The Movement for Social*Business Impact
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Origin and Mission
In November 2016, HEC Paris launched an ambitious initiative: the Movement for Social*Business Impact (MS*BI)
This movement aims at contributing to a more inclusive economy, where businesses seek to maximize their social impact together with their economic performance.
The Movement for Social*Business Impact is a continuation of the HEC Paris Social Business/Enterprise and Poverty Chair, launched and funded by Danone, Schneider Electric, and Renault in 2008. co-chaired by 2006 Peace Nobel Prize Professor Muhammad Yunus and Martin Hirsch, former High Commissioner for Active Solidarity against Poverty in France, and currently Head of the Greater Paris University Hospitals. The Chair in turn supported the creation of the Action-Tank Social & Business, designed to incubate inclusive business models fighting poverty in France. Since 2010, the Action-Tank has helped develop and implement innovative poverty alleviation projects, bringing together companies, NGOs, public and academic authorities.
MS*BI focuses on four key actions :
- This movement aims at contributing to a more inclusive economy, where businesses seek to maximize their social impact together with their economic performance.
- Catalyzing world-class research on social business by building on partnerships with the best international academic teams.
- Strengthening and broadening teaching opportunities focused on training a new generation of managers.
- Accelerating the deployment and scaling up of social business projects incubated in France.
- Providing institutional resources to develop international social business incubation models, which offer essential goods and services to the poorest populations.
NEWS
RESEARCH
Rethinking Firm's Actions and Their Impact
The M*BI strives through its differents actions to comprehend and offer the means to economic actors to maximize their societal impact.
Abstract
Scholars have questioned whether hedge fund activism creates, captures, or destroys corporate value. Yet, most prior work either focuses solely on short-term financial performance or looks at the effect of other forms of shareholder activism on target firms' social performance. Research has yet to examine whether hedge fund activism promotes or inhibits the social performance of target firms.
We argue that targeted firms respond to hedge fund pressures by cutting back their social initiatives in an effort to increase short term profitability, but such cutbacks result in lower long-term social and financial performance.
Using matching and difference-in-differences, we test our hypotheses is on 1,143 US-based firms targeted by hedge fund activists from 2000 to 2012. Overall, findings from this study illuminate the short- and long-term social and financial consequences of hedge fund activism.
Managerial summary
We replicate and complement a recent study that showed that the events of a firm's addition, continuation, or deletion in a major sustainability index (Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, DJSI) has little impact on stock market corrections (Hawn et al., 2018).
First, we refine the comparison set that was previously used by following the DJSI methodology in order to compare across more observationally-equivalent firms in terms of CSR orientation, and find convergent results, including for instance in small increase of 50 basis points in stock market performance for addition to the DJSI index over the period 2010-2015.
Second, we expand the analysis to other outcomes and find that not only are investors valuing sustainability more and more but that sustainability attracts more attention from analysts (addition to or continuation on this index adds between two and four analysts in the more recent period) and significantly increases the volume of shares held by long-term investors (by an estimated value of 40 to 70 milliondollars following DJSI events).
Abstract
Low-income workers face many constraints that are negatively affecting their subjective well-being as well as economic and social outcomes. One way to alleviate some of these constraints is through tangible improvement in short-distance geographical mobility, for instance with the provision of the new car under a low-cost leasing scheme, or by the provision of at-cost quality car maintenance.
In this interim report, we advance the theory linking short-distance geographical mobility to subjective well-being and we describe a research design that will evaluate the impact of the Renault Mobilize program, which is an intervention targeted to low-income workers (notably job-seekers) that promotes improvements in short-distance your graphical mobility.
In the theory, we emphasize the role of restrictions in mental bandwidth as a driver of poor economic and social outcomes and of lower subjective well-being. In our research design, we take advantage of a hard threshold for eligibility to the program in order to strengthen the causal interpretation of the analyses.
Abstract
We define hybrid organizations as forms that exist across the boundaries of and merge elements from different organizational entities. They are social innovations at the intersection of changing state-market relations, novel institutional designs and the growing role of civil society organizations as key stakeholders to creation economic and social value.
