PPOL 3050:  Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship

 

Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy -- Fall 2013

 

Instructors: Ross Baird, Brian Balogh

Emails: rossbaird@gmail.com

Office Hours: By Appointment

Phone: Ross Baird 404.281.1254

Class Time: M 6:00PM-8:45 PM

Location:  Minor 125

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

“Social entrepreneurship” is the application of entrepreneurial thinking towards solving social problems.

 

Globally, actors are increasingly utilizing market-based solutions to address major social problems in affordable basic services for the poor (health, education, housing, financial inclusion) or to improve environmental sustainability and increase utilization of renewable energy. “Social entrepreneurship” is an emerging discipline converting these practices into systems-level change.

 

This course seeks to give you an introductory understanding of utilizing entrepreneurship as a tool for solving social problems worldwide. This course will provide the following:

·      History and context of entrepreneurship as it relates to society and social change

·      Background and case studies of problems facing individuals living in poverty in interacting with market systems

·      Exposure to best practices in entrepreneurial thinking, utilizing  “hypothesis testing” to validate which solutions might solve particular problems

·      Experiential development of specific models that can promote entrepreneurial solutions to social problems, whether the venue be for-profit, non-profit, or government/policy

 

The course is highly interactive: students will engage with leading practitioners and policy-makers in the field.  Through completing team-based experiential projects assisting real-life social entrepreneurs, students will gain an understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the sector.

 

REQUIREMENTS

 

The course format will be a combination of lecture-seminar format. The readings will be extensive and full participation in class discussions will be expected.

 

Student evaluation will be based on two essays (20% each) that provide critical analysis of social entrepreneurship concepts; one business development assignment providing real-time consulting to practicing social entrepreneurs (25%); one final project, that can be either a social entrepreneurship project/ business plan or a policy proposal (30%), and class participation (10%)

 

ESSAYS

 

Each essay will be two-pages and will respond to a question covered in the readings.  Evaluation of the essay will be based on the linkage of concepts to the readings, critical understanding of the depth of social enterprise issues, and overall contribution towards a critical design for a social entrepreneurship project.

 

 

READINGS

 

Required assigned readings will come from diverse sources, including the following series of books and reports:

·      Nicholas Nassim Taleb, Antifragile (2012)

·      Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (2003) 

·      Paul Polak, Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail (2009)

·      Antony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson, Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference (2011)

·      Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (2011)

 

Monitor Institute: “Investing for Social and Environmental Impact” (2009)

http://www.monitorinstitute.com/impactinvesting/documents/InvestingforSocialandEnvImpact_FullReport_004.pdf

 

JP Morgan/Rockefeller Foundation: “Impact Investments: An Emerging Asset Class” (2010)

https://www.jpmorgan.com/cm/BlobServer/impact_investments_nov2010.pdf

 

 

Monitor Institute/Acumen Fund: “From Blueprint to Scale” (2012)

Available at: http://www.mim.monitor.com/blueprinttoscale.html/

 

Omidyar Network, “Priming the Pump” (2012)

Available at: http://www.omidyar.com/pdf/Priming_the_Pump_Sept_2012.pdf

 

Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs/Village Capital: “Bridging the Pioneer Gap”

Available: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/bridging-pioneer-gap-role-accelerators-launching-high-impact-enterprises

 

Further Reading List

 

·      Banerjee, A., and Duflo, E. (2012) Poor Economics.

·      Bornstein, David (2004). How to Change the World.

·      Brinckerhoff, P. C. (2000). Mission based management: Leading your nonprofit into the 21st century (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.

·      Calderisi, R. (2006). The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid isn't working. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan.

·      Charter, Martin and Tischner, Ursula.  Sustainable Solutions (2001).

·      Daily, Gretchen and Ellison, Katherine, The New Economy of Nature (2002);

·      Friedman, B. M. (2005). The moral consequences of economic growth. New York: Knopf.

·      Gibson, C. C., Andersson, K., Ostron, E., & Shivakumar, S. (2005). The Samaritan's Dilemma: The political economy of development aid. Oxford, UK: Oxford.

·      Hesselbein, F., & Johnston, R. (Eds.). (2002). On leading change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

·      Moszynski, P. (2003). Africa: Is oil a curse? New African (40).

·      Ostrom, E., Schroeder, L., & Wynne, S. (1993). Institutional Incentives and Sustainable Development: Infrastructure Policies in Perspective. Oxford: Westview.

