Getting beyond better How social entrepreneurship works

Roger L. Martin

Book - 2015

"Who really moves things forward in our society and how do they do it? How have they always done it? Strategy guru Roger Martin and Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg make a compelling argument that social entrepreneurs are agents of change who recognize, in our current reality, various kinds of "equilibria"-systems in need of change-and then advance social progress by transforming these systems, ultimately replacing what exists with a new equilibrium. Seen in this light, social entrepreneurship is not a marginal activity, but one that unleashes new value for society by releasing untapped human ambition. The book begins with a probing and useful theory of social entrepreneurship, moving through history to illuminate what it is..., how it works, and the nature of its role in modern society. The authors then set out a framework for understanding how successful social entrepreneurs actually go about producing transformative change. There are four key stages: understanding the world; envisioning a better future; building a model for change; and scaling the solution. With both depth and nuance, Martin and Osberg offer rich examples and stories, and share lessons and tools applicable to everyone who aspires to drive positive change, whatever the context. Getting Beyond Better offers a bold new framework demonstrating how and why meaningful change actually happens in the world, and offering concrete lessons and a practical model for businesses, policy-makers, and civil society organizations to generate new value, again and again. "--

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Subjects
Published
Boston, Massachusetts : Harvard Business Review Press [2015]
Language
English
Main Author
Roger L. Martin (author)
Other Authors
Sally R. Osberg (author)
Physical Description
xiii, 248 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781633690684
  • Foreword
  • Introduction: What Is Social Entrepreneurship?
  • Part I. Transformation for Good
  • 1. Shifting an Equilibrium
  • 2. The Nature of Social Entrepreneurship
  • Part II. Paths to Transformation
  • 3. Understanding the World
  • 4. Envisioning a New Future
  • 5. Building a Model for Change
  • 6. Scaling the Solution
  • 7. A Path Forward
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Authors
Review by Choice Review

Martin and Osberg (Skoll Foundation) envision a future driven by significantly increased social benefits obtained from more extensive social entrepreneurship than currently exists. They offer a model with four key stages for using social entrepreneurship to bring about transformative change for the good: understanding the world they wish to change and how it works rather than rushing a simplistic answer to the problem; envisioning a compellingly superior new future for targeted constituents; building a powerful model for change with a winning value equation; and scaling the solution to obtain economies by designing a model that includes falling unit costs with increasing volume. The authors include many practical and theoretical questions to address. All organizations should grapple with these questions, but they may have special importance for social entrepreneurs. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty. --Charles Wankel, St. John's University, New York

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Based largely upon their work with the Skoll Foundation, which funds social entrepreneurs, Martin, who is on its board, and Osberg, its president and CEO, propose a rigorous understanding of social entrepreneurship and a model for successful operations. They see social entrepreneurs as drawing from both business enterprises and government bodies to form a third type of entity that can improve society. The authors also view this type of business opportunity as different from social activism (in that the social entrepreneur is directly involved in creating change rather than pressuring government to implement it) and social service provision (in that social entrepreneurs work to establish fundamental change rather than for improvements in the status quo). Following the authors' discussion of definitions, an operating model is proposed. Since those the social entrepreneur aims to help are backed by little monetary support or political influence, the authors think it vital to success that the social entrepreneur's activities either increase the value or decrease the costs implicit in the current unacceptable situation and describe seven ways to effect these revisions. In developing both their definition and model, Martin and Osberg use an inductive method, discussing many real-life examples. VERDICT An insightful, well-structured, and practical-minded analysis of social entrepreneurship that is likely to be of help to established and aspiring social entrepreneurs.-Shmuel -Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.