Depth of Impact

Depth of Impact
Primary link:
Stakeholder Engagement
Engaging Stakeholders to Achieve Deeper Impact

Core Practices:

  • Integrate social stakeholders into mainstream markets.
  • Integrate market players into social sector.
  • Increase interaction and dependence among all stakeholder groups.
  • Influence market player behaviors.
Secondary link:
Culture Management
Managing Culture to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Change perceptions about who the stakeholders are.
  • Engage mainstream market channels to blur the lines between stakeholder groups.
  • Use social marketing techniques to counter damaging marketing messages.

Tensions:

  • Excessive use of business jargon might alienate your core stakeholders
Tertiary link:
Resource Mobilization
Mobilizing Resources to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Use stakeholders as resources.
  • Seek resources that facilitate or enhance stakeholder engagement.
  • Become part of the mainstream market.

Tensions:

  • Stay away from resources that hinder stakeholder engagement.
  • One-size-fits-all resource requirements hinder access to poorer clients.
Quaternary link:
Knowledge Development
Developing Knowledge to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Use market research to further understand root causes of social problem.
  • Develop technology appropriate to social context.
  • Develop processes that support the use of sustainable resources.

Tensions:

  • One-size-fits-all technology can limit access to harder-to-reach clients.
  • Risk of falling for the innovation smokescreen (“new is better”).

Engaging Stakeholders to Achieve Deeper Impact

Engaging Stakeholders to Achieve Deeper Impact

Core Practices:

  • Integrate traditional social stakeholders into mainstream markets by engaging them as employees and consumers.
  • Integrate traditional market stakeholders into the social sector, engaging them in changing market behaviors toward solving a social problem.
  • Increase interaction and dependence among all stakeholder groups by engaging them through integrated market mechanisms.
  • Influence market player behaviors by developing socially responsible markets (making it possible for others to do well by doing good) or hindering socially damaging markets (making it more difficult for others to do well by behaving badly).

Managing Culture to Achieve Deeper Impact

Managing Culture to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Leverage market channels to change perceptions about who the stakeholders are (not just the social clients, but also market players as stakeholders), as well as their roles and responsibilities in solving the targeted social problem, thus reducing the dichotomy between donor and recipient.
  • Engage mainstream market channels to blur the lines between stakeholder groups, changing a culture of "us=mainstream" versus "them=fringe" into a culture of "all of us in it together."
  • Use social marketing techniques to counter damaging marketing messages that exploit either socially disadvantaged consumers or socially conscious consumers.

Tensions:

  • Be wary of excessive use of business jargon as it might alienate your core stakeholders

Mobilizing Resources to Achieve Deeper Impact

Mobilizing Resources to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Promote resource mobilization strategies that inherently increase stakeholder engagement (e.g. volunteerism instead of financial donation; or charging a fee-for-service to increase commitment and value perception).
  • Seek resources that facilitate or enhance stakeholder engagement (e.g. access to communication infrastructure, prime retail location).
  • Become part of the mainstream consumer, business and investment community in order to engage them in becoming stakeholders in your social problem.

Tensions:

  • Divest or stay away from resources that risk hindering stakeholder engagement (e.g. sponsorship from some corporations might alienate social stakeholders; some public funding might unduly restrict interacting with market stakeholders).
  • Be wary of a one-size-fits-all resource mobilization strategy (e.g. charging a fee-for-service across the board) as it might prevent poorer clients from being served.

Developing Knowledge to Achieve Deeper Impact

Developing Knowledge to Achieve Deeper Impact

Synergies:

  • Employ market research to deepen our understanding of social clients' needs and wants as well as mainstream market players' roles and responsibilities in perpetuating and solving the social problem.
  • Leverage R&D activities to develop appropriate technology that better fits social clients' abilities, needs and wants (e.g. development of specialized equipment).
  • Leverage R&D activities to develop mainstream processes that support the use of mission-strengthening resources (use of eco-renewable resources, social clients as workforce, etc.).

Tensions:

  • Be wary of one-size-fits-all streamlined technology solutions as they might prevent harder-to-reach clients from being served.
  • Be vigilant not to fall for the innovation smokescreen (“new is better”) while failing to take your core stakeholders along with you.