Lectures

ENTR4800 Class 1: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise

This introductory class provides an overview of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship, and some of the key tensions that social entrepreneurs encounter.

Theory: What is social entrepreneurship? What distinguishes social entrepreneurship from traditional entrepreneurship?

Practice: What is social enterprise? How is it different from social entrepreneurship? How does it differ from traditional business?

ENTR4800 Class 2: Motivations and Drivers for Social Entrepreneurship

Theory: What are the motivations, drivers, and strategic intentions of social entrepreneurship?

Practice: What are the implications of these drivers on social enterprise (business) models? How are social ventures blending business and social objectives?

ENTR4800 Class 3: Business Modelling for Social Enterprise

Theory: What models exist for social enterprises? How do these models inform the structure and operations of the social venture? What are the key issues, tensions and considerations that make these models applicable to specific contexts?

Practice: How can business model development be applied to the development of a social enterprise?

ENTR4800 Class 4: Assessing Business Potential for Social Enterprise

Theory: How do social entrepreneurs assess the business potential of their ideas?

Practice: What are the challenges associated with collecting and synthesizing market research data, and applying this data to making business decisions?

ENTR4800 Class 5 (Part 1): Conducting a Costing Analysis for Social Enterprise

Theory: How do you construct a financial model for your social venture?

Practice: What are the main cost drivers and revenue streams for your social venture? What are the various types of financing that social enterprises require, and how does this vary over the lifecycle of the business?

ENTR4800 Class 5 (Part 2): Financing Considerations for Social Enterprises (edit)

Theory: How do you construct a financial model for your social venture?

Practice: What are the main cost drivers and revenue streams for your social venture? What are the various types of financing that social enterprises require, and how does this vary over the lifecycle of the business?

Class 6: Operational and Human Resource Considerations

Theory: What are the unique HR and operational considerations that social entrepreneurs need to incorporate in their social enterprise?

Practice: What strategies and techniques can social entrepreneurs apply to effectively execute the operational and HR aspects of their social venture?

Class 7: Marketing and Legal Considerations

Theory: What are the unique marketing challenges that social enterprises face? Why is legal form such an important issue for social enterprise?

Practice: How have social enterprises applied marketing principles in the real world to market their social venture? What legal forms can social enterprises assume, and what are the pros and cons for each form?

Class 8: Managing for Social Impact

Theory: What are the unique challenges of managing a social enterprise? How do social entrepreneurs manage for social impact?

Practice: How do you grow or scale up a social enterprise? How do social enterprises assess their social impact, and balance the various facets of “blended value creation”?

Class 9: Impact Investing and Social Finance

Theory: What are the key trends and issues being addressed in the impact investing and social finance?

Practice: What range of organizations are actively engaged in impact investing? What innovative practices exist in these organizations?

Class 10: The Enabling Environment for Social Entrepreneurship

Theory: What are the various constituent parts of an “ecosystem” required for social entrepreneurship to flourish?

Practice: What is the range and nature of activity related to social entrepreneurship across Canada and the world?