Case Name :      2b Design: A Creative Social Business in Lebanon

Authors :           Alexandra Tarazi, Dima Jamali

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W11392

Discipline :        Organizational Behavior

Case Length :    09 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

The year 2006 marked the beginning of 2b Design, a social business, established in Lebanon, and specialized in creating handmade furniture and decorative pieces. Raja Moubarak and his wife, Benedicte de Blavous, crafted their business venture around a focused social mission namely, preserving disappearing art, architecture and heritage through artistic creations and employing marginalized people particularly the handicapped and the unemployable. By collecting and using wrought iron and wooden pieces, found in scrap yards, from old Lebanese homes dating back to the Ottoman Empire, 2b Design managed to preserve a heritage that was increasingly at risk of extinction while touching and improving troubled lives and maximizing positive environmental impact and externalities through recycling and reusing scrap material. 2b Design’s mission was eloquently articulated as to “restore the unseen beauty of the broken.” By the broken, it referred to the Middle East’s disappearing traditional heritage and to those people whose socioeconomic status or disabilities hindered them from leading a decent life. 2b Design’s vision was to replicate the same concept in different countries beyond the borders of Lebanon. The founders were keen on exploring various channels that would gradually scale the impact of their business while meeting the dual challenge of long-term sustainability and transforming lives.