Entrepreneurial Solutions for Social Challenges

Abstract

This course takes a strategic perspective on social change. It asks how emerging leaders - social entrepreneurs and strategic philanthropists - can stimulate systemic change through local interventions and collaboration. The course was developed and taught by Maximilian Martin in the IOMBA program for the 2005 fall semester. Combining their passion to solve social issues with an entrepreneurial outlook on life, social entrepreneurs find innovative ways to leverage scare resources in the pursuit of social value. To be practical, the course deploys a variety of case studies. The course is divided in four parts. Part one sets the stage by introducing the core conceptual material on social entrepreneurship and philanthropy, deploying case studies to render the challenges concrete. Part two looks into typical challenges social enterprise organizations face, as well as the linkages between social entrepreneurship, microfinance and bottom-of-the-pyramid style interventions. Part three asks how we can strategically orchestrate social innovation through specific projects. Which roles do intermediaries (civil society vehicles that service grassroots social entrepreneurs) play? How can we formulate effective social change strategies? Part four unifies the different course themes, asking what the frontiers in social entrepreneurship are, and what they mean for social change. Students present the status of their projects in class during the last regular class session.