PPOL 3050 - Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship - Fall 2013

PPOL 3050 - Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship - Fall 2013

PPOL 3050: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship

Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy -- Fall 2013

Instructors: Ross Baird, Brian Balogh

Emails:

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 modelsthat 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)

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

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

Available at:

Omidyar Network, “Priming the Pump” (2012)

Available at:

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

Available:

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 21st 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 23Practical: 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 30Value proposition: Whose problem are you solving? (Baird)

Guest Speakers: Tibetan social entrepreneurs

Reading: Out of Poverty (all)

Essay #1 Due

#7 Oct 7Hypothesis 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-BreakAssignment: Taleb, Antifragile

#8 Oct 21Impact 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

#9Oct 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?

#8Nov 4Impact 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 11Social Entrepreneurship and Public Policy: A Global Perspective

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

#10 Nov 18Social Entrepreneurship in Practice: Tibetan Entrepreneurs

Social Entrepreneur Project presentations due

#11Nov 25Final 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 9Project Presentations

Dec 10-18 Exam Period