Social Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social Entrepreneurship - Essay Example es mainly address the social needs in the society through offering products and services that aim at meeting the cultural, social and environmental needs in the society (Paton, 2003 p. 89). The bank commenced operations in 1984 providing trade union banking services while observing the founding principles. The trade unions offered provided equity capital of 1.25 million pounds while the Co-operative Bank added 2.6 million pounds to the start up capital. In the first year, the bank operated as a licensed deposit taking institution providing its clients a range of banking services. In the first year, the balance sheet figures in terms of assets grew to over 40 million pounds with the deposits reaching 35 million pounds. The Bank offered a rights issue in 1986 thus enabling more trade unions to buy shares. Fifty-eight trade unions were now members of the bank. After the passage of Public services (social value) Act 2012, Birmingham has experienced the emergence of many social enterprise s. The Act enables the stakeholders to become members of the social enterprises and introduces several tools for the identification of the social impact (Price, 2009 P. 52). The major responsibilities of social enterprises include encouraging community involvement, encouraging of equal opportunities and supporting a green economy. Social enterprises should also encourage sustainability initiatives like recycling and encourage fair trading practices (Doherty & Thompson, 2006 p.40). Social enterprise based organisations have innovative and people-friendly solutions that aim at creating positive change in the society unlike the traditional corporate world that is geared at profit maximisation (Nicholls, 2006 p.18). Most social enterprise based organisations work with poor communities and provides the staff with flexible working schedules. According to the UK department of Trade and Industry (DTI), socially based enterprises have primary social objectives whereby the surplus is reinvested