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2013/2014  KAN-CM_SU4K  Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Business Practices and Development Economics: an Integrated Framework

English Title
Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Business Practices and Development Economics: an Integrated Framework

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration Summer
Course period Summer
Please check www.cbs.dk/summer for the course schedule.
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Rodrigo Mariath Zeidan, Fundação Dom Cabral
    Patricia Plackett - Department of Operations Management (OM)
Main academic disciplines
  • Business Ethics, value based management and CSR
  • Political leadership, public management and international politics
  • Corporate and Business Strategy
  • Economics, macro economics and managerial economics
Last updated on 14-05-2013
Learning objectives
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
  • Develop critical perspectives on fundamental arguments about economic and social policies.
  • Understand the implications of social entrepreneurship in local development.
  • Get an introductory grasp of complexity theory and its relevance to the development of social policies.
  • Establish a solid cost/benefit framework for the analysis of internal sustainable management practices.
Course prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course aside from graduate standing.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
Mandatory Mid-term Assignment: For the Mid-term Assignment, students will prepare the outline and the introduction for their final assignment, which consists of an Action-Based Plan to develop a social enterprise or managerial policy regarding sustainability or CSR. Even though students are free to pursue their own ideas regarding the Action-Based Plan (see more below in the Exam Format section), some requirements should be met.
1.The outline and introduction have to be at least 2 pages and be developed with my approval to ensure the final assignment matches the learning objectives of the module.
2.The Mid-term Assignment should be delivered by the end of the 3rd teaching week.
Examination
Home project assignment:
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer Term
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure
There is a clear recent shift in the development economics literature from a focus on economic growth towards a more integrated framework that incorporates such concepts such as well-being, sustainability, and other non-economic factors. Even though economic growth is still a necessary condition for development, local policies can increasingly rely on social entrepreneurship and sustainable business policies for improved development. This course invites graduate students to delve into different business practices that can transform the socioeconomic landscape and to use recent theoretical contribution in different fields such as economics, complexity theory, and management. The course explores critically social entrepreneurship and sustainability to analyse its economic and social impact.
 
The course is structured to provide students with a series of coherent modules. The first module introduces concepts in contemporary development economics. The main idea is to incorporate novel ideas into more traditional growth theories. We use a broader perspective on development, using concepts from complexity theory and other disciplines to provide a solid theoretical framework.
                     
The second module introduces concepts from social entrepreneurship and explores case studies, discussing its possible impacts and shortcomings in promoting local development. We introduce concepts from complexity theory into the analysis of social entrepreneurship with the goal of establishing the boundaries of local development from social enterprises.
 
The last module explores the role of companies in promoting sustainable ideas by transforming the socioeconomical environment, analysing the possibility that private firms can be promoters of change by changing internal management practices. We use a Business as Usual to a Future Sustainable Business framework as sketched below and explore the role of firms in changing the international business context - one of the case studies for this module explores changes in a multinational bank that introduced a credit score system based on sustainability of the agricultural sector.
 
The course is fairly interactive and relies on the reading of the material and the experience brought by the students.  
 
The course's development of personal competences:
 
Students should develop critical thinking with a solid economic foundation, learning how to determine costs and benefits of economic and social policies. Students will learn to think more systematically about development policies and the role of contemporary management practices. They will be introduced to a variety of major conceptual and theoretical approaches to understanding political economy, economic and social development, and management practices.
Teaching methods
Classes usually begin with a short lecture and are followed by discussion to ensure that students take primary responsibility for interpreting and critiquing the readings. Students are free to pursue interesting topics, but should relate to the literature and the framework presented in the module overview.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings to be read before the start of classes with a related task or tasks in the first two classes in order to 'jump-start' the learning process. Students will be asked to read two essays: (1) Applications and Limitations of Complexity Theory in Organization Theory and Strategy (David L. Levy, 2000). (2) Development Economics (Debraj Ray, 2007). Prepared for the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.
The essays present an accessible overview of the theoretical background of the course. Students should present a one-page reflection report that is going to be delivered on the first class. Reports will form a basis for class discussion.
Expected literature
The course will not make use of a textbook. Instead, students will read excerpts and articles. All reading will be provided in pdf copies. The following is a provisional schedule.
 
