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Empowering Communities: The KMN Foundation's Social Entrepreneurial Journey
Original title: Empowering communities: the KMN Foundation’s social entrepreneurial journey
AI summary Read the abstract
This isn't actually a health research study — it's a business school case study about an Indian nonprofit that created eco-friendly cloth bags (RagBags) to replace plastic bags while providing jobs to single mothers, written to teach entrepreneurship students about scaling a sustainable business. While it touches on reducing plastic pollution, it doesn't examine microplastics or direct human health effects; the focus is on business strategy, not science. If you're looking for research on plastic pollution and health, this paper won't provide that data.
Learning outcomes Upon completing the case and its accompanying assignment questions, students will be able to do the following: Case overview/synopsis Karma Moksha Nirvana (KMN) Foundation was established in 2014 in Kolkata, India, by Rajib Charkraborty. Over the years, the Foundation diligently worked towards the social upliftment of marginalized communities. It was focused on bringing overall changes in health care, education and the environment through its community-building initiatives. The foundation supported health-care initiatives by providing low-cost healthcare and education to neglected groups through scholarships, career training, skill development programs and sports facilities for underprivileged students. They also provided extensive support to people affected by natural disasters and COVID-19. In recent years, plastic bags have been a major source of pollution and a significant environmental issue in developing countries like India. This led to plastic-free movement and a high demand for sustainable lifestyle products free from plastic. When the Government of India also intervened and banned single-use plastic carry bags in August 2021, Rajib came up with the idea of RagBag – a sustainable and fashionable alternative to plastic bags. Rajib set up an end-to-end value chain for manufacturing these RagBags, creating livelihood opportunities for semi-skilled women, primarily single mothers. This initiative was addressing five sustainable development goals (SDG 5,8,12,13,17). Rajib and his team tried to turn this non-profit organization into a self-sustaining business model. Through collaborative efforts, they worked with companies to offer corporate gifting as part of their CSR projects. Rajib also explored possible ways to expand this business model by adding more sustainable products to its portfolio in the future. Rajib wanted to develop a business strategy to expand this business model. He knew that setting up a self-sustaining business model would be challenging before the upcoming high competition in the sustainable lifestyle products category. He was facing a dilemma to fulfill an order from a pharma client. Should they scale up operations, outsource part of the work, renegotiate terms with the client or risk losing credibility and future business? Complexity academic level This case is designed for graduate-level management students taking courses on social entrepreneurship, marketing management, sustainability & business and sustainability marketing. It is best suited to the second half of the course when students investigate scaling strategies, competitive analysis and operational efficiency in sustainability-driven businesses. Subject code CSS7: Management Science.
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