Center for Social Innovation

Building Better Health Care

Business and government leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, and students gather this week at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for the 2012 Healthcare Innovation Summit to examine the forces shaping the future of health care and discuss practical solutions to some of our toughest health care problems. In an online forum, Stefanos Zenios responds to reader questions on innovation in the field.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

How Do You Encourage Recycling?

Recycling programs abound, but people are often lackadaisical about putting plastic, paper, glass, and metal into those bins. How can we get more people to recycle? An intervention recently conducted in Canada is pointing the way, and the message is all about ... well, the messaging.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

The Psychology Around Voter Turnout

Researchers applying psychology to the realm of politics are finding that giving voters a few strategic nudges can push far more people in the direction of polls on election day.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Education

The Value of "Values Affirmation"

Research shows that modest school interventions can help raise grades and improve health and happiness.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Digital Diagnosis

A talk with a Stanford dermatologist and entrepreneur who cofounded an internet alternative to the doctors’ office.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Building Better Health Care

Business and government leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, and students gather this week at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for the 2012 Healthcare Innovation Summit to examine the forces shaping the future of health care and discuss practical solutions to some of our toughest health care problems. In an online forum, Stefanos Zenios responds to reader questions on innovation in the field.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

How Do You Encourage Recycling?

Recycling programs abound, but people are often lackadaisical about putting plastic, paper, glass, and metal into those bins. How can we get more people to recycle? An intervention recently conducted in Canada is pointing the way, and the message is all about ... well, the messaging.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

The Psychology Around Voter Turnout

Researchers applying psychology to the realm of politics are finding that giving voters a few strategic nudges can push far more people in the direction of polls on election day.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Global Issues

Research: Online Gaming Is the New Bowling League

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Video games are good for you—and good for democracy, too. With all the talk of violence, addiction, and isolation, such an idea is not intuitive. But a recent study showed that online game communities provide access to social capital.

Education, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Research: Economic Influence

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Private foundations are being idealized as neutral, efficient, and effective—but no one is actually monitoring their impact.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Research: Welfare Works Better than Bootstraps

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

In Britain, the social safety net allows people who fall into poverty to pull themselves out. Americans who become poor are more likely to stay that way.

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Research: Combining Warmth and Competence

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

According to recent research, people tend to perceive organizations as being either warm or competent, not both—and they are much more likely to do business with the competent one.

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Research: Money Makes People Stingy

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

"The more money a person makes or has, the less generous, helpful, compassionate, and charitable he is toward other people,” says Paul Piff, a doctoral candidate in social and personality psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Figuring Out What Counts

The new United States presidential administration offers hope for decision making that puts the well-being of people and the planet at the forefront.

Resource: Blog Post

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A Modest Proposal for Nonprofit Lobbying

The author suggests that nonprofits seek lobbying help from corporations that are limited in the cash they can offer.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurship

From Blue to Green

The author reviews Jacqueline Novogratz’s book “The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World” and draws insight from the book’s in depth presentation of social enterprise.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Obama’s Call for Service, a Spur to Giving Sector

Nonprofits should focus inward and get their organization’s fundraising strategies in order before they go “rush[ing] to grab a piece of the government’s financial bailout package.”

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Why a New Nonprofit Might Be a Good Idea After All

The author draws attention to a situation in which adding a new nonprofit may not be a bad idea.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Education

Social Entrepreneurship in Education

Good education should be a right, not a privilege. So says Piyush Mangukiya, founder of EducateNCare.com, an innovative online tutoring program for students. In this audio interview, Mangukiya speaks with host Ashkon Jafari about how this unique enterprise is bettering the lives of children around the world through quality education and assistance.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Environment, Leadership

Gulf Oil Spill and Environmental Sustainability

The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was one of the most disastrous and costly environmental sustainability crises on the planet. How were cultures affected, how were decisions made to address the situation, and what leadership lessons can be drawn from this unprecedented event? In this university podcast, expert Marcia McNutt offers her insights. The event, part of the Von Gugelberg Memorial Lecture on the Environment, was hosted by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Environmental Sustainability Through Adaptation

[photo - Photo: Professor Matthew E. Kahn]