 
Module 1. Economic and Social Development. (Lectures 1-4)
 
Lecture 1 – Determining the main indicators of development.
Lecture 2 – Beyond Economics – Sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship and new measures of Progress.
Lecture 3 – Looking at Data. What does it tells us about the world?
Lecture 4 – A Primer on Complexity Theory
 
Readings
Development Economics (Debraj Ray, 2007). Prepared for the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. (1) – Lecture 1.
Development Economics and Social Entrepreneurship: A Recursive Social Capital Accumulation Model. (Rodrigo Zeidan, 2009). (2) – Lecture 2.
The New Economics of Sustainable Development: A Briefing for Policy Makers. Chapter 2. (3) – Lecture 2.
Development Economics: An Overview (Christopher B. Barrett, 2007). (4) – Lectures 1 and 2.
Applications and Limitations of Complexity Theory in Organization Theory and Strategy  (David L. Levy, 2000) (5) – Lecture 4.
Development of a Startup Business — A Complexity Theory Perspective (Stephen Tsai and Tzu-Tang Lan, 2005) (6) – Lecture 4.
 
Module 2. Social Entrepreneurship and Development – Lectures 5-7.
 
Lecture 5 – Social Networks and Poverty.
Lecture 6 – Social Entrepreneurship: Concepts and Ideas.
Lecture 7 – Social Entrepreneurship: Cases.
 
Readings:
Social Networks and Urban Poverty Reduction: A Critical Assessment of Programs in Brazil and the United States with Recommendations for the Future (Jeffrey Goldstein & Rodrigo M. Zeidan, 2009) (7) – Lecture 5.
Observing and Learning from Social Entrepreneurship: Transparency, Organizational Structure, and the Role of Leadership (A. Steven Dietz & Constance D. Porter, 2009) (8) – Lecture 6.
Venture Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship in Community Redevelopment (David M. Van Slyke,
Harvey K. Newman, 2006) (9) – Lecture7.
United We Can: Resource recovery, place and social enterprise (Crystal Tremblay, 2010) (10) – Lecture 6.
Profitable Business Models and Market Creation in the Context of Deep Poverty: A Strategy View (Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair, 2006) (11) – Lecture 6.
 
Module 3. Sustainable Business Ideas. – Lectures 8-10.
 
Lecture 8 – Is there a sustainability imperative?
Lecture 9 – Sustainability: Business Cases.
Lecture 10 – Sustainability and the Global Financial System.
 
The global financial crisis and the evolution of markets, institutions and regulation, Journal of Banking & Finance 35, 502–511, (Moshirian, F., 2011). (12) – Lecture 10.
Corporate Social Responsibility in the International Banking Industry, Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 159-175 (Scholtens, B., 2009) (13) – Lecture 10.
Keeping Ethical Investment Ethical: Regulatory Issues for Investing for Sustainability, Journal of Business Ethics, 87(4), 555-572. (Richardson, B.J., 2009) (14) – Lecture 10.
Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices, Accounting Forum, 32(4), 288–302. (Adams, C.A. and G.R. Frost, 2008) – Lecture 9.
The Sustainability Imperative, Harvard Business Review, 88(5), 42-50. (Lubin, D.A. and D.C. Esty, 2010) (15) – Lecture 8.
Towards a New Era of Sustainability in the Banking Industry (Accenture, 2011) (16) – Lecture 10.
Developing a Sustainability Credit Score System (Zeidan, R., Boechat, C., Fleury, A., 2013) (17) – Lectures 9 and 10.
 
Case Studies:
Omidyar Network: Pioneering Impact Investment – Lecture 2.
Social Finance, Inc. – Lecture 7.
The Sandbox: Creating a Bottom-Up Entrepreneurial Ecosystem – Lecture 4.
Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., a Social Business – Lecture 8.
Novo Nordisk: Managing Sustainability at Home and Abroad – Lecture 10.
MSPL Limited: CSR and Sustainability in Mining – Lecture 9.
Last updated on 14-05-2013