Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship
Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship is a requirement for MBA and MPA students in the Social Entrepreneurship certificate program. The course is designed to cover the issues and approaches involved with social entrepreneurship and the application of those issues to businesses, government, and nonprofit case situations.
This course was offered in the fall 2006 and will subsequently be offered in the spring semester on both the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses – beginning Spring 2008. Please see the Suggested Social Entrepreneurship Reading List for recommended sources.
Course Overview and Objectives
The nonprofit sector in the United States contains well over a million organizations and is growing rapidly. Nonprofits are an important part of our society and operate in many diverse areas of our economy. They provide many types of services in areas such as the arts, recreation, health, human services, community development, religion, etc. In these areas, it is well-recognized that nonprofits become involved with a host of social problems and issues. Also, they are increasingly being called upon to become more innovative and to enhance the social value they create. In addition, government agencies and, in many cases, for-profits are also being called upon to enhance their creativity and responsiveness to social issues. In short, managers and organizations in each sector are being urged to become “social entrepreneurs” and provide important social changes.
Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship provides students with an introduction to the field of social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship can be defined as the establishment and management of successful social mission-driven ventures. While entrepreneurship for commercial gain (in for-profit organizations) has been studied extensively, the study of entrepreneurship for social gain is in its infancy. This course is designed to provide current and future nonprofit, for-profit, and government managers and leaders with an overview of a range of topics in this emerging field.
Course assignments and discussions expand students' management skills, analytical tools, and knowledge. The course is built on the assumption that students learn more if they are actively engaged with the material. Exercises and discussions allow students to test knowledge, formulate ideas and strategies, respond to management dilemmas, and get immediate feedback from classmates and the instructor.
Upon successful completion of this course, students can expect to have:
- familiarity with major works in the social entrepreneurship literature
- knowledge of social entrepreneurship methods and practices
- understanding of laws, standards, and guidelines applicable to social entrepreneurship
- experience in analyzing social entrepreneurship dilemmas and proposing responses
- experience in presenting and defending positions
- familiarity with resources useful for further investigation of social entrepreneurship
Course Activities
Class Participation and Discussion
Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship is organized to promote student involvement in order to most meaningfully explore management issues, apply ideas, and practice management tools. Each student is a valuable resource for all of us in terms of insights, questions, and “real life” experiences.
Case Write-ups and Discussion
A number of cases are included in the course in order to illustrate management situations and allow students to apply course concepts to them. Each case is also discussed in class. The case discussions go beyond the assignment for the case write-ups described above. In the case discussion, students identify management issues in the case, analyze problems the organization in the case is experiencing, and make suggestions for addressing the current problems and avoiding similar problems in the future.
Term Paper/Project and Presentation
Each student researches, prepares, and presents a term paper for the course. The paper could be based on work in an actual organization or it could use secondary sources to provide an analysis of an issue, an industry, a specific case, etc. The results of each term paper/project are provided to the class in a short presentation during the last class session.
Course Details
Fall, 2006
SPEA-V 550
Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship (listed as SPEA-V 550) is a requirement for MBA and MPA students in the Social Entrepreneurship certificate program. Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship combines students from both Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Bloomington campuses of Indiana University, and will alternate meeting between Indianapolis and Bloomington. It is only offered during the fall semester in the 2006-2007 school year, on the following Saturdays, meeting from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm:
- September 9 – Indianapolis
- September 30 – Bloomington
- October 21 – Indianapolis
- November 4 – Bloomington
- December 2 – Indianapolis
The course is designed to cover the issues and approaches involved with social entrepreneurship and the application of those issues to businesses, government, and nonprofit case situations.
Indianapolis (IUPUI) students register for – “Topics in Public Affairs: Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship” (25535 - Instructor: Wolfgang Bielefeld)
Bloomington students register for – “Topics in Public Affairs: Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship” (28619 - Instructor: Leslie Lenkowsky)
For further information, please contact Professor Bielefeld about the course at wbielefe@iupui.edu, or Professor Lenkowsky at llenkows@iupui.edu.