MOOC / Commercialization of Social Enterprises: Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift
Many social enterprises are becoming more commercial, adopting the techniques, funding or governance more usually associated with for-profit ventures.
In this online course, social enterprise and microfinance experts from Université libre de Bruxelles and their guests will shed new light on this trend. They will ask how commercialisation affects the management and operations of social enterprises, and which avenues could or should be used to avoid mission drift.
Why social entrepreneurs innovate: the motivations behind starting a social enterprise; new data related to inequality and happiness; the link between financial exclusion and poverty; and how social innovation has tried to tackle these problems.
Microfinance practices: the basics of microfinance, covering its historical roots and evolution, and the current provision of financial and non-financial services.
When a not-for-profit becomes a for-profit organisation: how institutions evolve beyond the not-for-profit structure; case studies exploring the impact, both internally and externally, of such a transition; and the concept of mission drift.
Sources of financing, mission drift and zoom out: how different sources of financing impact the social mission of microfinance institutions; the different strategies and practices to avoid mission drift in social enterprises; and what is specific to the commercialisation of microfinance and what is common to all social enterprises.
By the end of the course, you will be able to :
Marek Hudon is a Professor at the Solvay Brussels School (SBS-EM), Université Libre de Bruxelles. He is the founder of the European Microfinance Program (EMP) and the co-director of CERMi and CEESE.