Can Social Business Tackle the Water Crisis in Bangladesh? An Analysis from Social Inclusion Perspective

Water became a valuable commodity due to the lack of pure water in the coastal region of Bangladesh. The water crisis has been the focus of numerous commercial ventures. Among these businesses, social enterprises, sometimes referred to as social business enterprises, are dedicated to helping the underprivileged people and groups that aren’t covered by the present service coverage. The value proposition, value constellation, and positive profit equation are the three aspects that the social business model adds to further clarify its value-driven perspective. Although social business has gained popularity in developing nations over the past two decades, a little has been done to assess its commitment in the context of Bangladesh. In this regard, the study uses the interpretive method of qualitative research to examine the degree to which and the manner in which social business organizations are putting their commitment to practices. Primary data was collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews from the Union Parishad (hereinafter UP), the lowest tier of the local government in Bangladesh. The findings reveal three key issues. First, social norms and organizational policies have significantly contributed to the structural variables that have made the service delivery process less exclusive. Second, the lack of own capacity of poor people (financial and non-financial) has influenced the disadvantaged community outside of this service delivery. Third, power dynamics and social norms at the grass-root level are important factors to make the service delivery process poor-people friendly in the context of a hierarchical society in Bangladesh. The main contribution of this paper is that the value-driven position of the social business model remains rhetoric and that disadvantaged people are still denied access to safe water because of the lack of proper attention on the interplay among structural factors, power dynamics, and agency-related factors.