Humane Entrepreneurship and MSMEs in a Dynamic World

Sunday, August 1, 2021, by Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy

In championing people first, humane entrepreneurship inhabits a unique role in the business world as inherently human-centered. In light of the pandemic, the necessity of humane entrepreneurial practices has become more apparent than ever before. As we contended with COVID-19 head-on, many MSMEs saw governments responding swiftly in support. However, while we seek prosperity in our post-pandemic society, we must ask ourselves three essential questions: Will this government support continue? How can MSMEs recover in the aftermath of COVID-19? Finally, how can we actively support MSMEs, not only from a business standpoint but on a human level? With values of empathy, equity, and environmental protection, humane entrepreneurship provides the answers.

The journey towards humane entrepreneurship was initiated five years ago by Drs. Ayman El Tarabishy, President & CEO, ICSB, and Ki-Chan Kim, Professor of Management at The Catholic University of Korea and former ICSB president. On the opening day of ICSB’s second annual Human Entrepreneurship Conference, Professor Kim presented research that examined how humane companies retain happier employees, customers, and environmentally healthy communities than traditional business models. These “Firms of Endearment” outperformed the overall market by a nine-to-one ratio over ten years in terms of profitability and performance. This is because companies that invest in human capital as the chief source of innovation create High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS). As a result, employees experience elevated levels of engagement and creative empowerment.

Humane entrepreneurship has a simple recipe, wherein each element activates the next: 1) empathy, 2) empowerment, 3) enablement, 4) proactiveness for an opportunity, 5) risk-taking, 6) innovativeness, and 7) performance. Professor Kim argues that the first element of a successful company is a CEO with a clear mission. When a CEO works not only for profit but also for a philosophical goal, they attract like-minded employees who feel inspired to strive for positive change. As stated by author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek, “Humane entrepreneurship is to hire people who believe what you believe.” This shared philosophy in improving society serves as the backbone of any successful enterprise.

Building upon this mission, the CEO must also be empathetic, positive, and considerate. When a CEO opens discussions, encourages involvement, and supports employees in their responsibilities, they create a culture where employees arrive at work engaged both physically and mentally, motivated to accomplish their communal goal. Essentially, integrating these pillars of humane entrepreneurship creates a HPWS that produces engaged employees who are enabled to take innovative, creative risks and achieve higher excellence. Creativity is the key to a successful company and is achieved with the humane entrepreneur’s superpower: empowerment.

Ultimately, we arrive at three factors for a successful company: 1) a visionary CEO, 2) empathy and 3) empowerment and enablement. When entrepreneurs manage their employees’ experience in light of their mission, they directly affect their sales and performance to achieve the best possible outcome for their company, employees, and community. In his presentation, Professor Kim posed this question: “What is an enterprise?” Citing Colin Mayer, the former dean of Said Business School at Oxford University, we understand that “the purpose of a business is not to produce profits” and that an enterprise is “the most productive place to solve problems on the planet.” In essence, a humane company is a place that challenges the corporate status quo, and a humane entrepreneur is a person who takes action to make their vision for a better world a reality.

To learn more about the humane entrepreneurship model, watch the session below.

Importance of Research with Impact

Saturday, December 19, 2020, by Ayman El Tarabishy, President and CEO of ICSB

As the fundamentals of the business ecosystem have been upended in the COVID-19 era, too has our relationship to research and statistical data. The same technologies that have brought businesses and consumers closer together have complicated and altered the idea of a balanced and objective truth. As we continue to rely upon data and statistical research to point us in the right direction during an increasingly unstable time, we must examine the impact and consequences of this data and make sure it is being used for humane and sustainable solutions.

The ubiquity of social media and the ability to communicate with virtually anyone at virtually any time has drastically changed the ways we relate to one another. Education has become less about “discovering” new information and more about learning how to sift between good and wrong information. As we begin to think about new ways to communicate new ideas and strategies effectively, we believe that researching with impact is the best way to create a knowledge ecosystem that guides and supports the new and emerging business ecosystem that we envision here at ICSB.

What do we mean by a knowledge ecosystem? First, we recognize the importance of local businesses and consumers having the agency diagnose and solve the issues facing their communities. We reject the idea that there is a one-size-fits-all solution to the myriad problems facing the world today. We want to empower actors within the business community to have the framework to create new and innovative solutions to the issues they face now and in the future.

Secondly, we understand that people will use and rely on different sources of information in the era of social media and global connectivity. The purpose of ICSB and the educational resources that we provide is not to claim that we have all the solutions; instead, we believe we are building a community of driven, empathetic individuals who recognize the issues faced and believe that there are ideals and principles that we should prioritize in the re-making of our business world. That is why we think that researching with impact is crucial to our larger goals of promoting equity and justice within the business ecosystem and empowering atypical actors worldwide.

