Course 2017-2018 a.y.

20491 - SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND IMPACT INVESTING


CLMG - M - IM - MM - AFC - CLEFIN-FINANCE - CLELI - ACME - DES-ESS - EMIT - GIO

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English

Go to class group/s: 31
CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - M (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - AFC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLEFIN-FINANCE (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLELI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - DES-ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08)
Course Director:
CLODIA VURRO

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: CLODIA VURRO



Course Objectives

Over the last decade, a new wave of entrepreneurial ferment has taken hold around the globe, motivated by the search for new, sustainable solutions to complex social problems.
This course is intended to familiarize students with the challenges and opportunities of social entrepreneurship, providing knowledge and tools to sustain social opportunity identification and exploitation. It addresses social planning along the stages of entrepreneurial discovery, social impact assessments, innovative investment and financial models, such as venture philanthropy and social venture capital. Moreover, recent advancements in the field of innovation for social change are reviewed, with a focus on bottom of the pyramid strategies, scaling opportunities, and cross-sector social partnerships.
At the end of course, students are able to
  • Set the boundaries of social entrepreneurship and understand the steps through which a typical entrepreneurial process for social change unfolds.
  • Learn a vocabulary for thinking and communicating about social values.
  • Build up theories of change and acknowledge the main managerial approaches to turn social entrepreneurial opportunities into business models.
  • Understand and measure social impact through the development of impact value chains.
  • Analyze funding needs and sources for social entrepreneurial ventures.
  • Evaluate scaling strategies for social value maximization.
Theory and practice are combined dynamically, making room for class discussion, individual and group work especially relying on case studies, practitioners' lectures and class presentations. Students have the opportunity to participate in a business game. Finally, an in-company training initiative is organized to experience social businesses from within.


Course Content Summary

  • Social entrepreneurship domain: setting boundaries.
  • New legal forms for social enterprises: towards the hybrid ideal.
  • A process-based view of social entrepreneurship: from social innovation to theories of change.
  • Social business models and social business plans.
  • Social return on investment analysis to measure value creation.
  • Scaling strategies to maximize social change.
  • Navigating the challenges of capital rising: impact investing, social venture capital and venture philanthropy.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

For attending students
The course is based on active teaching methodologies aimed at maximize students' participation.
The final grade consists of the following components
  • End-of-term written exam (40% of the final grade): it tests the knowledge obtained by attending the classes and studying the required readings. It consists of short specific questions (both open-ended and multiple choices).
  • Group assignment (50% of the final grade): it consists of the development of a business plan for a social start-up dealing with a specific social problem. Details are provided in class.
  • In-class assignments (10% of the final grade): they are developed in groups and based on cases and short exercises.
Instructions and further details are provided in the syllabus of the course.

For non-attending students
Written exam to test knowledge obtained studying mandatory readings and additional readings as listed in the syllabus. As for attending students, the exam consists of short specific questions (both open-ended and multiple choices).



Textbooks

A reading list, consisting of articles, papers, cases, and/or book chapters is provided at the beginning of the course.
Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)
Last change 25/05/2017 10:47