Social Business: Achieving Social Objectives of Business in a Sustainable Way in Indonesia

An economic system of capitalism is transforming nowadays, as the society’s awareness of its surroundings increases. Doing business is not merely going after profit maximization. Companies are demanded to acquire more social responsibilities in the society. These are shown in their CSR activities. Here, the social activities should not interfere with the core business of gaining maximum profit. This economic thinking is challenged by the new business concept from Muhammad Yunus – social business. In this concept, social mission is the core business. Social business combines social mission and financial profit in one entity. Addressing social problems to improve the well-being of the impoverished groups is the main goal. Nevertheless, achievement of financial profit is important to sustain the business and its social benefits. Indonesia, as a developing country, still faces many social problems. Social business is seen as a solution to overcome these problems. Using two case studies presented in this thesis, the understanding and implementation of social business in Indonesia will be described to show the sustainable way of achieving social objectives of business in this country