in line with the strategic plan. As such, innovation metrics are also taken into consideration. The reports made represent fairly, in all material respects the position of the organization (Chang, 2018). The company has some strategic partners that facilitate garbage collecting, research, and development and provide media platforms to push their agenda.

In order to improve the business model, there is a need for the company to simplify its model. The business model is currently an aggregation of several types of businesses because it

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is involved in various stages of consumption and production cycle. It could also reinforce marketing to ensure enough demand for recycling programs.

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References André, K., & Pache, A. C. (2016). From caring entrepreneur to caring enterprise: Addressing the ethical challenges of scaling up social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(4), 659-675 Chang, A. M. (2018). Lean impact: How to innovate for radically greater social good. John Wiley & Sons.