Why is it essential to emphasize researching with impact? We have seen the consequences of research for research’s sake, whether in the continued dismissal of atypical and marginalized individuals or the refusal to recognize the effects of unsustainable investment and production. Too often, the consequences of oppression have been used to justify the continuation of that same oppression. Women are not underrepresented in managerial and leadership positions because they are “too emotional” or lack the necessary experience. They are underrepresented because women have faced structural issues and oppression that have limited their ability to advance and be recognized within the formal leadership structure. The solution to this cannot merely be more research. Research is often presented after the fact to groups of people who knew the outcomes of that research would be far before they were given. It has to be research committed to uncovering the consequences of this past behavior and providing a framework for realistic and just solutions. There is a desperate need for accurate and impactful research that centers on justice and sustainability principles. We believe that organizations like ICSB are the blueprint for what the process of creating sustainable and impactful research will look like.

If you are interested in research with impact, we welcome you to submit to our 2021 World Congress call for papers to be held in Paris, France in person and online. We urge you to engage with essential topics in business research and the type of research necessary in and sign for our recreation of this world into one that focuses on equitable sustainability. We surely hope you will join us on this journey.

Start here: https://icsb2021.com/call-for-papers/

Article by:

Ayman El Tarabishy,
President and CEO, ICSB
Deputy Chair, Department of Management

Adjusting our metrics and measurements of success towards sustainability and humane investment, centering women, specifically through the expansion of womenentrepreneurs and women-led MSMEs.

This past week, members from around the business world gathered for the first ICSB Global Women Entrepreneurship (WE) Conference, a space designed for women that dare to pursue creative solutions for greater global impact. This conference comes at a crucial juncture, as MSMEs and entrepreneurs navigate an emerging and constantly changing business ecosystem. As we come together to reconsider and reimagine our world, it is clear that women play an increased and vital role in creating new, sustainable business practices. We hope that this conference, unique in its goals and ambition, will be the first of many such endeavors designed to take advantage of this historical moment and provide adequate resources and investments for women entrepreneurs and MSMEs.

Some of the themes we have stressed this year at ICSB have included sustainability, humane entrepreneurship and investment, flexibility, and resilience. Women have consistently been at the forefront of progress in all of these fields, and they have largely done so without significant investment from traditional business actors. We believe that resources like the WE Conference will help us all take advantage of the unique situation we find ourselves in by prioritizing and centering women’s experiences in the business ecosystem. Women have been working and innovating throughout history, even as the market has traditionally under-valued their labor. They have been forced to adapt creative and sustainable solutions with limited access to capital and no formal recognition within the system. Women overwhelmingly are the managers of their household, a chore far more cumbersome than most business management positions. They have experience in investing frugally to maximize services in the face of economic pressures.

Women have consistently met challenges with creative, quick thinking that has mostly prioritized sustainable, community-driven solutions to issues, which are precisely the values and experience we need to be centering at this moment. We can see this through the benefits that companies have brought in after hiring and promoting women executives, which have consistently been between a 15% and 69% increase in profits (Kathy Frey, WE Conference, 2020). Simply put, women are one of the top growth economies in an ecosystem looking for new growth opportunities.

With the dual challenges of the COVID-19 crisis and the looming instability that will accompany climate change, we have to begin changing how we view, understand, and carry out humane entrepreneurship and sustainable investment. Women have traditionally invested more of their finances in childcare and family development resources compared to men. Today, they spend on average 3x the time men do on domestic care and unpaid work. They have consistently been forced to produce more with less and have had to be sustainable and resilient to succeed. One of the most basic steps we can take to empower women in the business ecosystem is to have women decide for women.  Women’s autonomy is often overlooked because the struggles they face are hidden, a fact we saw throughout the world as many women were left out of stimulus packages passed in response to the COVID crisis. We must recognize that it is impossible to transition to sustainable, humane standards of entrepreneurship and investment without empowering and centering all women. Once we show women the support they deserve and are put in positions to influence and direct the activity in the business ecosystem, we will see improvements in every part of our society.

The process of transition to a business ecosystem that is more just, equitable, and profitable will not be an easy nor fast one. We have not been perfect here at ICSB, but we hope that this year’s WE Conference is the first of many such resources targeted towards women and their evolving role in society. As we adjust our metrics and measurements of success towards sustainability and humane investment, centering women, specifically through the expansion of women entrepreneurs and women-led MSMEs, will be crucial. We hope to bring attention to both educational and practical resources of which both aspiring women entrepreneurs and investors to take advantage. We want to be part of the process of change here at ICSB, and we hope our WE Conference is a blueprint for additional resources for women that creates space for them to thrive and be autonomous in the evolving business ecosystem. As Cecilia Tham declared at the WE conference, “Success is not defined by others, it’s how we want to be.”

