MODULE 1 - The Business Case for Social Intrapreneurship

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Source: Isa Carvalho

In this module, we explore the definition of social intrapreneurship and look at examples of successful intrapreneurial products. As a relatively new concept, your colleagues, supervisors, and friends may ask what is intrapreneurship and why do we need it? This first module prepares you to be able to clearly understand and explain the value of social intrapreneurship in the health sector.

Watch: In this video, watch Myriam Sidibe, a social intrapreneur at Unilever, introduce the company’s health and hygiene product, Lifebuoy Soap. Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company, the third largest in the world. Its CEO Paul Polman has made a commitment to sustainability and often speaks to the importance of social business to the company.

The Lifebuoy product demonstrates an example of social intrapreneurship; it’s good for both the company’s brand and for society. Can you think of other innovations with this mutual benefit?

1) Understand: What is Social Intrapreneurship?

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Professor David Grayson, director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management is a top expert in social intrapreneurship. In 2014 he released a book entitled “Social Intrapreneurism and All that Jazz.” Read the following two excerpts:

Excerpt #1Introduction to Corporate Social Intrapreneurship

Discuss: While you’re reading excerpt #1 keep in mind this key question: What are the core elements that define social intrapreneurship?

Excerpt #2: Impacts for the company

Discuss: From the second excerpt consider the three different beneficiaries of social intrapreneurship, the employee (you), the company and society as a whole. Consider the perspective of why social intrapreneurship is important, for different reasons, to each of these beneficiaries.

2) Consider: Social Intrapreneurship Case-study

M-Pesa (M for mobile, Pesa is Swahili for money)  is a mobile-phone based money transfer service which Vodafone offers with partners in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. The service provides hundreds of thousands of people, who previously did not have bank accounts, the ability to use their phone to safely store, send and receive money.

M-Pesa is a quintessential example of social intrapreneurship because it solves a social need with a business product in an underserved market and is a major revenue source for the mobile networks which offer the service.  

Watch the following animation, “The Story of M-Pesa” and learn about how the product was started and the impact it is having.

Optional: Want to go more in-depth with how the social intrapreneurs from Vodafone got the M-Pesa product started?  

3) Explore: Who are the Social Intrapreneurs?

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social intrapreneur, as opposed to the social entrepreneur, implements initiatives within existing organizations rather than starting new ones. In this Harvard Business Review article entitled “Innovation’s New Frontier” the author looks at a number of examples of social intrapreneurs from within well-known companies.

Read: Innovation’s New Frontier

Discuss: While reading this article pay close attention to the characteristics of a social intrapreneur and consider the different types of value the can create for a company’s brand and culture.

4) What does #SocInt mean to you?

 

logo-highres_question-markWhat does social intrapreneurship mean to you? What value can it deliver to a company or organization? How can society benefit from social intrapreneurship?

 

 

Content: 

Social Entrepreneurship – Making More Health by Connecting Business and Society I

Boehringer Ingelheim

Social Entrepreneurship connects two worlds: Business and society. It creates Win-Wins to find solutions on availability, accessibility, awareness, and affordability of healthcare. Boehringer Ingelheim has embarked on a journey with our partner Ashoka, the largest network organization of social entrepreneurs worldwide, to explore the field-based activities of people around the world known as ‘social entrepreneurs’. Find out more at www.makingmorehealth.org and let’s make more health happen!

 

Social Entrepreneurship – Making More Health by Connecting Business and Society II

 

Boehringer Ingelheim

Social Entrepreneurship connects two worlds: Business and society. It creates Win-Wins to find solutions on availability, accessibility, awareness and affordability of healthcare. Boehringer Ingelheim has embarked on a journey with our partner Ashoka, the largest network organization of social entrepreneurs worldwide, to explore the field-based activities of people around the world known as ‘social entrepreneurs’. Find out more at www.makingmorehealth.org and let’s make more health happen!

Lifebouy Soap

Unilever

Social Intrapreneur Myriam Sidibe has taken the Lifebouy brand and used it to help millions of children all over the world stay safe from preventable yet deadly diseases.  In this video, watch as she talks about her handwashing initiative and why it’s good for business. 

Social Intrapreneurism and All that Jazz Excerpt #1

David Grayson, Melody McLaren, Heiko Spitzeck 

The following excerpts from Professor David Grayson’s upcoming book “Social Intrapreneurism and All that Jazz” will introduce you to the concept of social intrapreneurship. 

Social Intrapreneurism and All that Jazz Excerpt #2

David Grayson, Melody McLaren, Heiko Spitzeck 

From the second excerpt consider the three different beneficiaries of social intrapreneurship, the employee (you), the company and society as a whole.  

YouTube Video: The Story of M-Pesa

TechChange

M-Pesa is a mobile money service that represents the quintessential story of a social intrapreneurial initiative that tackled this problem at scale. Watch the (6 min) TechChange video and consider what how the problem was framed and the solution developed.

M-PESA: Mobile Money for the "Unbanked" Turning Cellphones into 24-Hour Tellers in Kenya

Nick Hughes and Susie Lonie

Want to learn more about how Nick Hughes and Susie Lonie came together to create one the most successful social intrapreneurship products in the world, deep dive into the following case-study. 

Innovation's New Frontier

Jane Simms

social intrapreneur, as opposed to the social entrepreneur, implements initiatives within existing organizations rather than starting new ones.  Read this article and learn about how several early intrapreneurs have made the business case for successful intrapreneurial initiatives.