Table 4 Illustrative examples of organizational interventions

An illustration of internal organizational interventions is provided by a small design firm in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The ‘plastic design company’ is a firm that works to create innovative solutions for plastic waste. Founded in 2013, the firm perceived insufficient communication between themselves and their clients, leading to project delays and other issues. This led to the development of their co-design strategy. The ‘co-design’ strategy is meant to promote close collaboration throughout the entirety of the project, incorporating the client into all stages of the design and building process and creating a collaborative creative process. By conducting projects with a deeper understanding of the goals, values and context of their clients, the company is able to reach mutually satisfactory results that more effectively link the social and environmental values of the client organization to larger environmental issues.

An illustration of external organizational interventions is provided by a cleaning company in Vancouver, Canada. As a social enterprise, the company was founded with the purpose of providing work opportunities to socially marginalized groups. Being located in an urban area afflicted by socio-economic issues, the enterprise seeks to empower individuals through training and employment. The entrepreneurs also became involved in policy-making processes related to social hiring practices in the city of Vancouver. As a result, the firm is able to help alter formal regulations that determine access to livelihood in the area and diffuse social hiring practices.