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2024/2025  KAN-CCMVA8006U  Social Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation

English Title
Social Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 1.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Min. participants 20
Max. participants 40
Study board
Study Board for cand.merc. and GMA (CM)
Programme Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Kai Hockerts - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Innovation
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 04-07-2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
This intensive one week course uses a mix of lecturing, firm visits with Copenhagen-based social enterprises and applied group work to maximize student learning. The lectures will draw on academic literature selected so to allow students to hone:
  • Impact competencies
  • Entrepreneurship competencies
  • Engagement competencies
Course prerequisites
This course is a special course limited to cand. merc. students returning from exchange. To qualify for the course you:

1. Enrolled in a cand.merc. programs at CBS
2. Have to have passed 28 ECTS during your exchange
3. Have to submit a motivational statement to CBS Outbound Exchange outboundexchange@cbs.dk
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme Regulations): 1
Examination
Social Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation:
Exam ECTS 1,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Report
Release of assignment Subject chosen by students themselves, see guidelines if any
Duration 2 weeks to prepare
Grading scale Pass / Fail
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Spring and Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Social Entrepreneurship describes the discovery and sustainable exploitation of opportunities to create business models which address humanity’s social and environmental challenges. Social entrepreneurship generates disequilibria in market and non-market environments, by finding ways of turning societal problems into attractive business solutions. This short course will develop capabilities in social opportunity identification as well as social enterprise modeling.
Description of the teaching methods
As part of this course you will work in teams, allowing you to reflect critically on a social business model that you develop throughout the course. This experiential learning pedagogy culminates in the preparation of an investment ready social business model, which will be presented as part of a final pitch event, thus allowing you to acquire impact investing competencies – a skill set the Financial Times predicts is in increasing demand by employers causing “a real war on talent” (FT, 5 June 2021). The course is highly interactive with the corresponding expectation that students engage actively.
Feedback during the teaching period
seizmic – Where social entrepreneurship skills grow
The course will be held in CBS´s spaces that are designed for active and student-centered learning. Groups will receive feedback from the instructor as well as their peers in real time. In addition, groups will receive online feedback and mentoring via the seizmic APP (https:/​/​app.seizmic.eu/​login), a collaborative social business model platform developed by CBS.
Student workload
In classroom or online learning 25 hours
Preparation for classroom activities 5 hours
Examination 11,5 hours
Further Information

The course will be led by Professor Kai Hockerts, who brings over two decades of academic excellence from Copenhagen Business School, where he specializes in social entrepreneurship and impact investing research and teaching. His pioneering research in leading academic journals has significantly influenced social entrepreneurship practices globally. Professor Hockerts teaches social entrepreneurship on CBS’ campus in Copenhagen as well as in Beijing. In 2014, he has launched the first global massive open online course (MOOC) on social entrepreneurship. Moreover, he co-hosts the annual Impact Investing Days which so far have been held in Copenhagen, Beijing, Barcelona, and San Francisco, and will be held at the Wharton Business School in 2026.
Last updated on 04-07-2024