Increasing energy consumption poses a serious threat to environmental sustainability. In this university podcast, delivered at the Stanford Climate Policy Instruments in the Real World conference, UCLA professor Matt Kahn reflects on what heat waves and increased natural disaster risk may do to households, landowners, and the general economic climate.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Social Enterprises, Environment

Bringing Fair Trade to Indigenous Farmers

In Chiapas, Mexico, twelve indigenous communities have joined forces to obtain fair trade prices for their coffee under the auspices of the micro-industry Bats'il Maya. In this audio interview, COO Alberto Irezabal speaks with host Ashkon Jafari about how the co-op works to empower coffee growers, and how it is expanding to include coffee stores in Mexico City, among other innovations.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Leadership, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Creating Infectious Action

What if you could influence people to act on their best intentions? Professor Jennifer Aaker has spent most of her career researching the science of getting people to do the right thing.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Fundamentals Are Biggest Challenge

In his 40 years with Chevron, O'Reilly's biggest leadership challenge is communicating the fundamentals of the oil business, that energy is something that has to be produced.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Education, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Fill Classrooms with Committed Teachers

Teach For America places thousands of energetic and committed college graduates as teachers in under-resourced schools for their first jobs. Founder Wendy Kopp shares why and how she started the organization in 1980, and the progress Teach For America has been making ever since.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Economic Development, Government

Fox Sees Bright Future for Mexico

Americans are mostly unaware of the enormous progress Mexico has enjoyed since a devastating collapse in the peso in 1994. Former Mexican President Vincente Fox highlights the opportunities, and also addresses the challenges, resulting from the collapse.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Government, Human Rights

Say What You Think Then Take Action

San Francisco's young and charismatic mayor, Gavin Newsom, has suffered his share of punches for taking bold positions on controversial issues. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation-sponsored talk, Newsom tells of the courage and persistence it takes to make real social change as a leader.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Academic vs. Real World Ethics

Dilemmas such as selling other nations scanners that can tell the sex of an unborn child or kerosene heaters without safety features were debated during a discussion with Stanford's Professor David Brady.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Healthcare

2011 Stanford Healthcare Summit

How do we get individuals to practice healthier habits and influence positive behavior change? The "Behavior Wizard" offers technology-based solutions in this audio lecture from the 2011 Stanford Graduate School of Business Healthcare Summit. B.J. Fogg, Director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, bring his insights from the tech world. In decades studying how computers and mobile apps can be used to bring about behavior change, Fogg found new applications for the health sector in promoting positive habits.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Education, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Philanthropy and the Free Market in Education

What can the for-profit market bring to K-12 education reform, and how can philanthropy help such efforts? In this audio interview with host Ashkon Jafari, Gisèle Huff, executive director of the Jaquelin Hume Foundation, discusses the foundation's investment strategy in this regard. She touches on lessons the organization has learned, and what the average citizen can do to raise American education standards.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurship

Solving Infant Mortality with Social Entrepreneurship

Of the twenty million premature or underweight babies born every year, four million will die in their first month of life. In this audio lecture from the 2011 Women in Management banquet at Stanford, Jane Chen discusses her recent efforts to change these numbers, and the personal journey that took her there. Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a nonprofit company that has developed a new low-cost, portable incubator for use in India and other parts of the developing world.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Food Industry and Global Health

Why have American eating habits changed so drastically for the worse in the last half century? What is the appropriate role of government in mitigating these changes? Who can we hold responsible? In this audio lecture, author and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler discusses the marketing strategies of multinational food companies, the scientific realities behind these current trends, and what we might do to change them.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Education, Government

Global Education Conference

Business and technological innovations are pushing education everywhere to the brink of great change. What is the potential for global education today?

Resource: Video

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

Topics:

Breaking New Ground: Using the Internet to Scale

Commissioned by KaBOOM! and authored by Katherine Fulton and alumna Heather McLeod Grant of the Monitor Institute, this case study looks at the challenges KaBOOM! faced and lessons the organization learned while pioneering an online strategy to scale its impact. This strategy involves giving away the nonprofit model online for free to empower others to act on KaBoom's behalf.

