Social Business as a Sustainable Business Concept

Developed by Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Diploma Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: 1,0, European School of Business Reutlingen (ESB (IPBS)), language: English, abstract: The combination of the traditional way of the capitalistic thinking company, which aspires to maximise its profits (homo economicus), and the selfless approach of non-profit organisations, which contribute to society and are dependent on generous and periodic donations, create a new and sustainable business concept. This concept has emerged - mainly during the last decade - within the broader context of Social Entrepreneurship and is defined as Social Business. Inspired by the energy of Muhammad Yunus and the time the author spent in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries on a global scale, this research will provide a scientific approach to the sphere of Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business as a specific and innovative business model. Furthermore, this academic work examines the sustainability of the concept, evaluating it deductively by means of deriving the necessary information from several case studies and expert interviews carried out among others with Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, as well as Frédéric Dalsace, head of the Social Business Chair at HEC University, Paris. Finally, the thesis conveys an outlook on the upcoming development of Social Entrepreneurship and especially Social Business as well as proposes steps to be taken in order to guarantee the sustainability of Social Businesses within a macroeconomic and microeconomic perspective, based on the academic research and expert interviews.