ICSB congratulates and warmly thanks the WE Conference Chairs: 

• Shoroke Zedan, Partner, Envisage Consulting, Egypt
• María Fernanda Andrés, C-Level Executive / Chief Business Developer at Aceleradora Litoral, Argentina
• Inés Gabarret, Associate Dean at ESSCA School of Management, France
• Diah Yusuf, Founder at Indonesia Prima, Indonesia
• Analia Pastran, Founder and Executive Director of Smartly Social Entrepreneurship on the SDGs, USA
• Vicki Stylianou, Head of advocacy and policy at Institute of Public Accountants, Australia

Article by:
Ayman El Tarabishy
Deputy Chair, Department of Management, GW School of Business
President & CEO of ICSB

Women have consistently dared to pursue creative and lasting solutions to problems facing their communities, and they have done so with virtually no support or investment from traditional sources. Imagine the impact women in our communities can do with adequate support and resources.  We hope that resources like the WE conference can lay the foundation for this radical, sustainable transformation.

Within the 17 SDGs, over a hundred targets seek to look more specifically into the individual elements within each goal. For example, within the 5th SDG, regarding gender equality, target 5.1 looks to ‘end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere,’ and target 5.2 strives to ‘eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and other sexual abuses, and other times of exploitation.’ Within a world of about 3.7 billion females, 1 in 5 women experience some form of sexual abuse. Target 5.4 aims to ‘recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provisions of public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.’ Globally, women spend triple the number of times men carry on domestic care and unpaid work. 

Not only have women been oppressed in much of the world for recorded history, but they have been working throughout that entire time. That is why women can innovate both creatively and sustainably. They have the training of running households, planning events, innovating frugally to supply necessary services and products under economic pressures, the interpersonal understanding of raising children and caring for adults, and the passion for fixing what is broken in the world. Target 5.5 reaches to ‘ensure that women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.’ While the global population is about 51% men and 49% women, women account for solely 39% of world employment. Of the total senior and middle management positions, less than a third are held by women. The stories are far from few when hearing about the individual difficulties of women working in these positions, regarding equal pay, treatment, and managing their job while managing most of their household. 

We must look at our current structure and recognize that women should be making decisions for women. Having taken recent measures to combat the economic crisis following the global pandemic, many nations provided their citizens with stimulus packages. Seen for their ineffectiveness in many situations, not nearly enough women were considered during the stimulus planning process. This is a very patriarchal mindset that does not consider the impact of oppression. Women have been forced to bear the brunt of the economic and social fallout from the pandemic, and they have received a fraction of the support that men have. Our society deeply values the ability to choose. Target 5.6 recognizes this by seeking to ‘ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.’ Currently, only 25% of married or in a union can freely make their own decisions about consensual sexual relations, contraceptive use, and health care. Women deserve to choose. 

To honestly act as advocates for gender equality, we must first become aware of the depth of this problem. Then we can recognize our complacency and begin to support and promote women. Every sector of life is touched by gender inequality in one way or another. Because of this, it is impossible to achieve the SDGs without the economic empowerment of women. By working amongst the three dimensions of sustainable development– environment, social, economics–, we can change that will initiate long-term growth. Globally, women help sustainable action by investing more of their wealth in their children’s education, health, and nutrition. Women also organize themselves in more communal and democratic ways, which tend to be much more sustainable. Once we show women the support they deserve, we will see improvements in every social sector.

Transitions will be necessary to incorporate women into formally paid employment roles, specifically those that target sustainable development. The current economic, nutritional, and energy realities are stark and unsustainable. So much of this world has been made by men, for men. Let this decade of SDG action be a decade of women as well. 

Although there will be difficulties, empowering atypical and historically marginalized participants in the new and emerging business world will be crucial to addressing and solving the complex problems we will face in a changing world. Women have the perspective and lived experience to correct some of the system’s existing oversights, and, because of their marginalization, they have been forced to solve large and small issues with very little institutional support and capital investment. If we desire a sustainable and just future, recognizing and valuing women’s perspectives and contributions is one of the easiest ways to transform our economy’s foundations radically. Here at ICSB, we believe resources like the Women Entrepreneurship (WE) conference are crucial for empowering a new generation of women leaders and entrepreneurs. Recent events have shaken the foundations of the global economy and significantly disrupted international production and consumption. Returning to pre-pandemic levels of growth is only possible through a radical reimagining of economic principles and foundations. Women have consistently dared to pursue creative and lasting solutions to problems facing their communities, and they have done so with virtually no support or investment from traditional sources. Imagine the impact women in our communities can do with adequate support and resources.  We hope that resources like the WE conference can lay the foundation for this radical, sustainable transformation. 

WE can change the world.

Women Entrepreneurs need to be supported.

With an Eye to the future, WE can succeed.  

https://icsbglobal.org/weconference/

article by:

Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy,

President and CEO, ICSB and Deputy Chair of the Department of Management, GW School of Business