Center for Impact

Introduction to different business models for social impact and to the fundamental opportunities and challenges of designing, funding, managing and scaling enterprises with a social mission. The course introduces frameworks for understanding and analyzing problems facing society and cultivate critical thinking skills to identify diverse ways to address those problems through sustainable programs and enterprises.

Projected: Spring 2023

Sustainability reporting and addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues has become a mainstream practice for most large companies. This has been driven by requests from stakeholders: investors, customers, employees . In some jurisdictions, this reporting is becoming required by regulation. However, the approach to sustainability reporting, as well as the use of ESG factors in business decision-making, varies significantly across organizations.

This course explores the quickly evolving sustainability reporting landscape with an emphasis on how companies are assessing, measuring, managing, and reporting sustainability performance.  The course will also emphasize the role of the chief financial officer in responding to this new landscape and feature prominent guest speakers from the finance community.  

This half-course has three objectives. First, to introduce students to data on energy usage and its impact. Second, to examine the tradeoffs associated with continued use of fossil fuels. Third, to assess the costs and benefits of a transition to a much greater reliance on renewable sources of energy. This includes exploring options for financing what can be called the great transformation.

What is the “Non-Market Environment?”

All economies are defined by formal and informal norms and regulations that structure market competition. These “rules of the competitive game” vary significantly across industry and countries. Many barriers to entry, for example, originate from specific laws and regulations that favor some capabilities over others. The transportation company Uber, for example, is initially at a disadvantage relative to incumbent taxicab companies.

The rules of the competitive game, and in many cases their enforcement, are not fixed constraints. Instead, they are determined, implemented, and interpreted by legislatures and government administrative agencies. Therefore, they are subject to change. In fact, Uber is often able to gain a license to operate by changing the rules of the competitive game in a given jurisdiction.

The analysis and development of successful strategies to shape the rules of the game to an organization’s advantage constitute the domain of non-market strategy. This domain is known as the dark arts of strategy, and can be used for good or ill, by for-profit or non-profit organizations to further their respective agendas.

The analytical framework for non-market strategy goes beyond that of traditional competitive strategy. Nonmarket strategy is an emerging discipline which combines elements of competitive strategy, political science, and corporate social responsibility (i.e., Environmental, Social, and Governance factors (ESG)). By the end of this course, students should be able to “see” new opportunities and risks they would not have seen before taking the course.

Why does the Non-Market Environment need to be managed through non-market strategy?

Successful non-market strategy can establish, sustain, or erode a company’s competitive advantage and impact. For example, the rules governing protection of intellectual property impact the advantages to “innovating” firms versus firms that are “fast followers.” Non-market issues are also important in determining the profitability of an entire industry. Regulations or taxes, for example, may also hurt or help all players, creating common interests among market rivals. Similarly, “the rules” can largely determine how much impact a nonprofit might ultimately have.

This course will look at the dynamic and disruptive nature of technology – – enhancing outcomes that benefit enterprises and society collectively in areas such as financial services, education and healthcare. It will look at the unique ability of new technologies whether based on high speed networks, artificial intelligence or cloud computing coupled with new business models such as the platform-based businesses and the shared economy to create transformational offerings which benefits both businesses and society. Cases exploring the disruptive effects of platform based, online education, low cost telehealth solutions and new digital platforms for payments and financial transactions which create a multiplier effect of economic growth in developing markets will be covered... Ultimately, this course will look at the changing role of leaders in all sectors –– in business and government and their role in supporting technology-based innovation to serve a multitude of stakeholders while minimizing unintended consequences and negative externalities.

Introduction to important legal, financial, and management issues confronting nonprofit organizations. Topics include how to start nonprofit tax-exempt organizations, qualifying and maintaining tax-exempt status under IRC Code Section 501(c)(3), corporate governance, political and legislative activity restrictions, and strategic planning, fundraising, nonprofit accounting, and employment law.

Considerations of the challenges and opportunities of leading an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization. This course considers the challenges and opportunities of leading an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization, focusing on key insights and evidence-based strategies for addressing them. Recognizing that great benefit ​can ​come from full participation, authentic communication, and constructive collaboration in diverse communities, this course deepens insight into how ​leaders may evoke and sustain those experiences.

A framework for developing medical device innovations and preparation for careers in healthcare, product development, and entrepreneurship. The two-quarter course provides guided learning in lean startup principles, design thinking ideology, value proposition development, brainstorming techniques, and tools for clinical concept generation.

This course addresses technologies and platforms poised to disrupt the healthcare industry, which have the potential to alter the delivery of healthcare through improved patient value, increased cost savings or change in the practice of medicine. Topics include digital health, electronic medical records, personalized medicine and diagnostics, wireless sensing and remote monitoring, cloud connectivity, telemedicine, mobile health platforms, social networks, big data and predictive analytics, and bioinformatics. Includes representatives from venture capital and technology start-up communities.

