Social innovation and business ecosystems

As the world takes leaps in modernization and technological advances, so rises the social and environmental risks plaguing today’s societies. Nations around the world are increasingly waking up to the fact that these pressing concerns need to be addressed immediately. The business world is also taking note of the risks and opportunities posed by social and environmental issues. More than just an opening for charity, social innovations are today viewed by businesses as about competition and economic value creation. 

The 2015 Harvard Business Review ranking of the top 100 performing CEOs in the world weighted social and environmental performance at 20% of the overall score, a fact that reinforces the importance of social innovations in business in the modern world. It is time to break through the traditional business mindsets, strategies and business models. Business is about reinvention, day after day, and it is imperative that they should inculcate practices that will allow it to rise above profit making and view the world from a socially responsible context. At this juncture, Corporate Social Innovation(CSI) offers new perspectives, models and tools for addressing some of the greatest challenges plaguing our time.

• CSI as a part of the core business strategy - Determine the social problems that intersect with the business and the vision of the company. CSI must be approached as an intrinsic company policy and should be seen as any other core business strategy. Businesses should have the game plan to unlock the value of their products and services to address key societal and environmental challenges. It must be noted for sustainability, CSI which is incorporated into the business must generate value for the business too. The value should be in revenue as well as a positive change for the world around.
  
• CSI as a positive influence in the market - Social innovation can be viewed as an opportunity to serve the unmet needs in various markets with new or existing products or services. The products cannot be marketed or offered as to existing customers. Barriers that a target base would face such as affordability, product education, and local customs must be considered and incorporated into the product/service. CSI often helps in access to new markets or consumers, additional revenues, strengthened supply chains, reduced costs or managed risks.
  
• CSI as a strategic collaboration - Conversation about innovations should not be limited to those inside the company but should be a product of bringing together multiple stake holders, in particular from outside the business, which can yield powerful results. The benefits include better local knowledge,
  

broader perspectives, consideration of the opportunities and risks and a better development process. Local employment and local economic development will help in creating a positive impact for the product as well as the society.
An effective government and business leadership that engages in social innovation will become the driving force towards achieving public welfare of GCC States. The need to design innovative business models and the significance of social innovation should be considered as a systematic commitment towards achieving GCC goals. Social innovation can be the spark that will find common ground for shared value creation and better the life of those in the bottom of pyramid. Without a doubt, tomorrow’s world will be very different from today’s and businesses should experiment with new models and strategies. Moral, ethical, social and environmental concerns will lead the way in the coming years in which key stakeholders, including consumers, customers, employees and investors, relate to and engage with business.

Healthcare moving from technology-enabled diagnosis and treatment to positive patient experience

The industrial economy where the focus stopped with the ‘product’ has slowly shifted to service economy, where the focus extends to the ‘customer experience’ of that product. This change has started its emergence in health sector too, where, the patient experience and satisfaction are considered central in determining the quality of the medical care imparted. The field of medical science passing through doctor centric, hospital centric and disease centric has today reached the threshold of being patient centric.

A patient centric strategy has pushed the leading health care organizations to make the shift from an episodic care to an extended and continual engagement with patients. The use of patient portals and access to electronic record leads to an increase in communication between the hospitals and patients. Health organisations are today increasingly looking at population health management, as a part of this continuous engagement. Similarly, health care delivery models need to change to reflect the patient centric care.
Most health care organizations are realizing that patient-centred care improves patient experience and creates value for services. When administrators, care providers, technology, patients and families work in sync, the quality and safety of health care rise, costs decrease and satisfaction increases. All this directly affect the boosting of patient care experience. A domino effect, it then positively affect business demographics and market share.
Key strategies from organizations working on patient-centred care include :

• Policy makers and regulators should include patient-centred care as a dimension of quality in their business strategy and policy documentations.
  
• Standardised set of items in patient survey tools will enable the comparison of patient experience data in key healthcare settings.
  
• Ensure that systems are in place for the regular collection and reporting of patient care experience data through quantitative as well as qualitative sources. Patient surveys is an important aspect to get the feel of patient experience.
  
• Health service action plans for quality improvement, along with clinical and operational data should also take into account the feedback about patient care experience.
  

• Positive patient experience revolves around the relationship between health providers and their patients. The relationship between a patient and his/her doctor greatly determines both treatment outcomes and a patient’s satisfaction.
  
• Involve patients, families and carers, in the development of quality improvement policies, patient safety initiatives and healthcare design.
  
• Implement training strategies focussed on building the capacity of all staff to support patient-centred care.
  
• Integrate accountability for the care experience of patients into staff performance review processes.
  
• Foster a culture of learning within the organisation of learning from successes and failures, including tragic events, to promote patient-centred care.
  Patient experience is woven into the healthcare scenario today, more than it ever has. In this new era of health reforms, organisations will have to consider the patient as central to their core strategy and take patient engagement to a whole new level for their successful operation. Focus on patient feedback along with giving them continual care will be essential to monitor and improve the health of the people. The shift from an era of treating diseases to engaging with patients, is essential for not just the successful operation of health care facilities but also for wellness, prevention, better clinical outcomes and helping the population maintain a healthy life.
  

Identifying a right investor for your dream project

As you start taking the first steps in the world of entrepreneurship, as your dreams take wings and ideas shift towards reality, the initial challenge of any new business is to find the right investor. For a budding entrepreneur, the first instinct is to accept the cash from wherever it is coming from. Entrepreneurs looking for investors often feel they can't be selective. 

Unfortunately, many later realise that this approach is in the wrong direction. It’s important to understand the impact that the right kind of funding can have on the trajectory of your company in the future years.
A wrong or an unsuitable investor can pull you in the wrong direction, whereas the right one will add value to your team and help you in your journey towards your goal. An investor should bring much more than cash to the table. It is important to consider what are the added benefits that you would receive from a particular investor. It may vary from expertise to access to new markets and that added value of the investor can be the difference between your business remaining a chimera and being an operational entity.
It is, hence, important to ask the following questions before you zero in on an investor for your project -
• What are your options - Different investors can execute different goals. For most businesses, however, the first conversations would be with angel investors rather than venture capital firms. Angel investors tend to be flexible on their initial requirements while VCs want concrete data before they back you.
• What can the investor bring to the table - You should be aware of the assets and advantages that different investors can provide. Investors are more than just someone providing money. They have experience as well as practical know-how about businesses and can help you manage your capital, your infrastructure and much more.
• Where do you find the right investor - Finding the right investor for your company is the first step in realizing its vision. Hence, it is crucial that you know how to connect with them. Today, there are many platforms available that will aid you to find and communicate with potential investors.

• How does your investor fit with the company - Your potential investor should be compatible with your company culture. Your visions should be in sync and you want partners who would provide direction without interfering in every decision you make.
• How involved do you want your investors to be - You should have a clear ideas on what the role of the investor should be. It should be clearly communicated and agreed upon. Knowing your investor’s level of involvement ahead of time prevents future conflicts.

Other core factors you should take cognizance of, when it comes to potential investors, include their area of focus, their reliability and their reputation. Finding the right investor is the most important step in your entrepreneurial journey. It is a relationship that you have to engage with every day, in the years to come. Choose wisely. Ask questions and do research to select the best investor your company can get. A willing patron and wise mentor who can be the backbone of your company, will go a long way in helping your business prosper.