·      Riis, J. A. (1980). How the other half lives. New York: Charles Scribner's sons.

·      Sachs, J. D. (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Times. New York: Penguin.

·      Sen, A. (199). Development as freedom. New York: Anchor Books.

·      Stefen, A (2008); World Changing: A User’s guide for the 21^st Century.  New York: Harry N. Abrams.

·      Sen, A. (1981). Poverty and famines: An essay on entitlement and deprivation. London: Oxford.

·      Van Til, J. (2000). Growing civil society: from nonprofit sector to third space. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.

·      Verschoor, C. C. (2003). Ethical corporations are still more profitable. Strategic Finance, 84(12), p22, 22p.

·      Yunus, M. (2003). Banker to the Poor. New York: Public Affairs.

·      Yunus, M. (2007). Creating a World Without Poverty

 

 

 

Course Schedule

 

 

Introduction

 

#1  Sept 2                  Introduction (Baird)

Reading: Out of Poverty, Chapters 1-5

In-class film: Kevin Starr: PopTech

                                   In-class film: The New Recruits

                                   

 

Social Entrepreneurship—A Theoretical Framework

 

#2   Sept 9                  “Social Entrepreneurship as Problem-Solving” (Baird)

Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship

Reading: "From Blueprint to Scale"

 

                               Guest Speaker: Simon Desjardins, Director, Access to                                           Energy, Shell Foundation

 

#3    Sep 16                Theoretical: Problem Identification  (Baird)

                                   --Where do resources come from?

                                    --How do entrepreneurs gather/leverage resources?

--Why do some communities have resources and others don’t?

Reading: Mystery of Capital pp. 1-103

 

#4 Sep 23                  Practical: How do we address these problems with the tools at our disposal (business, policy, philanthropy?) (Baird)

 

Reading: Mystery of Capital, pp. 104-228

Reading: Priming the Pump, Omidyar Network, available online

 

Guest speaker: Lily Bowles, Village Capital

 

 

 

The Tools of Entrepreneurship

 

                       

#6        Sep 30            Value proposition: Whose problem are you solving? (Baird)

 

Guest Speakers: Tibetan social entrepreneurs

 

Reading: Out of Poverty (all)

                                   

                                    Essay #1 Due

 

 

#7        Oct 7               Hypothesis testing: How do you know you're making an                                                      impact? (Baird)

                                   

                                    Reading: Lean Startup (All)

 

                                    Guest speaker: Paul Breloff, ACCION Venture Labs               

 

Entrepreneurship As Applied to Problem-Solving

 

Oct 14-Break Assignment: Taleb, Antifragile

 

                                   

#8 Oct 21        Impact Investing: Why use Entrepreneurship to solve Social Problems?

                                    Reading: Impact Investing, p. 1-140

 

                        Guest speaker: Sonal Shah, Fellow, Impact Investing: Case                                         Foundation; former Director, Office of Social Innovation, The                                White House

 

 

#9        Oct 28             Entrepreneurship: A US Perspective (Balogh)

Reading: Impact Investing, p. 141-280

                                    How are enterprises built? What impact do enterprises have                                     on their communities and society at large?

 

 

#8        Nov 4            Impact investing: how are investments made? (Baird)

                                    How is capital deployed in enterprises? What is the cycle of    development for a successful company?

 

            Readings: "Bridging the Pioneer Gap"; "An Emerging Asset    Class"

 

                        Guest Speaker: David Kyle, COO, Calvert Foundation;                                               former COO, Acumen Fund; former CEO, Indian School                                                            Finance Company

 

                                    Essay #2 Due

                                   

Social Entrepreneurship and Systems Change

 

 

#9        Nov 11           Social Entrepreneurship and Public Policy: A Global       Perspective

                                    Guest speaker: Cheryl Mills, former Chief of Staff, US      Department of State      

           

#10      Nov 18           Social Entrepreneurship in Practice: Tibetan Entrepreneurs

 

Social Entrepreneur Project presentations due

 

 

#11      Nov 25           Final Presentations: Preparation (Baird)

 

                                    Draft final presentations due

 

                                    Guest speaker: Bob Pattillo, Founder, Gray Ghost                                                        Ventures                               

 

#12  Dec 2  Social Entrepreneurship and Publicy Policy: A US Perspective (Balogh)

Designing and building a winning social enterprise

 

 

#13      Dec 9             Project Presentations 

 

 

 Dec 10-18      Exam Period