Hybrid organizations can be sorted accordingly to their level of hybridity. Two are distinguished in this paper.
The first level is obtained when one focal organization embraces two (or more) distinct logics: economic and social objectives.
The second level of hybridity is obtained when at least two organizations from distinct sectors with distinct identities must agree on mutual interests and decide to collaborate through pooling their resources, competencies and logics.
For hybrid organization’s, it is a big challenge to create a uniting organizational Identity and can face tensions between logics. Moreover, the effects of potential conflicts between institutional demands and partners can lead to organizational paralysis or break up.
In this paper, we explore the microfoundations of hybrid organizational forms and reveal how second level hybrid organizations operate to explain when and how they are capable to take advantage of governance mechanisms- accountability and reporting systems, board composition - to internally incorporate elements of the competing logics they embody and maintain their hybrid nature over time.
In this paper, we discuss what factors contribute to a hybrid sustainability? We contribute in three ways.
We identify the cross-(sector ?) organization collaboration as a distinct type of hybridity.
We offer a comprehensive analysis of hybridity challenges and means of addressing them.
Our framework advances that appropriate organizational governance, by monitoring dual performance objectives and aligning the interests of multiple principal stakeholders , remedies to internal tensions and institutional pressures and can guarantee the survival of second order hybrid organizations.
Taken together, our proposed theoretical framework of hybrid organizations sheds new light on the novel hybrid organizational forms that retain their hybrid nature over time and continue to create value.
Abstract
We provide time-consistent microfoundations to the idea that a fiscal power is needed for fiat money to be traded in economies where money is essential.
We extend a classical OLG monetary model by introducing an authority that maximizes the utility of current agents' consumption and public expenditures by imposing taxes and carrying out money market operations.
We show that, the time-consistent optimal policy selects a unique equilibrium, one in which money has real value and inflation is disconnected from any fiscal variable.
Such optimal policy provides for fiscally backed monitoring interventions occurring only out of equilibrium. However, for this result to hold taxes must be flexible. When instead taxes are fixed ex-ante, inflation responds to fiscal variables and the uniqueness of equilibrium can get lost if fiscal capacity is not sufficiently large.
Our analysis points out to the need of providing microfoundations to the authority behavior in the debate on the price level determination and offers new perspective on the importance of fiscal backing.
A large variety of courses
The S&O Institute has helped develop several programs on inclusive and social business:
S&O Institute co-created a new course last September 2021 for 350 participants every year.
The 18-hour course on Planetary boundaries provides a deeper understanding of environmental and social challenges, their interactions with the global economic system, and studies the implications for business.
The purpose of this class is to help students get a good understanding of the main environmental and social challenges the world is facing, of the complexity of the phenomena and their interactions, and the different possible scenarios to respond to these challenges.
The aim of the Inclusive & Social Business Certificate is to train a new generation of managers, aware of societal challenges and aspiring to be part of the solution, regardless of their professional activity.
It is an annual 6-week full-time program taught in English, from end of April to beginning of June.
It is open to a selection of HEC Paris students from Master programs, MBA and EMBA but it has also always welcomed a few non-HEC participants who want to explore the social business ecosystem and who are motivated and willing to reflect with us on the role of business in the fight against poverty. These persons would be exchange students, Institut de l'Engagement's laureates, visiting professors, or business people.
FACT Impact (France or Planet) proposes to support and accompany a social entrepreneur or an entrepreneur coming from an underprivileged area in his project
FACT programs are offered to students in first and second year of the Grande Ecole Master in Management program during the second semester. These programs allow students to confront their theoretical learnings with a real-experience on the field.
This module critically investigates the set of reasons that prompt firms to contribute to poverty alleviation and analyzes the innovative inclusive and social business models that they develop. It explores how firms transform themselves when seeking to become more inclusive. More fundamentally, this module also challenges participants to question their roles as managers and future executives.
This intensive week allows students to work on these issues through case studies and lectures taught by a team of HEC professors and consultants and through visits to corporate and social partners like ARES, a work integration social enterprise.
What are CEMS Block Seminars?
