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Abstract Social entrepreneurship (SE) has been the central focus of many studies that address social ills includ- ing poverty in the past two decades. It was observed that SE research lags behind its practice. One im- portant gap is the type of organization employed to achieve both economic and social goals. This is a case study whose aims were to describe the characteristics of a social enterprise and attempt to explain how it managed to stay sustainable. This research focused on Oriental Port and Allied Services Corpo- ration (OPASCOR), a workers’ enterprise based in Cebu, Philippines. As a workers’ enterprise founded in 1990, its ownership is shared among its employees. The company is granted by Cebu Ports Authority a contract to engage in the handling of cargoes exclusively at the Cebu International Port. These very characteristics as well as the existence of a formal management system contributed to the company’s success. A strong and adaptive leadership that upholds the organization’s values of i ntegrity, openness, accessibility, and participation was instrumental in harnessing the employees to achieve economic and social goals of the social enterprise. The study proposes a social enterprise model that is owned by its workers, has management system focused on balancing social and economic goals, and adaptive lead- ership. The Best Practices of a Social Enterprise in Cebu, Philippines The Best Practices of a Social Enterprise in Cebu, Philippines The Best Practices of a Social Enterprise in Cebu, Philippines Lauro Cipriano R. Silapan, Jr., Marites A. Khanser, Lolita V. Velita, and Christopher S. Malaya Lauro Cipriano R. Silapan, Jr., Marites A. Khanser, Lolita V. Velita, and Christopher S. Malaya Lauro Cipriano R. Silapan, Jr., Marites A. Khanser, Lolita V. Velita, and Christopher S. Malaya University of San Carlos University of San Carlos University of San Carlos Introduction Social entrepreneurship in this study is defined as a “disciplined, innovative, risk-tolerant entrepre- neurial process of opportunity recognition and resource assembly directed toward creating social value by changing underlying social and economic structures” (Hill, Kothari, & Shea, 2010, p. 21). As a proc- ess, it involves the creation of social enterprises which may take several forms and conceptualized as a spectrum of nonprofit (e.g., cooperatives, fair trade, and non-government organizations among others) to for-profit enterprises. In practice, strong competition for shrinking resources caused a shift toward hy- brid forms and even for-profits to achieve sustainability. In the late 1980s, poverty in Central Visayas, where Cebu City is located, is said to be at its worst. Studies showed that among those receiving below the legislated minimum wage were port workers. This study’s context is Cebu City, Philippines. The study focused on a social enterprise founded in 1990 by port workers formerly employed by a cargo handling company at the Cebu International Port (CIP) which was subjected to the privatization policy of the government in the 1980s. The delivery of services emanating from the use of sea ports is under the jurisdiction of the Philip- pine Ports Authority (PPA). PPA is a government-owned and controlled corporation created in 1974 but took over the administration of all Philippine ports only in 1976.It assumed the operation of Cebu port in 1977. In 1996 however, Cebu Ports Authority (CPA), created in 1992, took over the management of all ports in Cebu. The focus of the study is OPASCOR, designated by CPA as the exclusive cargo handling service provider at CIP. The study has the following objectives: 1) describe the characteristics of OPASCOR that made it a sustainable social enterprise; 2) explain how the organization successfully managed the business using the Ferreira and Otley (2009) management framework; 3) identify key intangible per- formance indicators and determine how these contributed to the success of the social enterprise; and 4) propose a sustainable social enterprise framework. Method This research used the case study research methodology (Yin, 2014) to investigate how a social enterprise involved in port operations (e.g., sea cargo handling service) in Cebu, Philippines managed to stay successful. The data gathering process made use of the case protocol as basis for the interview of various key informants. The study also used other sources of evidence from actual observation, com- pany documents, financial reports from SEC, articles, books, magazines, websites, etc. Results OPASCOR is a workers’ enterprise established in June 1990 with a contract from Cebu Ports Authority to serve the cargo handling service needs of clients using the Cebu International Port. Presently, it has more than 500 employees. Ownership of the company is shared: 80% of shares owned by rank and file workers and su- pervisors and 20% of shares owned by managers and executives. The company owns lifting equipment (e.g., quay cranes, rubber-tyred gantry cranes, forklifts), moving equip- ment, and bulk handling facility among others. It performs loading and unloading of cargoes to and from ves- sels as well as movement/transfer/shifting of cargoes within the container yard. OPASCOR is an internationally-recognized world-class global Port Operator, with their strong partners and supporters they contribute to the nation’s economic development by achieving profit with honor. Their Mission is three-fold: 1. To preserve and strengthen the company for future generations; 2. To continually improve in order to serve our customers efficiently and effectively; 3. To ensure that OPASCOR has sufficient, appropriate and modern port equipment and facilities. In order to achieve its Vision and Mission, OPASCOR focuses on: 1. Glorifying God for making OPASCOR a living testimony of His love for the under- privileged; 2. Uplifting economic, social and spiritual well-being of the company’s workers and their families; 3. Putting OPASCOR’s sustained growth as a matter of honor beginning at our Top Management level; 4. Ensuring that OPASCOR is a professional workers’ enterprise composed on competent, well -trained and experienced officers and employees working together as one strong team. Governance and Management Processes: Policy makers are managers and workers; Close communication ushered in industrial peace Implementation of ISO 9001:2008 involved everyone in achieving optimum service quality and better management Implementation of ISO and CPA audits as well as annual management reviews High levels of productivity: 25 to as much as 30 moves per hour; Workers are well cared for. Adaptive Leadership enabled the chief executive officer to lead effectively. Fig. 3 Lifting Equipment, Bulk Handling Facility, and CIP Container Yard Fig. 1 Poverty Incidence in the Philippines in 1988 Fig. 2 Cebu Base Port Conclusions OPASCOR as a workers’ enterprise was successful Fit was attained among the operating model, resource strategy, and social impact theory Membership interlocks in both OPASCOR and CPA boards contributed to the success of OPASCOR. High levels of productivity afforded generous benefit package for the workers There is a need to rationalize the role of OPASCOR’s board and create a balance between social and economic goals. References Ferreira, A. & Otley, D. (2009). The design and use of performance management systems: An extended framework for analysis. Management Accounting Research, 20, 263-282. Hill, T. L., Kothari, T. H., & Shea, M. (2010). Patterns of meaning in the social entrepreneurship litera- ture: A research platform. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1 (1), 5-31. Ramanathan, K. (2012). Toward a theory of corporate social accounting. In R. Gray, J. Bebbington & S. Gray (Eds), In Social and environmental accounting, Volume I, Laying the Foundations (pp. 41-56). California, USA: Sage Publications Ltd. Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research design and methods (5 th Ed). Los Angeles, California, USA: Sage Publications, Inc. Contact Information School of Business and Economics University of San Carlos P. del Rosario Street Cebu City Philippines Website: ww.usc.edu.ph Email Address: [email protected] Mobile No.: +63 917 620 6564 Phone No.: +63 32 253 1000 local 284 Acknowledgements The researchers would like to thank CIMA and the COE for funding this project, University of San Car- los for the use of facilities, and OPASCOR for their story. Fig. 5. Year-on-Year Changes Fig. 4 Shipcalls and Container Traffic (TEUs) at CIP
