Business Schools as Systems Change Catalysts
By: Gayle Northrop, UCLA Anderson School of Management & University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and Katusha de Villiers, Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
Introduction
Society faces an onslaught of challenges that will affect our people and planet for current and future generations. Issues such as income inequality, racial and gender disparities and discrimination, civil and political unrest, and climate disasters are rife, and the most vulnerable communities face the greatest risks. Our nonprofit and public sectors should not be expected to address these societal problems alone; the private sector has a critical role to play. This represents an urgent opportunity for business schools. Our research, which includes interviews with business school leaders and faculty, suggests that business schools globally have the imperative to teach social innovation and entrepreneurship, as doing so will help to create transformative leaders who can contribute to positive ecosystem change.
Defining Social Innovation Education — The Foundation
Many business schools offer curriculum and programming related to social innovation. However, the methodology and motivations behind these offerings vary and are not generally well understood. In fact, the field of social innovation itself is arguably poorly understood. We view social innovation as an umbrella term encompassing social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, social impact, and sustainability. We subscribe to the definition of social innovation as “a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals.”[Phills, Deiglmeier, & Miller, 2008 ]. Thus, we define social innovation education (SIE) in business schools as curricula and programming equipping students with the skills and mindsets to pursue sustainable and just solutions to complex challenges.
Variations in Social Innovation Curricula — The What
Business schools around the world offer a variety of elective courses in the social innovation space. While evidence of growing pressure to add core courses in social innovation and sustainability is clear, this has not yet gained significant traction [Delmas & Sparks, 2024]. There is also wide variation in the type of social innovation curricula offered. Some business schools focus their SIE on sustainability; environmental sustainability, climate change, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Others focus specifically on social entrepreneurship, encouraging enterprise development and the launch of social startups. Finally, some institutions consider SIE as part of their management ethics or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) curricula.
Deep contextual variation across business schools is highly relevant. Schools may offer social innovation courses specific to their geographic, economic, or cultural context or driven by faculty or student interest. The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) offers a course on “Managing for Societal Value” which helps students understand that business success is tied to the health of the broader socio-economic system, particularly relevant in the South African context.
At the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Anderson School of Management, a “Social Impact Consulting” course evolved from a student-led programme and related faculty expertise. These examples illustrate how social innovation curricula can spring from a variety of sources and manifests in a variety of formats.
In our initial research, we believed that SIE course variations would follow patterns based on the factors influencing a country’s economic development, society, culture, and people, and that this might lead to commonalities among curricula by region. While our research was not exhaustive, we learned that such binary contrasts are likely not valid. It seems more probable that variations in SIE curricula and programming may be specific to individual institutions and even faculty. SIE, we found, seems to be driven by the interests, values, and even personal experiences of the professor or administrator introducing the curriculum or programming.
Variations in Academic Approaches — The How
There are equally significant differences in HOW social innovation is taught. At UCT GSB, a “Social Innovation Lab” was introduced into the MBA, based on a faculty member’s belief that introducing social innovation concepts and frameworks is critical for students working in the South African or African context. UCLA Anderson, meanwhile, offers “Social Entrepreneurship,” a course that uses the Impact Gaps Canvas framework to guide team-based social innovation projects. Introducing this framework was driven by the faculty member’s personal experience starting a nonprofit in the systems strengthening space and ongoing study of systems change.
We found through our research that the teaching methods of social innovation may be as diverse as the professors’ personalities, interests, and experiences as well as the diverse priorities of the institutions these leaders are embedded within. While this may allow for innovation and inspiration at the course and institutional level, it also presents challenges in creating common expectations and experiences for students engaging in social innovation education.
Imperative to Teach Social Innovation — The Why
Our inspiration for this project and initial research has led us to believe that business schools have an imperative to teach social innovation — an imperative founded in the belief that social innovation courses and programming are highly effective in creating transformative, empathetic leaders of the future — leaders who can navigate, mitigate, and ultimately work to address the complex social and environmental challenges our society is facing. Our interviewees consistently confirmed this point.
While the motivations that compel business schools to teach social innovation may vary — they may be moral, economic, or even institutional — our interviewees agreed that the imperative is fundamentally a business one. As one faculty member stated:
“Running a business is about being part of society. Business is part of our social systems, and when business is out of sync with society, there will be consequences.”
Another suggested that SIE is important because:
“Business leaders are going to be called upon to play a leading role in solving [society’s] really big problems…and they will do that through business formation and innovation.”
Business schools must recognize the role they play in shaping future leaders by supporting them in building the skills and competencies needed to address society’s greatest challenges.
Our Call to Action — What’s Next
We believe that exposure to social innovation concepts and methodology stimulates new ways of thinking and doing, capacitating students to become changemakers who can create positive social impact. Encouraging business students to consider, and practice, creative problem-solving, innovation, collaboration, and social inclusion increases the likelihood that as future leaders they will be able to connect these concepts to economic growth, organisation development, and values-based leadership.
We recommend the following:
- Define core competencies: Agree on key competencies and capabilities to build in social innovation students who seek to drive positive social change. Business schools should interview and engage with students and key stakeholders to better understand needs and expectations.
- Develop standards and guidelines: Use those competencies to create standards or guidelines, or a minimum level of consistency, in social innovation curricula across business schools.
- Foster community and collaboration: Facilitate spaces for social innovation educators to convene, share what they are seeing and doing, explore collaboration, and learn from one another.
- Advocate for change: Break down barriers to expanding social innovation education in business schools by pushing for changes in the rankings, researching and sharing promising practices, and advocating for the incorporation of social innovation principles and courses in core curricula.
- Partner with global organisations: Partner with responsible education organisations like Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), Catalyst Now Academic Hubs, SDGs Universities, and broader business school associations like the Global Business School Network (GBSN) and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) to advocate for social innovation education to be expanded globally.
Business schools must listen to key stakeholders, adapt approaches, and invest in new ways to support the demand for social innovation education — both from students and from society. Higher education and business schools in particular can play a critical role in shaping a more sustainable, just, and equitable world. There is no more urgent time than now.
Authors:
Peer-reviewed & Edited by:
Peer-reviewed & Edited by:
Sources:
Delmas, M. and Sparks, B. (2024). It’s Time for Sustainability to Become a Core Part of MBA Programs. Harvard Business Review, published on HBR.org.
D. Papi-Thornton, Impact Gaps Canvas, Systems-led Leadership. https://systems-ledleadership.com/impact-gaps-canvas/.
Phills Jr., J. A., Deiglmeier, K., & Miller, D. T. (2008). Rediscovering Social Innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 6(4), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.48558/GBJY-GJ47.
Explore the work
Websites:
- University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
- Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- UCLA Anderson School of Management
- Center for Impact at Anderson
Socials:
- Gayle Northrop: LinkedIn, UCLA Faculty, University of Cape Town Faculty
- Katusha de Villiers: LinkedIn, Bertha Centre Team
Cite this Article APA
Northrop, Villiers. (23 January, 2024). Business Schools as Systems Change Catalysts. Retrieved (month date year) from (https://medium.com/@catalystnow/business-schools-as-systems-change-catalysts-225ac9f54f77)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views or positions of Catalyst Now.
