PROFILE 2019 | WORLD’S BEST WORKPLACES
CONTENT FROM SAP
AT THEIR MOST RECENT MEETING IN AUGUST,
the Business Roundtable, an associa-
tion of American CEOs, redefined the
“purpose of a corporation” to be one that
serves all stakeholders—customers,
employees, suppliers, communities, and
shareholders. That may be the goal, but
the challenge is identifying a vehicle that
can reconcile the diverse interests at play.
SAP, the German cloud and software
giant whose technology touches 77% of
the world’s transactional revenue, believes
one solution is social enterprises. This
sector is on the cusp of significant growth
and impact: These businesses reinvest
more than 50% of their profits into social
or environmental causes.
SAP has partnered closely with social
enterprises over the past decade, and
in partnership with leading advocacy
body Social Enterprise UK, SAP recentlylaunched a narrative and
issues-driven content
platform—1blives.com—
to inform and rally the
world around the grow-
ing social enterprise
movement.
“We have seen tremendous economic
growth over the past several years,” says
SAP executive board member Adaire
Fox-Martin, who has spearheaded much
of the company’s recent engagement with
social enterprises. “However, prosperity
has reached a select few and still comes
at a hefty cost to our environment and
social stability. Social enterprises can help
us address these issues.”
To enable that growth, SAP is provid-
ing its employees with unique experiences
that directly support the social enterprise
sector. Its SAP One Billion Lives Ventures
initiative, founded by Fox-Martin, for
example, provides employees with an
end-to-end framework—funding, mentor-
ship, and technology—to create their own
social enterprises. SAP employees also
have the opportunity to volunteer through
social sabbaticals and use their skills and
expertise to the benefit of more than 100
social enterprises each year.
At the same time, SAP is opening up
its Ariba Network—where $3 trillion of
business commerce is transacted every
year—to social enterprises. This not only
gives social enterprises access to sell to
previously inaccessible companies and
markets, but also gives traditional compa-
nies the opportunity to purchase goods
and services from social enterprises,
knowing their money is being reinvested
into important causes around the world.
“The grass is always greener where
you water it,” Fox-Martin is fond of saying.
“It’s about being proactive and thoughtful
about where you’re directing your money.”
Now, that’s a corporation with
purpose. nADAIRE FOX-MARTIN
Executive Board Member
SAPSocial enterprises are contributing more and
more to global GDP—while addressing many
of the world’s systemic problems.Doing BusinessWhile Doing Good
“Prosperity has
reached a select few
and still comes at a
hefty cost to our
environment and social
stability. Social enter-
prises can help us
address these issues.”