Resource: Practitioner Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Hewlett Foundation has used a theory-of-change model to structure its planning and evaluation efforts. In 2001, the Foundation endeavored to increase its effectiveness and accountability by formalizing its planning and assessment practices.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Abercrombie & Kent: Pioneering Global Ecotourism

Abercrombie & Kent, a safari company, develops an ecotourism business in Kenya. The company must assess its challenges and future directions.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Belize's Community Baboon Sanctuary

A sanctuary for baboons in Belize has been reformulated to support ecotourism. Numerous management, social, and political issues continue to limit the sanctuary’s growth.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Community Foundation Silicon Valley

Community Foundation Silicon Valley President Peter Hero considers whether the Foundation should continue to focus on providing an array of donor services or on building an unrestricted endowment. He also reflects on whether the Foundation would best be supported by a large number of diverse donors or a smaller set of high-value donors.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Philanthropy in America

Philanthropy as an industry was developed in the United States. This paper traces its development from early colonial days through the formation of the first great foundations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

American Repertory Theatre in the 1990s

The directors of the American Repertory Theatre face major government cuts in funding. How can they best identify new sources of income?

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Human Rights, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The September 11th Fund

The September 11th Fund was created to support the short- and long-term needs of the people and communities affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. Many foundation leaders evaluated the difficult lessons learned in interacting with the media, and wondered how they could better use communication strategies to demonstrate their accountability.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Healthcare

AES in Nigeria

The U.S. energy company AES is in the process of entering the Nigerian market through the acquisition of a controlling equity interest in a power generator project. How does AES juggle its core values and company culture in entering this new environment?

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Anglo American (A)

A massive South African mining conglomerate was debating how to confront the ravages of HIV/AIDS on the workforce. It considered challenges associated with launching an antiretroviral program.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights

Mobil in Aceh, Indonesia (A) & (B)

In 1998, the chief executive of Mobil in Indonesia considered how he should respond to allegations that Mobil had been complicit in human rights abuses. The cases reflect on the challenges of managing operations in a place like Aceh.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurs: Correcting Market Failures

A new breed of entrepreneurs is prioritizing social impact over the creation of wealth. This video case examines the insights, aspirations, and impact of three leading social entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in distributing products and services in hard-to-reach places. It is meant to be used in conjunction with cases SI72 A and SI72 B.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Education, Nonprofit Management

Teach For America: The Bay Area Expansion (A)

Teach for America, a nonprofit that places talented college graduates in teaching positions in under-resourced areas, needed to expand its placements in the San Francisco Bay Area. Case A details the challenges of TFA’s attempt to expand into the San Francisco Unified School District.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Wal-Mart: Nonmarket Pressure and Reputation Risk (A)

In 2002, Wal-Mart came under attack for its inadequate pay and benefits, and its negative impact on local economies. This case examines the issues involved.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

A conference at Stanford brought together professionals from foundations to share best practices, discuss emerging innovations, and build professional networks. This summary presents key issues discussed.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

FedEx and Environmental Defense: Building a Hybrid Delivery Fleet

From specification to production: FedEx and Environmental Defense started a collaboration in 2000 to develop energy efficient delivery trucks. Eaton Corporation and Freightliner soon joined them to prototype the new vehicles.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Private Politics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Integrated Strategy

The paper investigates the implications of private politics and corporate social responsibility on the strategies of rival firms when one or both is the target of an activist campaign. It also discusses implications for empirical analysis.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

The Gendered Implications of Apparently Gender-Neutral Organizational Theory: Re-Reading Weber

This paper deconstructs Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy to make visible the masculinity and masculinism embedded in it. It identifies silences in Weber's text, rejects claims about the "natural" that imply that things cannot be done another way, and rejects dichotomous thinking that denies possibilities and encourages essentialist thinking.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

The Vote is Not Tallied on Katrina Blame

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, voters can look beyond political loyalties and carry the blame for the disaster into their next voting booth say researchers Neil Malhotra and Alexander Kuo.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Ask, and You're Likely to Get Help

“Ask and you shall receive” is the moral of this research. A series of studies reveals that people tend to grossly underestimate how likely others are to agree to requests for assistance. In a variety of different studies the results were generally the same. When the participants asked for help in a straight-forward manner they generally got the help they needed whether it was for directions, money or time.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion

