How Social Enterprises Enhance Corporate Supply Chains

Corporate supply chains represent a significant opportunity to achieve social impact. Increasingly, businesses are choosing to purchase from social enterprise suppliers who can provide high quality products and services whilst delivering social value to their communities. As a social enterprise, how do you tap into this market? And, as a business, what are the benefits to you? In this course, we hear first-hand from experts in leading social enterprises on how they tapped into the corporate market. We also hear from business leaders explaining the benefits that social suppliers can bring to business. This Thought Leaders course shows that social enterprise is becoming increasingly mainstream, enhancing corporate supply chains and enabling companies of all sizes to achieve greater social engagement with local communities, operate more sustainably, and do business with a more positive social and environmental impact.

The course has a global relevance and the contributors were recorded at the 2018 Social Enterprise World Forum in Edinburgh (Scotland) involving leading proponents of corporate social partnerships from around the world. The course presenters describe their motivation for engagement, the processes of purchasing or supply and measuring and communicating the social impact. Course partner Social Enterprise UK will support learners interested in continued engagement through the Buy Social Corporate Challenge campaign, a global initiative enabling corporate partners to generate and account for social impact through everyday purchasing.

Week 1: Discovering Social Procurement

Week 2: Method and Measurement

Week 3: Global Experiences

Week 4: Broader Perspectives

Week 5: Final Exam