Practical strategies to communicate with, persuade, and more generally influence others in everyday conversation, written work, presentations, etc.

This course considers major questions about the role of business in mitigating environmental degradation. It puts emphasis on corporate strategies that deliver value to shareholders while responding to environmental concerns. For example, some firms successfully adopt environmental differentiation strategies to respond to customers environmental concerns; other firms use environmental concerns as a way to generate costs savings within the business; yet other firms seek to influence government regulation in order to impose their standard on competition. The course examines environmental issues in each of the main areas of the MBA program: finance, marketing, operations, supply-chain management, accounting, entrepreneurship and strategy. 

Projected: Winter 2023

Examination of the relevance of social and environmental risks and opportunities to Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), finance teams, and the wider capital markets. Emphasis on practical application and integration of ESG within financial decision-making, investment, and external disclosure. (2 units)

In this class, you will build skills and competencies necessary for social impact consulting in both the corporate and nonprofit realms, including: project scoping and client management; crafting recommendations, presentation storyboarding and implementation planning; legal structures, governance, and strategy; sources of funding; impact measurement; integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into consulting engagements; role, rewards and challenges of social impact consulting

This course is open to students participating in the Social Impact Consulting Corps Program, by application.

Introduction to impact investing, navigating the issues faced in the emerging field of social venture capital. Note: this course spans 2 quarters (4 units total, 2 units per quarter)

The course familiarizes students with the site selection and acquisition process, and explores the complexities associated with land use, entitlements, and the political landscape.  The course teaches how to evaluate the various financing tools available to affordable housing developers, including low income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bond financing, and various federal, state and local funding sources.  The course also evaluates disruptive technologies and influences in the housing industry.

Provides practical tools to help students navigate difficult decisions that leaders routinely face. Study adopts behavioral science approach to understanding ethical behavior in order to examine the most fundamental problem in all of ethics: Why do good people sometimes do bad things? Answering this question requires understanding of fundamental psychological processes that govern human thought and behavior in ethical domains. These processes can lure anyone into ethical lapses that ruin careers, destroy businesses, and harm the reputations of individuals and organizations. Understanding these processes gives insights into practical ways of designing one's organization to encourage its members to behave in line with their own stated values.

What is the “Non-Market Environment?”

All economies are defined by formal and informal norms and regulations that structure market competition. These “rules of the competitive game” vary significantly across industry and countries. Many barriers to entry, for example, originate from specific laws and regulations that favor some capabilities over others. The transportation company Uber, for example, is initially at a disadvantage relative to incumbent taxicab companies.

The rules of the competitive game, and in many cases their enforcement, are not fixed constraints. Instead, they are determined, implemented, and interpreted by legislatures and government administrative agencies. Therefore, they are subject to change. In fact, Uber is often able to gain a license to operate by changing the rules of the competitive game in a given jurisdiction.

The analysis and development of successful strategies to shape the rules of the game to an organization’s advantage constitute the domain of non-market strategy. This domain is known as the dark arts of strategy, and can be used for good or ill, by for-profit or non-profit organizations to further their respective agendas.

The analytical framework for non-market strategy goes beyond that of traditional competitive strategy. Nonmarket strategy is an emerging discipline which combines elements of competitive strategy, political science, and corporate social responsibility (i.e., Environmental, Social, and Governance factors (ESG)). By the end of this course, students should be able to “see” new opportunities and risks they would not have seen before taking the course.

Why does the Non-Market Environment need to be managed through non-market strategy?

Successful non-market strategy can establish, sustain, or erode a company’s competitive advantage and impact. For example, the rules governing protection of intellectual property impact the advantages to “innovating” firms versus firms that are “fast followers.” Non-market issues are also important in determining the profitability of an entire industry. Regulations or taxes, for example, may also hurt or help all players, creating common interests among market rivals. Similarly, “the rules” can largely determine how much impact a nonprofit might ultimately have.

This course is well-suited for those pursuing for-profit work, non-profit work, and social impact work and new ventures, as all of these spaces are often profoundly impacted by the “rules of the game,” and how they are managed (or mis-managed).

A review of ethical considerations in business decisions involving the individual, the corporation, society, and international business.

An examination of the tools of choice architectures, drawing on the disciplines of behavioral economics and experimental psychology to analyze economic models of decision-making. The course examines a wide range of applications—from promoting retirement saving to energy conservation to public health; from exercising and healthy eating to public safety. The range of potential application is far wider and will be relevant to the work of for-profit, non-profit, government, and nongovernment organizations.

An introduction to a wide variety of modern incentive systems, both monetary and non-monetary, as well as the cutting-edge technology that help managers optimize the employee experience.

Theory and practice of critical thinking skills that will enhance one's ability to respond to novel and complex situations.