Socially responsible businesses are always legally structured as for-profit businesses; they do not directly address social needs through their products or services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ; instead, they create positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a philanthropic foundation; paying equitable wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects; and so on).
[Click here for the full SRB judging criteria]
The first two judging criteria for a SAGE team entering the SRB competition are as follows:
Criterion #1 (36 points)
What is the marketplace viability of the business (e.g., has it achieved profitability through earned income? Or has it defined a believable path toward profitability)?
Note: This criterion is worth 36 points total: 16 for written annual report and 20 for oral presentation.
Interpretation:
The primary purpose of an SRB is to make a profit; a secondary purpose might be to solve a social problem. Judges will evaluate how successful was the SAGE team in creating and implementing one NEW venture this year or CONTINUING one venture from prior years.
SAGE teams may enter a specific business venture up to three years. This means that:
- The best SRBs can prove their sustainability and viability over the long-term
- No one SRB can be entered more than three years, which will prevent dominance by any one SAGE team based on the same idea (note: because 2010-2011 is a transition year, all businesses entered into the SAGE competition in 2010-2011 will be considered a YEAR 1 business).
Socially responsible businesses are always legally structured as for-profit businesses; they do not directly address social needs through their products or services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ; instead, they create positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a philanthropic foundation; paying equitable wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects; and so on)
What is most important is that students show that they have applied their entrepreneurship knowledge to complete an actual business. Teams will be judged favorably if they indicate that they have a completed, written business plan prior to starting their business. Part of this business plan should be a marketing plan for their business enterprise. To show that they have successfully applied their knowledge and skills, the best SAGE teams will have a completed set of financial statements summarizing profits and losses for a period, and providing a balance sheet and perhaps even a cash flow statement, for their SRB.
Sample Web Sites:
- http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- http://www.nfte.com
- http://www.bplans.com/
- http://www.businessplans.org/
- http://www.entrepreneur.com/
- http://www.mbemag.com/
- http://www.entrepreneur-america.com/
- http://www.ja.org
Sample Activities
One SAGE team specialized in sewing, fabrics and design, and it created a designer handbag company. Another team started a new health food café to address growing concerns that too much unhealthy, fast-food was being sold on campus, with no healthy alternatives. They wrote a business plan, obtained funding, and got permission from school administrators to launch their new venture. Another high school launched a four-color magazine featuring success stories of leading entrepreneurs in their city.
Criterion #2 (26 points)
Has the business created positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a philanthropic foundation; paying equitable wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects; and so on) Evidence of positive social impact can include media coverage (e.g., newspaper, TV, radio) and potential market reach (e.g., regional, national, global scale).
Note: This criterion is worth 26 points total: 12 for written annual report and 14 for oral presentation.
Interpretation:
We subscribe to the definition of social responsibility based on the following description as taken from this Wikipedia article:
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance, is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. Ideally, CSR policy would function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its support to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Consequently, business would embrace responsibility for the impact of its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. Furthermore, CSR-focused businesses would proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the honoring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.
In previous years, the 10 SAGE judging criteria included two separate criteria for mass media and global activities. These specific criteria have been eliminated as separate criteria; however, they have not been abandoned. Rather, they are now embedded here, as part of SRB Judging Criterion #2.
SAGE teams will be judged more highly if they can demonstrate evidence of their positive social impact and CSR policies through media coverage (e.g., newspaper, TV, radio) and web presence (e.g., web pages; social networking sites).
As for the global element, one goal of the SAGE program is to build international linkages between SAGE teams. Specifically, with existing technology SAGE has created a network among domestic business, international business, higher education and teenagers. It is vital for SAGE students to have ample opportunity to learn entrepreneurial skills, while at the same time learn how international trade directly affects many aspects of their lives (e.g., from purchasing decisions to career choices). SAGE judges will rate teams more highly if they can demonstrate positive social impact on the widest possible scale. Teams that incorporate a national or global dimension into existing activities can convince judges that they have acquired a deeper awareness and appreciation for conducting business in a market other than one’s own local market.
Sample Web Sites
Sample Activities
SAGE teams from different states or countries may want to work with each other in determining if there is a potential market for import/export products. Or students may want to devote a couple days to studying how free markets work in an economy other than their own. To connect to SAGE teams in other countries, email cdeberg@csuchico.edu and ask that he subscribe you to a listserv called “SAGEMAIL.”
Another idea for an outstanding global project is to participate in a UN-sponsored program called “The People Speak Global Debates.” Teenagers in more than 80 countries are invited to participate. According to its website (www.thepeoplespeak.org/globaldebates), any U.S. or international high school (grades 9-12, ages 14-19) can participate in the Global Debate. Students who are interested in global issues can use their voice to become involved in critical issues facing our world.
Students may also choose to focus on one or two books which can help them better understand global issues. Once they’ve read the books, they can provide an oral report to fellow SAGE. One outstanding book is The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits by C.K. Prahalad (2005). After reading the book, students not only will have new ideas about how to do business in other parts of the world, but they can also learn more about how major corporations can re-think their business models when choosing to do business in developing countries. Another book is by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus. His book, Creating a World without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism envisions a world where business leaders use their intellectual, financial and social capital to create businesses that solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.