Successful strategy making in Bupa not-for-profit provident: a case study and interview with Mr Ray King, chief executive of Bupa

Purpose – The focus of extant strategy literature is on for-profit organisations and within these group public organisations. There are other forms of organisations and following the deep recession of 2008 there is greater interest in other forms of organisation. In this case study and interview the aim is to examine strategy, strategic decisions and strategic management of a not-for-profit provident. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on documentary evidence and a semi-structured interview with Ray King, chief executive of Bupa. The perspective of CEO is key in strategy and such perspectives are relatively rarer. Findings – Bupa invests its surplus to provide better healthcare. Free from the pressures of quarterly reporting and shareholders it can pursue long-term value creation for members rather than short-term surpluses. Research limitations/implications – The case study and interview offers a unique insight into strategy-making within a successful mutual provident that has grown organically and externally becoming an international leader in health insurance. Originality/value – This case study sheds light on strategy-making within a not-for-profit provident that has diversified and grown significantly over the past six decades. Furthermore, very few case studies offer insight into the thinking of a chief executive who has successfully managed a business in a turbulent environment.

Government intervention or entrepreneurial profit? Explaining innovation in the Korean online gaming industry

The paper examines how and why the Korean online gaming industry gained dominance in the global market despite US and Japanese competition in related gaming sectors.

Science drives horticulture's progress and profit

Horticultural science linked with basic studies in biology, chemistry, physics and engineering has laid the foundation for advances in applied knowledge which are at the heart of commercial, environmental and social horticulture. In few disciplines is science more rapidly translated into applicable technologies than in the huge range of man’s activities embraced within horticulture which are discussed in this Trilogy. This chapter surveys the origins of horticultural science developing as an integral part of the 16th century “Scientific Revolution”. It identifies early discoveries during the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries which rationalized the control of plant growth, flowering and fruiting and the media in which crops could be cultivated. The products of these discoveries formed the basis on which huge current industries of worldwide significance are founded in fruit, vegetable and ornamental production. More recent examples of the application of horticultural science are used in an explanation of how the integration of plant breeding, crop selection and astute marketing highlighted by the New Zealand industry have retained and expanded the viability of production which supplies huge volumes of fruit into the world’s markets. This is followed by an examination of science applied to tissue and cell culture as an example of technologies which have already produced massive industrial applications but hold the prospect for generating even greater advances in the future. Finally, examples are given of nascent scientific discoveries which hold the prospect for generating horticultural industries with considerable future impact. These include systems modeling and biology, nanotechnology, robotics, automation and electronics, genetics and plant breeding, and more efficient and effective use of resources and the employment of benign microbes. In conclusion there is an estimation of the value of horticultural science to society.

Profit sharing with heterogeneous entrepreneurial prowess

This paper analyzes the impact of profit sharing on the incentives that individuals face to set up their own business. It presents a model of capital accumulation in which individuals are equally skilled to be workers but differ in their abilities to manage a firm Given an exogenous profit sharing parameter, an individual chooses whether to be an employer or an employee in order to maximize his net income. It is shown that profit sharing can inhibit entrepreneurial initiatives, reducing the number of firms in operation, the aggregate output and the economy's long run capital stock.

Mandatory profit sharing, entrepreneurial incentives and capital accumulation

The impact of a mandatory tax on profits which is transferred to workers is analyzed in a general equilibrium entrepreneurial model. In the short run, this distortion reduces the number of firms and the aggregate output. In the long run, if capital and labor are bad substitutes, it fosters capital accumulation and increases the aggregate output. In a small open economy with free movement of capital, it improves the welfare of the economy's average individual. One concludes that the benefits of sharing schemes may go beyond the short run employment-stabilization goal focused by the profit sharing literature.

For profit social entrepreneurship: milestones to develop an efficient social venture

Inúmeras questões terríveis e alarmantes são ainda mal resolvidas, apesar da mobilização de ONGs para aliviá-los. Por muito tempo, o setor privado deu as costas a preocupações tal qual estas. Ate que um novo tipo de empreendedor revolucionário apareceu com um novo conceito para combater a pobreza. Mohamed Yunus desbravou empreendedorismo social quando criou a Grameen Bank 36 anos atrás: ele desafiou regras convencionais e estritas alugando dinheiro para Bengalis desmerecidos de credito, tudo isso obtendo lucro no mesmo tempo. Hoje, empreendedorismo social esta um fenômeno mas a maioria dos empreendedores do setor dos e meia ainda enfrentam dificuldades. A pesquisa acadêmica sobre o empreendedorismo social com fins lucrativos ainda está hesitante. O presente trabalho é uma modesta tentativa de analisar quais são os desafios que um empreendedor social com fins lucrativos enfrentará ao longo do caminho para criar seu empreendimento e sustentar os seus objetivos. O exame da literatura mostra que as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos empreendedores são devido a vários fatores, compreendo questões diretamente relacionadas a incerteza do mercado e o contexto local, questões organizacionais, de financiamento, de ética e questões relacionadas a resistência do modelo de negocio. As proposições derivando do exame da literatura foram confrontadas a casos concretos através de entrevistas com empreendedores sociais, investidores de impacto e instituições de apoio. Resultados da pesquisa corroboram as proposições do inicio mas enfatizam necessidade de resolver, com consideração cuidadosa, as questões relacionadas a incerteza do mercado e ao desenho duma governança adequada. A respeito da incerteza do mercado, a identificação das partes interessadas no empreendimento social e a adoção duma mentalidade eficaz para ajustar suposições iniciais para a realidade local, são um padrão chave de sucesso para o empreendimento social. No nível organizacional, a constituição dum time perito e comprometido junto com o desenho duma governança certa para equilibrar o desejo de obter lucro e a necessidade de sustentabilidade financeira é uma garantia de sucesso para o empreendedor social.

Profit sharing with heterogeneous entrepreneural prowess

This paper analyzes the impact of profit sharing on the incentives that individuals face to set up their own business. It presents a model of capital accumulation in which individuals are equally skilled to be workers but differ in their abilities to manage a firmo It is shown that profit sharing can inhibit entrepreneurial initiatives, reducing the number of firms in operation, the aggregate output and the economy's long run capital stock.