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.