Dr. Kerryn Krige

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This course is not available as an outside option.

This course builds on – and complements – the AT course MG4G1 ‘Understanding Social Problems,’ and leads to the design of a fully-fledged, evidence-based social enterprise. Through this process you are introduced to the concepts, frameworks, methods, tools and evidence social entrepreneurs use to operationalise and deliver on their social innovation idea.

Through interactive lectures, cases, guest speakers, group discussion and rigorous analysis you will identify and then critique the organisational and strategic approaches that apply to the social problem you are seeking to address. We explore as organisational form, the social enterprise and co-operative, as well as other ‘invisible’ approaches within the informal economy, and the implications this has on achieving goals of profit and purpose.

During the module you will develop a proposal that addresses a social problem, analysing and arguing for, the best governance and management structures, and scaling and financing strategies. We engage with the reality of working in contexts of poverty and inequality, particularly with marginalised, isolated and excluded groups.  How should you approach aligning with indigenous practice and building trust? Can trust be sustained, if you scale? And what risks should you anticipate as you diversify your funding? Lastly, we explore the implications of the global policy environment, and the growing institutional support for social enterprises as a means of achieving inclusive economies. 

Student teams will present their final social enterprise design to an external panel of experts, drawn from the field.

30 hours of seminars in the WT.

In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the WT.

• Defourny, J., Nyssens, M., & Brolis, O. (2021). Testing Social Enterprise Models Across the World: Evidence From the “International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project”. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020959470
• Dhlamini, X., & Giamporcaro, S. (2023). Investing for impact on the African continent: an overview. Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Developing Markets, 73-89.
• Nyssens, M. & Wanderley, Fernanda & Gaiger, Luiz. (2019). Social Enterprise in Latin America: Theory, Models and Practice. 10.4324/9780429055164.
• Pryor, C., Zahra, S. A., & Bruton, G. D. (2023). Trusting without a Safety Net: The Peril of Trust in Base of the Pyramid Economies. Journal of Management Studies, 60(4), 767–799. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12840
• Santos, F. M. (2012). A Positive Theory of Social Entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4
• Smith, W. K., Gonin, M., & Besharov, M. L. (2013). Managing Social-Business Tensions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 23(3), 407–442. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq201323327

Essay (40%) in the ST.
Group project (40%) and learning log (20%) in the WT.