COURSE NUMBER: MBA292T.11
This course is
dual-listed with the Evening-Weekend MBA Program.
COURSE TITLE: Creating
Shared Value: Competitive Advantage through Social Impact
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1
Unit
INSTRUCTOR: Mark
Kramer
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
mark.kramer@fsg.org
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: February
11 and March 4, from 9AM to 5PM.
Please note the unorthodox format of
this course, which meets on 2 Sundays. You must attend all sessions in their
entirety in order to earn a passing grade
PREREQUISITE(S): There
are no specific prerequisites. Completing Haas core courses in Finance,
Marketing and Strategy is recommended.
CLASS FORMAT:
The class format will be a combination of case discussions based on Harvard
Business School cases, topic lectures, and general discussions of the central
questions about business and society raised by the Creating Shared Value
concept. We will also use a few short videos from case protagonists and
Professor Michael Porter.
REQUIRED READINGS: Approximately
6 teaching cases and 6 articles or other readings.
BASIS FOR FINAL
GRADE: Class participation (40%) and a short paper of approximately 5-6
pages (60%) applying the Shared Value concept to a company or social issue.
CAREER FIELD: CSV
is intended as a mainstream strategy course for future corporate leaders and
entrepreneurs who want to understand how social issues intersect with corporate
strategy to create new opportunities for competitive advantage. It is
also recommended for students who aspire to work in governments or social
enterprises that partner with businesses to deliver social impact.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S
CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course addresses the intersection between competitive strategy and social
impact, based on the ideas first introduced in the 2011 HBR article on Creating
Shared Value co-authored by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer.
Classical
economics taught that the social and environmental impacts of business were
externalities to be handled by government regulation, philanthropy or corporate
social responsibility. We now know, however, that societal problems actually
create internal costs for companies as well as new business
opportunities. Companies that adopt a shared value strategy by
integrating social impact into their competitive positions will find
opportunities for greater differentiation, innovation and profitability that
competitors miss.
Shared
value rejects the deeply ingrained notion that there is an inevitable trade-off
between delivering social benefits and maximizing shareholder returns. It
offers a way to think about capitalism that is imbued with a social purpose –
not out of charity or obligation – but out of a deeper understanding of
competition and economic value creation that can drive productivity growth and
competitive advantage in the global economy.
Shared
Value also offers a framework for NGOs, social enterprises and governments to
engage in new forms of cross-sector partnerships that utilize the skills and
resources of the private sector to lead social change through profitable
business models.
The
course will be taught largely through the case method. Cases will cover
all three levels of CSV: creating new products and markets, redefining
productivity in the value chain, and enhancing the local business environments
in which the company operates. The cases will include both emerging
markets and developed country examples. They will also touch on the
challenges involved in shifting organizational culture and processes, measuring
social impact, engaging investors, and managing public-private partnerships.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Mark R. Kramer
Founder and Managing Director,
FSG
Senior Fellow, Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University
Visiting Lecturer, Harvard
Business School
Mark Kramer is a leading researcher, writer, speaker and consultant on
strategies for social impact. He is best known as the co-author of
seminal articles in Harvard Business Review on Creating Shared Value, and
in Stanford Social
Innovation Review on Collective Impact and Catalytic Philanthropy.
Together
with Professor Michael Porter, Mark co-founded FSG,
a 160-person nonprofit social impact consulting firm with offices in the US,
Europe and Asia. FSG helps develop social impact strategies and conducts
research and evaluations for many of the world’s largest foundations,
corporations and nonprofit organizations. FSG also operates and supports
two communities of practice: the Shared
Value Initiative and the Collective
Impact Forum. Porter and Kramer also co-founded the Center for Effective Philanthropy,
a 30-person nonprofit dedicated to improving foundation performance.
Mark
also serves as a Senior Fellow in the CSR Initiative of
the Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government and a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He has served on
the jury of the annual Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award and the
planning committee for the Clinton Global Initiative, and is a member of the
Aspen Philanthropy Group and the Kimberly-Clark Sustainability Advisory Board.
Prior
to founding FSG, Mark served as President of the private equity firm Kramer
Capital Management, and as an Associate at the law firm of Ropes &
Gray. He is a graduate of Brandeis University, The Wharton School,
and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.