California Management Review
California Management Review is a premier academic management journal published at UC Berkeley
by Flavio Feferman, Matthew Bujnicki, Stacey Chin, Travis Dziubla, Ashley Lohmann
The groupelephant.com (formerly EPI-USE) case focuses on CEO Jonathan Tager as he grapples with implementing and sustaining his company's recently launched Beyond Corporate Purpose: Elephants, Rhinos & People ('ERP') program. In what is more than just a Corporate Social Responsibility ('CSR') program but rather a hybrid business model, Tager is contemplating how to measure and convey the program's expected impact on elephant and rhino poaching, as well as on poverty alleviation in South Africa. The case study highlights the difficulty of planning in embarking on programs of this nature as well as CSR programs in general. It also addresses topics such as hybrid (blended) business models, the 'theory of change' underlying CSR strategy, and the challenges involved in defining and measuring impact. The case explores organizational challenges and tensions related to adopting a business model that is no longer solely for-profit, including whether companies have a responsibility to actively engage in advocacy and devote significant resources to social and environmental (conservation) objectives or whether such efforts violate the fiduciary responsibility that CEOs have to shareholders.
Pub Date: Feb 15, 2016
Revision Date: Jul 1, 2016
Discipline: Social Enterprise
Subjects: Computer software, Corporate social entrepreneurship, Environmental activism, Developing countries, Emerging markets, Environmental protection, Business models, Social responsibility
Product #: B5851-PDF-ENG
Geography: South Africa
Length: 15 page(s)
