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Best Social Accounts and a School for Social Entrepreneurs （sse。
uk） which helps would…be social entrepreneurs to get started。 The Schwab
Foundation （schwabfound） covers much the same ground in the
United States。 Columbia Business School’s MBA programme has an elective
course on Social Entrepreneurship as part of its Research Initiative on
Social Entrepreneurship （riseproject/cbsprofiles。html）。 Students
plete projects where they shadow leading social entrepreneurs and social
investors for a semester and details of all their case studies are published
on their website。 Stanford Graduate School of Business （gsb。stanford。
edu/exed/epse） with its Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship；
Harvard’s Strategic Perspectives in Non…profit Management （exed。
hbs。edu/programs/spnm） and Cardiff Metropolitan University’s MBA in
Social Entrepreneurship （uwic。ac。uk/courses/business/MBASocialE。
asp） take the subject to the heart of mainstream business education。
According to government statistics； around 55；000 businesses trade with
a social or environmental purpose across the UK。 They contribute almost
￡27 billion to the national economy and substantially benefit their local
munities by creating employment opportunities； providing ethical
products and services； and reinvesting surpluses into society。 The primary
motivation for social entrepreneurs is to build an ethical venture that is of
benefit to the wider munity。 As one social entrepreneur put it； ‘I am
trying to build a li。。le part of the world in which I would like to live。’ Money
is important； but ge。。ing rich is not。
Oneworld Health （oneworldhealth）； established by Victoria
Hale； a social entrepreneur and pharmacologist based in San Francisco； is
as different from mainstream drug panies as it is possible to be。 It has as
its vision to ‘serve as a positive agent for change by saving lives； improving
health； and fulfilling the promise of medicine for those most in need’ and
218 The Thirty…Day MBA
for its values ‘Integrity； Courage； Collaboration’。 Oneworld assembles experienced
and dedicated teams of pharmaceutical scientists； identifies the
most promising drugs and vaccine candidates； and develops them into
safe； effective and affordable medicines。 It partners with panies； nonprofit
hospitals and organizations in the developing world to conduct
medical research on new cures。 Then it manufactures and distributes newly
approved therapies such as those that tackle malaria； the cause of 300–500
million acute illnesses and over one million deaths annually。
The pany scours the shelves of big pharmaceutical panies looking
for drugs that for some reason failed to get to market； perhaps because
the market proved too small； the benefits too few or that in some other way
won’t meet the needs of an affluent Western market。 Hale even persuaded
The University of California； Santa Barbara to donate a patent for a discovery
involving the novel use of calcium channel blockers to control the
schistosomiasis parasite。 Hale and her team believe that that there are
huge inefficiencies in the way Western world drugs are currently devised
and produced； and with 140 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation they intend to improve on that situation。
Intrapreneur
The Economist of 25 December 1976 carried a survey called ‘The ing
entrepreneurial revolution’ in which Norman Macrae； the magazine’s
deputy editor and considered by many as one of the world’s best economic
forecasters； contended that methods of operation in business were going to
change radically in the next few decades。 The world； Macrae argued； was
probably drawing to the end of the era of big business corporations； it would
soon be nonsense to have hierarchical managements si。。ing in skyscrapers
trying to arrange how brainworkers （who in future would be most workers）
could best use their imaginations。 The main increases in employment
would henceforth e either in small firms or in those bigger firms that
managed to split themselves into smaller and smaller profit centres that in
turn would need to bee more and more entrepreneurial。
Two years later； in an article headed ‘Intra…Corporate Entrepreneurship
– Some Thoughts Stirred Up by A。。ending Robert Schwartz’s School for
Entrepreneurs’； Gifford Pinchot III and his wife Elizabeth S Pinchot began
the process that would lead to their coining the word ‘intrapreneuring’。
Their organization； Pinchot & pany （pinchot）； based around
the proposition that you don’t have to leave the corporation to bee an
entrepreneur； advanced the idea that the way for big business to adapt was
to create an environment where managers could behave as though they
were entrepreneurs； but within the business； using its resources。 By 1992
the term intrapreneur had been added to the third edition of The American
Dictionary of the English Language。 3M’s Post…It Note； a product of an
Entrepreneurship 219
entrepreneurial team ‘bootlegging’ pany resources； is an example from
one of Pinochet’s list of Fortune 500 clients。 Others include Apple； DuPont；
Cable & Wireless； Nabisco and Proctor & Gamble。
Intrapreneurs； unlike entrepreneurs； don’t have ‘doing their own thing’
at the top of their list of motivators。 They feel happier in the fort zone
afforded by a corporate structure and the resources and respectability that
provides。
Corporate venturing entrepreneur
Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe； who started with a ￡17；000 loan and a
name borrowed from a boarded…up shop and founded Prêt à Manger； were
not entrepreneurs content with doing their own thing。 They had global
ambitions and it was only by cu。。ing in McDonald’s； the burger giant； that
they could see any realistic way to dominate the world。 They sold a 33 per
cent stake for ￡25 million in 2001 to McDonald’s Ventures； LLC； a wholly
owned subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation； the arm of McDonald’s that
looks a。。er its corporate venturing activities。 They joined forces with the
corporate venturing arm of a big firm。 They could also have considered
Cisco； Apple puters； IBM and Microso。。； who also all have corporate
venturing arms。 Other corporate venturers include Deutsche Bank； which
set up DB eVentures to get a window on the ‘Digital Revolution’； Reuters
Greenhouse； which has stakes in 85 panies； and even the late and unlamented
Enron had venture investments （totalling 110m）。 For an entrepreneur
this approach can provide a ‘friendly customer’ and help open
