The scale of social and environmental problems drives a sense of urgency and frustration with old recipes. These challenges have legitimized a collective quest for new solutions — innovations! With this focus on innovation has come a tendency to adopt the language of markets and business, such as social ventures, hybrid business models, and impact investing. We have also seen increasing interest by policy makers and governments in social innovation as a complementary or possibly competing approach to tackle social problems of public interest. In this course, we will review current debates and new practices in the field of social innovation to assess whether and how innovation is the holy grail of progress and development. During the course, we adopt the perspective of organizations that pursue social ends by relying on entrepreneurial means. We delve into the realities of organizations operating across issue domains and geographies, and carefully examine their approaches to innovation, scaling, and impact. The course will also address social innovation as a relevant topic for the private, social, and public sector.
Instructor
- Johanna Mair , Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership