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).

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

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.

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.