Hospital de Barcelona, a social enterprise model
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Hospital de Barcelona, a social enterprise model
On 13 March the President of the CIES Economy and Society Research Centre, Isabel Vidal, delivered a conference entitled “SCIAS, a social enterprise model”. The event, which was staged at Hospital de Barcelona, was attended by Teresa Basurte and Gerard Martí, President and Trustee, respectively, of the Espriu Foundation.
Photo: From right to left, Gerard Martí, Espriu Foundation’s Trustee, Isabel Vidal, CIES President, Teresa Basurte, Espriu Foundation’s President and Lourdes Mas, Scias Manager
In her presentation Ms Vidal set out a view of social enterprise as an initiative derived from an association of people, as opposed to business initiatives motivated by the association of capital, opting for a distinctive organisational model in providing goods or services. This model is based on principles such as the pursuit of shared benefits, the involvement of the different stakeholder groups in corporate governance (citizens, workers, consumers, etc…) and the reinvestment of any surplus funds to improve sustainability of the business.
The Barcelona University lecturer explained that the SCIAS co-operative, one of the constituent bodies of the Espriu Foundation, represents a key example of a social enterprise, stressing its system of corporate governance, a multi-stakeholder model which involves both workers and consumers in their capacity as members.