Distinguishing Between Silent and Vocal Minorities: Not All Deviants Feel Marginal

This study looks at different variations of deviation from group opinion, and who is more likely to express an opinion.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Biodesign Innovation: OIT 581/3

The two-quarter Elective Course series provides lectures from a diverse group of faculty that expose students to the practical aspects of technology invention and development. The class features a presentation or discussion from one of the guest speakers or faculty. Students work in small project teams in the Biodesign prototyping lab or bench space, collaborating with the fellows of the program.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurship

The Power of Social Technology: GSBGEN 358

The goal of this seminar is to investigate how social technology (e.g., blogs, websites, podcasts, widgets, community groups, social network feeds) can change attitudes and behaviors in ways that cultivate social change. We study the strategies and tactics used by companies and causes that have successfully catalyzed social persuasion.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Economic Development

Strategic Thinking in Action - In Business and Beyond: STRAMGT 373

This seminar helps participants develop strategically informed action plans that are imaginative, inspiring, and workable in highly dynamic environments. Through informed debate and the writing and presentation of position papers, participants evaluate and hone their views on the seminar's critical themes.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship: STRAMGT 369

This course focuses on the efforts of private citizens to create effective responses to social needs and innovative solutions to social problems. It equips students with frameworks and tools that will help them be more effective as a social entrepreneur.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Strategic Management of Nonprofits: STRAMGT 368

This course surveys strategic, governance, and management issues facing a wide range of nonprofit organizations in an era of venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It introduces students to core managerial issues in the nonprofit sector, such as development/fundraising, investment management, performance management and nonprofit finance.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Kate Surman, MBA '04

Kate Surman, MBA '04, Administrative Director of Strategic Operations, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, discusses how she has leveraged the Public Management and Social Innovation certificate to take her career into a new direction.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Social Entrepreneurship

Farm to Cup Merger Emphasizes Partnership & Economic Empowerment

[photo - Farm to Cup - Root Capital Lending]

A grassroots student effort led by Caroline Mullen, MBA ’12, Catha Mullen, MBA ’13, and Monica Lewis, MBA ’12, now has even more impact through a merger with Pachamama Coffee Cooperative.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Water World

Leading a Social Innovation Study Trip lands Robyn Beavers, MBA '10, in a new industry.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Jeremy Sokulsky, MBA '04

Jeremy Sokulsky, MBA '04, President, Environmental Incentives, discusses how he's drawing upon the tools and training he received from the GSB to help make a difference.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Cross-Sector Effort Helps People See Better

Vision care is something that is practically taken for granted in the United States, but that’s not the case throughout much of the world. Some 300 million around the globe suffer from correctable vision loss, leading, as Ashanthi Mathai, MBA '04, says, “to people accepting their vision impairment and adjusting their lives around it.” The result? A lower quality of life, restricted job options, and even further economic distress.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Promoting Civic Engagement and Voting

Applying psychology to the realm of politics shows that giving voters a few strategic nudges can push far more people in the direction of polls on election day. In this university podcast, Todd Rogers, Harvard professor and founder of the political research organization Analyst Institute, shares research that shows how "get out the vote" calls can be far more effective in changing behavior when just a few subtle techniques are used. Rogers spoke at the Stanford Prosocial Briefing.

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Resource: Audio

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion

Building Organizations That Work

“Why do people create hierarchies when they say they don’t want them? One answer is that it makes thinking much easier,” says GSB Professor Larissa Tiedens. “We produce hierarchies to make our lives easier cognitively.”

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Environment

Climate Change Could Open Trade Opportunities for Some Vulnerable Nations, Stanford Researchers Say

The study, the most long-range and detailed of its kind to date, forecasts the occurrence of severe dry years during the next nine decades in Tanzania and its key trading partners.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Promoting Health Through Weight Loss

Can monetary incentives get people to lose weight? Yes, at least in the short term, says Harvard business professor Leslie John in this university podcast. John reports on studies using lotteries and the threat of financial loss in getting people to slim their waistlines, an important step in improving health. She spoke at the Stanford Prosocial Briefing.

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Resource: Audio

Topic :