Which is the definition of Social Economy and Solidarity? According to Article 2 of the Greek Law 4430/2016, SSE refers to economic actions based on alternative forms of production, distribution, consumption, and reinvestment activities according to the principles of democracy, equality, solidarity, cooperation, respecting people and the environment.
What are the Principles of Social Economy? According to law 4430 of 2016, the principles governing SSE are the principle of democracy, the principle of equality, solidarity, cooperation, respect for people, and sustainability. In particular, the decision-making system is democratic and implies that each of its members has the right to one vote. The remuneration of workers must not diverge by stipulating that the maximum net salary must not exceed three times the minimum wage. The purposes served by SSE are social and secondarily comes profit which is not individual but serves to reinvest it in social purposes. The management of the companies established within the framework of SSE is autonomous and does not depend on legal entities governed by public law, private entities, or local authorities. The aim is always to produce general interest.
How is social innovation defined? According to Article 2(4) of Law 4430 of 2016, social innovation exists when the enterprise produces products or provides services aiming at satisfying the needs of society while at the same time converging in harmony production and consumption, supply, and demand, based on social relations with a collective and equal axis and not based on competition.
What does the Statute of a Social Cooperative Enterprise include? The articles of association of the social cooperative enterprise must include the name of the company as well as it is registered in the municipality where the company is located, and the purpose that defines its name. Then, regarding the members, if they are natural persons, their full name, address, and VAT number must be mentioned, while if they are legal persons, apart from the TIN, the GEMI number is also mentioned. the conditions for the entry and exit of members must be specified, while according to Article 16 of Law 4430/2016, the responsibility of the members and its scope must be specified.
Sustainability characteristics of Social Enterprises. The viability of a social enterprise is achieved if its duration is long while at the same time the achievement of profits that will then be distributed to a social purpose is possible. The characteristics that allow a social enterprise to be classified as viable fall into two categories. On the one hand, those that correspond to each enterprise and are related to the profit sought, and on the other hand, those related to the pursuit of the social purpose that the company in question alternatively promotes. more specifically, it concerns the ability of the company to produce value in a consistent manner, they create conditions that allow it to be concluded that in the future there will be monetary inflows in its favor, they maintain human management resources that favor successful strategies in the profitability of the enterprise, while throughout their existence they prove effective strategies that are changed in the time in the right direction in favor of the company, including the provision of an exit that will bring a high profit from the investment. Moreover, consistently in their social mission, they maintain high social contribution benefits externally and to its members, protecting workers with proper pay without great differences between them. Finally, the ability to make good use of the allocation of funds from grants and grants ensures the viability of the enterprise.
Reasons for the existence of Clusters of Social Enterprises. The factor of networking of Social Enterprises is imperative for reasons of shielding from the competition as it offers strong alliances through the rallying of different companies mainly small or medium-sized with common activity. In social enterprises, such a practice allows not only the sharing of information to achieve the social purpose, but also the possibility of raising money together in pursuit of the social purpose. At the same time, common problems are being solved together. Clusters of social enterprises have the advantage of local proximity while cooperating not only with each other but also with other bodies such as higher education institutions in order to draw on resources to achieve their social purpose. In this way, they achieve collaborations with institutions that provide them with prestige and modern knowledge through research, such as a university at no cost. Thus, they have access to more advertising and subsidies.
Differences between social enterprise clusters and social enterprise networks. Between the two there are similarities as cooperation is required between more actors in both cases, but there are significant differences as the clusters consist of more entities than the networks while they are not only businesses but also other bodies such as educational institutions. At the same time, they coalesce across a specific geographical range, while at the level of strategic objectives they are more far-reaching. Finally, a cluster can contain different networks which give a wider character to the cluster.
History of a foreign social cooperative enterprise. In this regard, reference will be made to the French social cooperative enterprise called ……. and founded in the year 2017. Her field of interest is the advice of businesses for a smooth transition to the ecological economy with the aim of integrating this ecological mentality both in personal and professional life as an axis of action. It is a company that proposes innovative programs addressed to companies and individuals and proposes seminars on action plans, ateliers and creation so that through creative dialogue the participants adopt actions to improve them and finally accompanies long-term participants encouraging them in innovative programs in a pedagogical way. It is a company that has the legal form of a simplified société par Actions Simplifiée ( Société par Actions Simplifiée), and its registered office is in Paris. The founder of the company traveled for years around the world and was active as an activist in informing people about the squandering of natural resources and their overconsumption, mainly in terms of food and plastic plates having a bad effect on the climate. Her return to France marked the founding of her company based on her moral values.
SWOT analysis for the company …... The previous paragraph was presented the French social cooperative enterprise called …… and founded in the year 2017. In this context, the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, external Threats) analysis will be attempted. Recalling the interpretation of the above term, this is the analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the company faces in order to avoid mistakes that will risk its success, by drawing up an effective strategic planning plan.
Regarding the Forces of the company Edeni, the following characteristics can be included:
• the vision and the will of its creator who traveled many years abroad maintaining similar actions in different countries
• its experience at a practical level in these actions allowing it to assess potential risks in the market
• the influence exerted on the public by its initiative by the other countries makes it possible to assess the impact of its action on the French public;
• the stable legislative environment of France allows it to have confidence in the legislation in conditions of legal certainty
• its links with other countries make it possible to give positive experiences from other people, which gives credibility to its initiative and advertising at low cost;
• the fact that France subsidizes enterprises on a social initiative in accordance with the 1901 Act allows it to have access to finance.
Regarding the Weaknesses of the …… company, the following characteristics can be included:
• the company's product, i.e. the provision of advice and support on sustainability issues has a general content and perhaps this discourages customers who, apart from the ethical initiative, need more detailed reporting of its services, which is not the case on its website.
• the lack of a detailed description of its services reveals the possible ambiguity of its strategic direction
• excessive adherence to ethical purposes may discourage profit-oriented companies
• a leading position of the company in the market cannot be appreciated as there are more and more companies providing environmental guidance in the French market
Regarding the Opportunities of the company ….., the following features can be included:
• the European Union is developing more and more strategies for the protection of the environment such as the Green Dreal, resulting in additional guidance from a legislative point of view for the proper protection of the environment by businesses, while this causes additional needs of direction to customers by specialists
• the state's studies on environmental protection and the need to give practical examples will encourage the inclusion in them of a reference to the action of this company, enhancing its credibility and advertising.
Regarding ….. Threats, the following features can be incorporated:
• the existence of many state-owned free information providers is a threat as the customer prefers directions from a trusted government agency with zero cost
• the growing integration of environmental issues into existing companies giving financial advice to companies is a threat as their many years of existence in the market has already consolidated their position and the public's trust in them. topical issues such as the environmental context creating additional competitors
Comments