Lecture by
Dr Pamela Hartigan
Executive Director Skoll Centre of Social Entrepreneurship
University of Oxford England
 |
| Professor Paul Flatau UWA and Professor Pamela Hartigan |
My notes from Professor Hartigan's and the following concepts ensured - for me - new learning's to my emerging interest in this space and the pending revision of my Self Published book.
Generally speaking the definition of Social Entrepreneurship is about the , '...resourcefulness for social entrepreneurship with the mission to change society.
The entities associated with this are: Not for Profits, Social Business and Social Entrepreneurs.
For profits are the interest of Social Investment and while I was in Nepal visiting Hands with Hands microcredit projects I shared this visit with Nina Cejinar who operates her own Social Investment business in Germany called Golden Deer. We are both associated with Hands with Hands a small NGO in Nepal. Interestingly, Professor Hartigan spoke about Social Investment is to carry out a social mission to meet our basic human needs. As part of this landscape new models need to be developed to produce new products. It is this environment that captivates me.
Social Investment (SI) primarily generates social and financial outcomes. The view is held that we are in the Renaissance phase of these entities and that Social Entrepreneurs (SE) are about creating markets to address their mission. Blending these SI and SE creates social ventures.
Examples provided at the lecture:
1. Bridges Ventures United Kingdom
2. Living Good (Social Impact Story) in Uganda.
3. Off Grid Electrical Tanzania - Proven Model
3. Mail Couriers India - Social Enterprise
What these examples show are what Professor Hartigan highlighted in her lecture was these are market creations where markets do/did not exist.
Another point raised was the terms we use around Developing and Developed nations. This was timely for me as I am revising my book and have used those terms so will make the necessary adjustment in my revised edition. Underpinning her view was that each country has there own disadvantaged and poor people so we can no longer dichotomies.
Some of the participants who attended:
Further commentary I found very beneficial was Professor Hartigan's explanation that Microcredit has been around for four decades of creation and a lot of subsidy was necessary to get it going to create what she referred to as the whole ecosystem. Over that time a number of organisations have grown up around that.
Her view is that SI is still a poorly defined area and business models need to be tested to find out - which works - where - for whom - tested and refined. We are not there yet and Australia needs to find its own way by looking at the landscape and defining what is possible and what types of markets will lead the way in their national context and the importance of facilitating this.
Professor Hartigan was firm in her view that the UK Government have heavily invested in this space but by its share nature governments seek to protect the status quo. Innovation by its very nature is to disrupt what is done then transform the way we do things.
Her belief is that Entrepreneurship can not be taught but people need to be provided with the necessary tools.
