Commercialization of Social Enterprises: Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift (FutureLearn)

Commercialization of Social Enterprises: Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift (FutureLearn)

Find out how to avoid mission drift when transitioning a social enterprise or microfinance venture into a for-profit organisation. Many social enterprises are becoming more commercial, adopting the techniques, funding or governance more usually associated with for-profit ventures.

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In this online course, social enterprise and microfinance experts from Université libre de Bruxelles and their guests will shed new light on this trend. They will ask how commercialisation affects the management and operations of social enterprises, and which avenues could or should be used to avoid mission drift.

What topics will you cover?

  • Why social entrepreneurs innovate
  • Microfinance practices
  • When a not-for-profit becomes a for-profit organisation
  • Sources of financing and mission drift

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Describe the context in which social innovations, such as microfinance, emerge
  • Explain the evolution and the main features of the microfinance sector, including products, services and organisational structure
  • Describe what happens when a not-for-profit organisation becomes a regulated for-profit company
  • Identify the practical implications of such a transformation
  • Produce different strategies and practices to avoid mission drift in social enterprises
  • Identify and discuss the managerial implications related to the shift of business model or to commercial sources of financing
  • Identify what is specific to the commercialisation of microfinance and what is common to all social enterprises
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