Management 13th Edition by John Schermerhorn,Daniel Bachrach

Exercise 14

LEARN FROM ROLE MODELS
"Founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point."
Grad-School Startup Takes On Global Competitors

W hen four MBA students at Wharton asked that question they found an oligopoly industry where supply was controlled by just a few firms who had as a result a disproportionate influence on prices. Spotting both a business opportunity and a social calling, they decided to start a company to do what they felt was the right thing to do-make eyeglasses available to people at a reasonable price. Their creation, Warby Parker, is described as being "founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point."
The founders-David Gilboa, Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, and Jeff rey Raider-wrote a Web-driven business plan that many questioned at first. Could eyeglasses be sold over the Internet The Warby Parker answer was: "Of course!" If you're in doubt, and especially if you wear glasses, check out the off erings on warbyparker.com. You can buy stylish glasses for as low as $95-frames with Rx lenses and free shipping. All this is made possible by the founders' careful analysis of the industry and its supply chains. They source directly from manufacturers and then sell direct to customers, cutting out a lot of costs and profit-taking in the middle of the chain.
Warby Parker is e-commerce and customer friendly-letting you have free home try-ons of up to five "loaner" pairs. On the social side of the business model, if you end up buying from Warby Parker, you're actually also helping someone else who can't aff ord to buy new glasses for themselves. Warby Parker donates one pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair of glasses that it sells. That adds up quickly when you consider that they sell more than 250,000 pairs a year.
The company's website proudly announces: "Let's do good. We're building a company to do good in the world.... We think it's good business to do good." They call their business model "eyewear with a purpose." That purpose is anchored in the fact that over a billion people in the world don't have the eyeglasses they need for school, work, or everyday living. This is a pervasive social problem that Warby Parker aims to help solve through business.
FIND INSPIRATION
Warby Parker's founders discovered that prescription eyeglasses could be sold for less than the current market. By selling for less they created more value for both customers and for society at large. Instead of buying glasses at a boutique for $695 you can buy a stylish pair online from Warby Parker for $95. Central to the founders' purpose, each purchase sends a free pair of eyeglasses to someone in need. Why aren't there more businesses like Warby Parker Why aren't there more entrepreneurs who try to match social problems and business opportunities How about you Do you have any good ideas matching business opportunity with social need