Social Innovation: Putting Down the Tracks While the Train is Coming

Several hundred MBA students from over 50 business schools around the world convened at IESE campus in Barcelona for the annual Doing Good Doing Well Conference (February 25-26). This conference is designed by and for business school students keen on applying their skills to the social sector.  Given the recent interest in attracting business and private sector talent, more technical rigor, impact measurement tools, and other operational efficiency practices are being increasingly adopted in the space. Hence, business school people are no longer limiting themselves to banking, consulting, and industry management, but are encouraged to 'venture out' into less mainstream careers.  A wide range of topics were covered at this conference – from CSR strategies and innovations at the base of the pyramid, to impact investing and healthcare access in developing countries.

 Engaging students through panels, workshops, and the Career Fair, many social sector entities were represented at this gathering. There were international development/multilateral agencies, traditional non-profits, social investment firms, corporations with CSR departments, as well as social enterprise support organizations. Historically, the space has been fragmented, but these entities are collaborating more and more as the sector gains traction.  One example is the field of mobile finance, in which telecommunication companies, as non-bank entities, are helping to scale service access through technology. The goal and challenge is to bring down the high-touch costs of microcredit, microsavings, plus remittances without losing the personalized approach that grassroots organizations bring to the table.  

The keynote speaker gave an inspiring talk about the social innovation space being 'a field where we are putting down the tracks while the train is coming!' There's a lot of freedom and latitude to try new things at the intersection of the business and social sectors. And while it's great that governments are increasingly asking social enterprises in particular to bid for public sector contracts, we must not limit social enterprises to social service outsourcing. Social entrepreneurs are game-changers – they are here to transform the healthcare, employment, and other systems of society in the long-run, not merely act as short-term sub-contractors to the government. In addition, the speaker urged the audience to act quickly and to act in large numbers. We need to increase deal-flow and help make social enterprises investment ready to ensure a tidal wave of change. 'We need thousands of Ashokas, Schwab Foundations, and Skolls' to revolutionize the social sector and the society beyond that. We need those tracks laid before the train comes. 

Vivian Gee

 

Editor's note
Vivian Gee, Head, Asia 
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship