Selling Social

This book is the result of a three-year Canada-wide research project investigating the state of social procurement and social purchasing in 19 work integration social enterprises (WISEs) providing training and employment to marginalized individuals.Part 1 of the book provides an overview of the literature, federal government policies for procurement and purchase with social value, and the results of a unique survey showing surprisingly low participation by Canadian social enterprises in pursuing formal social procurement.Part 2 is based on the study of four social enterprises that have secured large contracts by investing in what the authors call relationship building.Part 3 details five cases where the role of a parent organization's support was key for social enterprises to bid on contracts.Part 4 focuses on the dilemma of five social enterprises regarding their decision to market or not to market the social value dimension of their work.Finally, Part 5 explores the challenges of five social enterprises in managing the concept of multiple bottom lines while pursuing social procurement opportunities.The conclusion discusses some future directions for the study of WISEs' participation in procurement and purchasing procedures

Business · Dilemma · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Market economy · Political science · Procurement · Public relations · Purchasing · Social economy · Value (mathematics · Taxation and Compliance Studies · Social Work · Marketing