The business of saving lives in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - a social imperative? Insights from “The Global Soap Project”

Abstract

Purpose Using a single case study of The Global Soap Project, a social enterprise founded by an African Immigrant resident in the USA, this study aims to explore and posit how lives could be saved in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially so in light of the Ebola pandemic ravaging swathes of West African communities. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative study interrogates both the identity of a diasporic social entrepreneur in an attempt to develop a framework that links this concept to community entrepreneurship using a single case study. Findings With hindsight, The Global Soap Project has much to offer in terms of “saving lives” in these communities, as the battle against the Ebola virus calls for containment measures. Research limitations/implications While arguably limited in terms of being a single case, this study furthers the understanding on the role of social entrepreneurship in complementing community efforts and coping strategies for tackling pandemics such as the Ebola virus. Social implications Evidently, while vaccines are being fast-tracked, the spread of the virus can be curtailed through personal hygiene, and the project illustrates how an individual social enterprise can be leveraged at the community level. Originality/value The study provides avenues for future research enquiry into how single cases might be transformed into multiple cases, both within and across sectors, for the benefit of humanity in general and affected communities in particular.

Revisiting the European Horsemeat Scandal: The Role of Power Asymmetry in the Food Supply Chain Crisis

“…Furthermore, there is a need for continuous monitoring, evaluation and even renegotiation of contractual agreements (see, e.g., Corbett & Tang, ). Indeed, our study resurrects an issue that has a longer history than many researchers, managers, and policymakers realize—the horsemeat scandal has a long history, and just like the Ebola virus in Africa (see Madichie, in press), there are possibilities of a recurrence. As a clear illustration of this we draw attention to a study undertaken over four decades ago in which Anderson and Lee (1976, p. 663) investigated the phenomenon in a study on “source of contamination of horsemeat in a packing plant under federal inspection.” Like many other scandals now adopting the “gate” suffix—see Abbots and Coles (2013) for a paper exploring the “Horsemeat‐gate”—the issue remains a danger going forward, and thereby constituting a wakeup call for especially the regulatory authorities (Premanandh, ).…”

Social Entrepreneurship

“…With the advent of Ebola, the organisations promoted by social entrepreneurs have actively contributed to the containment of the epidemy through their activities. Madichie (2016) describes the role covered by social entrepreneurs during the Ebola epidemy in sub-Saharan Africa. What is interesting is that through their organisations, social entrepreneurs promote a new approach to life that includes some preventive measures that have had a decisive role in protecting people from Ebola.…”

“…What is interesting is that through their organisations, social entrepreneurs promote a new approach to life that includes some preventive measures that have had a decisive role in protecting people from Ebola. The work by Madichie (2016) focuses on the Global Soap Project (GSP), an organisation that was born from the idea of two social entrepreneurs, Derreck and Sarah Kayongo, in 2009. The couple decided to collect all little soap bars discarded at hotels and to use them for realising new soap bars.…”

Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Peace Practices in Colombia

“…It has been stablished that there is a complex interdependence between corporate behavior and the resolving or maintining of conflicts (Fort and Schipani, 2007), and from the beginnings of 2000 it's been studied how companies react strategically before their stakeholders in environments of violent conflicts (Dunfee and Fort, 2003). Of course, the new literature's field work is centered around conflict or post-conflict zones such as Nigeria, Congo, Sudan, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Sub-Saharan Africa or the Middle East (Palestine-Israel) (Getz and Oetzel, 2009;Jiménez Peña, 2014;Kidder, 2006;Kolk and Lenfant, 2015;Madichie and Madichie, 2016;Nwagbara, 2014;Rettberg, 2007;Westermann-Behaylo, 2009). …”