General Information
Target Audience
This course is aimed at students who want to learn about organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) that pursue social goals in financially sustainable ways.
Format
Intensive format over 2 weekends – Jan 11/12, 18/19 from 9:00am-4:00pm.
Course Mission and Scope
In this course, students will learn how entrepreneurs create organizations that address social problems using innovative, sustainable approaches. Students will examine a variety of social venture forms, and consider how such ventures can be evaluated, managed, and financed.
Social Entrepreneurship is organized around a live case consulting project. Each year, social enterprises apply to receive free consulting services from Rotman students in this course. We work intensively with our organizational partners to learn about the problem they face and generate potential solutions. The course culminates in a live presentation to organization leaders and a report of findings, which is often shared with board members and other leaders. Past organizational partners include The Jane Goodall Institute-Canada, OpenImpact, Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP), and Frontier College.
The course is hands-on and project-based. Those who enjoy critically discussing ideas, and then acting on those ideas, will enjoy this course.
Evaluation and Grade Breakdown
| Component | Due Date | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Class Participation | Ongoing | 20% |
| Case Analysis | TBC | 30% |
| Group Presentation | TBC | 20% |
| Group Report | TBC | 20% |
| Team Contribution | TBC | 10% |
Required Resources
Links to readings are provided in the course outline.
Sample readings include:
- Martin & Osberg (2007) Stanford Social Innovation Review. “Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition”
- Leimsider (2014) “5 Bad Reasons to Start a For-Profit Social Enterprise”
- Ivey Case: Growing Tentree: Social Enterprise, Social Media, and Environmental Sustainability
- Ivey Case: SoJo: Modeling Social Enterprise