Business With a Difference

This collection of research essays explores different examples of businesses who operate conscientiously and even inclusively of the broader stakeholders in the business. These "businesses with a difference" go above and beyond corporate responsibility by re-prioritizing "the bottom line of financial profit and return to the owners or the shareholders." The stakeholders are broader than the formal owners and operators of a business. To this end, Karl Polyani's theories of economic transformation and embededdness of markets in broader society inform this "stakeholder's perspective." Essays look at largely Canadian social entrepreneurship, but also South American examples too. They try to show that being socially and ecologically responsible need not be seen as a financial death-trap. Topics include the Canadian credit union movement, the competitive advantage of non-monetary exchange, converting organizational forms, land and self-determination, challenges for operating social economy businesses in rural and small towns, education for the social economy, and more. The contributors include professors of business, marketing, history, economics, as well as business owners and employees in economic development nonprofits. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)