Research
Business as Unusual: Exploding the ‘business as usual’ mindset to transform corporations with purpose.







What our
partners say
“Social business is an incredible breath of innovation. We
find new ways to produce our product. We look at the company from a
society standpoint – inside out and include the idea of social value
creation in strategic planning.”

Emmanuel Faber, Former CEO, Danone
Business as unusual
There is a momentous shift happening right now.
Businesses are under increasing scrutiny from their employees, their customers and governments to help solve the global challenges we face in the world.
Limiting the harm a business causes to our planet and society is no longer enough - real transformation means creating positive social and environmental value for society.
Limiting the harm a business causes to our planet and society is no longer enough - real transformation means creating positive social and environmental value for society.
How does a company transform for purpose?
At Yunus Social Business, we focus on social businesses that solve pressing human challenges. Our research looks at how companies can transform to purpose-led organisations through practical experiences, case studies and tools.
Through social intrapreneurship, growing social businesses and initiatives from within the company, social procurement, partnering with and integrating social enterprises into their supply chains, or whether change comes from the top-down from C-level and shareholder action, our research lays out actionable pathways for transformation. And for those that are not already convinced of the purpose-mission, we run quantitive experiments within companies to make the case for social intrapreneurship.
We call it business as unusual.
Through social intrapreneurship, growing social businesses and initiatives from within the company, social procurement, partnering with and integrating social enterprises into their supply chains, or whether change comes from the top-down from C-level and shareholder action, our research lays out actionable pathways for transformation. And for those that are not already convinced of the purpose-mission, we run quantitive experiments within companies to make the case for social intrapreneurship.
We call it business as unusual.
Measuring the benefits: How social intrapreneurship transforms and benefits businesses.

Quantitative Research on the Effects of Social Intrapreneurship.
More and more corporate leaders are seeking ways to amplify their corporate purpose and transform their companies into a force for good. But how does this purpose agenda play out from the top down? We are speaking to CEOs and shareholders in a series of qualitative interviews to lift the lid on their experiences.
Driven by data
Building on the qualitative interviews with over 50 multinationals, ‘Making the Case’ undertook practical experiments or studies as empirical research with three multinational companies: a major Global Retailer, MAN Truck & Bus and Covestro. This work resulted in over 1,300 data points. By linking the companies' social intrapreneurship activities to key performance metrics, ‘Making The Case’ starts to build the business case for Social Intrapreneurship.
The results of our quantitative research sought to evidence the benefits identified by the Social Intrapreneurs in the first report. In order to drive change, Intrapreneurs need solid, convincing facts on how their initiatives could benefit the overall performance of the company — to ‘Make The Case’.
The results of our quantitative research sought to evidence the benefits identified by the Social Intrapreneurs in the first report. In order to drive change, Intrapreneurs need solid, convincing facts on how their initiatives could benefit the overall performance of the company — to ‘Make The Case’.
This is just the beginning
With this research, we invite companies and Social Intrapreneurs to look inside their own companies and ‘Make The Case’ for SI themselves. We have started with three companies who wanted to go into more depth to prove the case for social intrapreneurship. But we will go further to develop a larger dataset supporting the business case for social intrapreneurship.
Ready To Prove It In More Depth For Your Own Company?
We’ve built a practical toolkit to help you run your own assessments and experiments. Our research methodology is open source - the tools are in your hands.
Ready To Prove It In More Depth For Your Own Company?
We’ve built a practical toolkit to help you run your own assessments and experiments. Our research methodology is open source - the tools are in your hands.
Study designs
Employee Engagement, Purpose, Participation, and Awareness in Social Intrapreneurship Initiatives. ⇩
Employee engagement
Employee engagement
Employee Engagement, Purpose and Values Alignment ⇩
Employee engagement
Employee engagement
Talent attraction & social intrapreneurship initiatives ⇩
HR - recruitment
HR - recruitment
Study Design for Participation in and Awareness of Social Intrapreneurship & Employee Skills Development. ⇩
Talent development
Talent development
Consumer behaviour and purchasing decision survey at onsite points of sale
⇩
Communications - brand equity
Communications - brand equity
Customer perception of sustainability & purchase intent ⇩
Communications - customer perception
Communications - customer perception
Study Design for Customer Perception at an Onsite Event ⇩
Communications - customer perception
Communications - customer perception
Toolkit
Just getting started?
The Quick Check touches on the seven most important areas for social innovation and assesses how ready you and your company are to support social entrepreneurship.
The Readiness Assessment is a quick way of benchmarking your organisation's capacity for social innovation.
Kottbusser Damm 7, 10967 Berlin. Germany.
© 2021 Yunus Social Business.