Students and teachers explore running a social enterprise that makes raincoats.

Multiple Bottom Lines is an interactive method to explain what a social enterprise is. It simply needs stick-its and sheets of sugar paper with columns drawn on them, as below:

Each group has a multiple bottom line display. After a quick explanation the groups are given a series of scenarios. Before each they put the arrows pointing horizontally.
bottomline (demo) 1.mov

You run a co-operative social enterprise that makes raincoats. The first scenario is that your market testing shows that customers want brightly coloured raincoats…
bottomline 2.mov

The people, in their groups discuss what the effects on the bottom lines will be, moving the arrows to point up, down, sideways, at an angle etc.
bottomline 3.mov

After a short period of time the groups will present in turn what their company has done and how it effects the different bottom lines. This can be done looking at each column and going around the groups.
bottomline 4.mov

Then you move onto the next scenario, for example you have invested in new sowing machines that have a greater efficiency (25%), or you have decided to relocate your company to India.

The activity can be done very well but with the responses being passive, the arrows being moved to show simply the effect of the scenario. This might reinforce the apparent lack of responsibility for what companies do.

For example with new efficient sowing machines groups may put the arrows down for the workforce and talk about redundancies or reduced hours, but they could put them up if they had decided to use the raised profits to pay the workers more but for less hours.