doors。 For the ‘parent’ it provides a privileged ringside seat as a business
grows and so be able to decide if the area is worth plunging into more
deeply； or at the least provides valuable insights into new technologies or
business processes。
Recent research into corporate venturing by Ashridge （ashridge。
org。uk 》 Research and Faculty） Business School concluded that less than
5 per cent of corporate venturing units created new businesses that were
taken up by the parent pany。 Moreover； many failed to make any
positive contribution whatsoever。 There are some success stories； however。
McDonald’s offloaded its Prêt stake to Bridgepoint； a private equity firm。
Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in 2008； including McDonald’s 33 per
cent shareholding； for ￡345m。 That would suggest that McDonald’s at least
quadrupled the value of its initial stake。 Nokia Venture Partners （NVP）；
which makes significant minority investments in start…ups in the wireless
internet space； had as its biggest success to date the initial public offering of
PayPal； in 2002。 At a conference in July 1999； they and Deutsche Bank used
Paypal’s （then called Confinnity） encryption technology to send founders
Peter Thiel and Max Levchin 3 million in venture capital as their initial
stake； via a Palm Pilot。
220 The Thirty…Day MBA
Corporate venturing entrepreneurs think big and are happy to cut others
with cash in on the deal； if it will help make them rich。 Independence for
independence’s sake is not a high priority。
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PRACTICE
Business schools usually teach entrepreneurship using the ‘Action Learning’
approach。 This generally takes the form of having a handful of inspiring
alumni entrepreneurs back to talk about how they got started。 At
Cranfield the stars would include a couple of big hi。。ers； Karan （now Lord）
Billimoria of Cobra Beer fame； for example。 Cass wheels out Stelios Haji…
Iannou； founder of easyJet； and London Business School has Tony Wheeler
who graduated in 1972 and together with his wife Maureen founded
Lonely Planet Publications。 Then they will invite a cross…section of those
entrepreneurs who have interesting stories to tell； say about raising money；
hiring and firing or selling up； or who are recent leavers that switched career
paths from； say； big corporate lives to small business。 At IMD； in Lausanne
on Lake Geneva in Switzerland； the emphasis is on family businesses； and
Warren Buffe。。； whose son looks set to take over at Berkshire Hathaway； is
typical of the speakers there。
The spirit of the teaching is around preparing a business plan to be presented
to a panel along the lines of Dragons’ Den； o。。en with similar outes
in that the business gets funding。 It would be incorrect to suggest that
droves of MBAs rush off to found ventures straight off； but perhaps three
or four in a hundred do。 Within a decade that will have risen to around
40 per cent according to research carried out for Top MBA （topmba。
）。
Aside from ge。。ing funding and marks towards their MBA grade； the
most successful business plans are usually entered into one of a number
of Business Plan petitions。 These offer prizes such as Nano Challenge
（nanochallenge） offering two prizes of �300；000； promoted by
Veneto Nanotech； the pany managing the Italian Cluster for Nanotechnologies
and PriceWaterhouse Coopers。 Usually more modest awards
of cash； consulting and investment are on offer。 Small Business Notes （
smallbusinessnotes/planning/petitions。html） has a business plan
directory with around 100 petitions around the world。
You don’t have to be in a business school to enter most of these petitions；
though you may find it hard to find out about them if you are not
and you will almost certainly be up against a business school team。 Oxford
Said Business School （sbs。ox。ac。uk/21challenge） will take entries from
individuals； teams； new panies； existing panies creating spin…offs；
students； scientists； academics and entrepreneurs。 Regional； national and
international participation is encouraged。
Ethics and social
responsibility
。 Owners vs directors
。 Stakeholder groupings
。 Ethical and responsible strategies
。 Whistle…blowing
。 Green pays off
Actions for which a person or group of people can be held accountable and
so mended or blamed； disciplined or rewarded； are said to lie within
their sphere of responsibility。 Anything that lies outside our control also
lies beyond the scope of our responsibilities。 Ethics； known in academic
circles as moral philosophy； is concerned with classifying； defending； and
proposing concepts of right and wrong behaviour in the way in which
we discharge our responsibilities。 While many responsibilities lie within
the scope of the law； shareholders’ protection； discrimination at work；
misleading advertising and so forth （see Chapter 6 for more on business
law）； both in those areas and in the grey area that surrounds them lies the
province of ethics and social responsibility。 Right and wrong in themselves
are o。。en not too difficult to separate out。 The problem usually stems from
peting ‘rights’ – giving shareholders a be。。er return vs saving the planet；
for example； and the inherent selfishness of humans。 Many； if not all； of our
actions are triggered by self…interest。 In fact； much of the justification for
capitalism’s a。。raction lies in the ‘invisible hand’ theory advanced by Adam
Smith in his defining book； The Wealth of Nations （1776）：
Every individual。 。 。 generally； indeed； neither intends to promote the public
interest； nor knows how much he is promoting it。 By preferring the support
9
222 The Thirty…Day MBA
of domestic to that of foreign industry he intends only his own security； and
by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the
greatest value； he intends only his own gain； and he is in this； as in many
other cases； led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of
his intention。
Unfortunately； the invisible hand suggests only that businesses and consumers；
in being selfish； may by accident do good； not that their actions are
made ethical in the process。 Many purely selfish actions； say by operating
a cartel to rip off consumers； or adopting a polluting production process
purely to boost the bo。。om line； fall firmly into the unethical bracket。 Even
overtly ethical actions； for example when a business gives to charity or
supports a ‘not for profit’ event； such as Coca…Cola’s sponsorship of the
Olympic Games over an 80…year period； can prove ethically questionable。