Block Seminars are intensive one-week seminars on an innovative Management topic, run prior to or at the start of the MIM Term 1. Students from all CEMS institutions gather for the Block Seminars that are usually led by teams of teachers from different disciplines of Management studies.
The intensive academic and cultural experience is an ideal starter for students to the MIM program.
What is CEMS?
Founded in Europe in 1988, CEMS is a global alliance of academic and corporate institutions dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders.
The alliance now comprises 30 member schools across 5 continents, delivering the joint CEMS Master's in International Management (MIM) around the world, and 69 CEMS corporate partners among whom L’Oréal. Since 2010, CEMS has also integrated non-profit organizations as Social Partners to positively influence all members of the CEMS alliance.
Since its creation, CEMS has worked alongside industry representatives and academics in providing expertise, insight and vision for all aspects of program development, implementation and support.
All you need to know on the Master HERE
The HEC Paris MBA curriculum combines academically-challenging courses with leadership development and experiential learning.
Among its core courses, the ETHICS and SUSTAINABILITY course considers the ethical responsibilities of managers and corporations.
Among its electives classes, an off-campus seminar in the monastery of Sereys (Haute Loire) proposes to reflect on ETHICS and PERFORMANCE. In this seminar, the participants become more conscious of the ethical stakes of their business practices and learn how to assess their responsibilities as managers. In the specific context of the monastery, they experiment a distant point of view to think and exchange about the signification of management practices and their impact.
Experiential learning is at the very heart of the MBA program. Fieldwork projects allow students to apply classroom-taught knowledge in a real world setting.
This specialization is aimed at executives and senior managers who want to become the next generation of socially aware business leaders in the rapidly changing and emerging world economy.
The demand and need for sustainable business models is stronger than ever, and you will learn to build and transform socially responsible businesses, whilst maintaining and growing profitability through new value chains.
Please find here more information on the Executive MBA.
This program concentrates on the key areas of leadership, general management and running a company, while at the same time paying close attention to the specific nature of the African continent.
The focus on the stakes and challenges of a continent in transition and key sustainable development issues such as managing resources, carbon footprint and social inclusion will enable participants to acquire a greater understanding of new high performing business models that are more sustainable and inclusive.
Please find more information on the dedicated website.
Innovation and entrepreneurship play a crucial role in creating value and ensuring the success and sustainability of companies throughout the world. This is why HEC Paris has designed this online degree program to meet the specific needs of current and future business leaders in charge of innovation or business development, as well as experienced or aspiring entrepreneurs.
"Social Entrepreneurship and Change-making" is among the 10 fundamental courses. Through this course, participants will gain a brief overview of different types of entrepreneurs who create value for society and focus primarily on action-based learning; work on their own entrepreneurial project, gaining hands-on experience in transforming an idea into a sustainable business model with measurable positive impact on society and the environment; pitch to “sell your idea” to a wider public; and be inspired, equipped, and convinced that you can take action to tackle the world’s most pressing problems in an entrepreneurial manner.
More information HERE.
The economic, social and societal impact of the crisis we are all living through has made it more crucial than ever before for companies to rethink their business model and their relationship with society and the environment.
Driving the transition to sustainable development and responsible management makes more than ever, real business sense. It enables organizations to think in terms of proactive risk management, drive innovation, reinvent their business models, and create new forms of competitive advantage. Everyone, at every level of the organization, has an important role to play.
The aim of the ‘Sustainable Transition Management’ (STM) program is, therefore, to develop mindful, responsible managers and leaders who can inspire and drive transformation and, help companies to strike the right balance between positive social and environmental impact, and economic performance, and even transform today’s environmental and social challenges into business opportunities.
It has been carefully crafted to offer the greatest flexibility to build a consistent and effective approach to the strategic and functional challenges in order to design and operate the sustainable transition.
We believe that the clock is ticking and innovation is required to affect real change. Firms, small and large, play a powerful role in this transformation process, and the winners of tomorrow’s economy will be those who develop “innovation with purpose”.
As part of the summer program which addresses societal challenges, students will discover how forward-looking firms can develop creative market based solutions to alleviate poverty, at times in partnership with civil society and public authorities. Students will be exposed to social enterprises with innovative business models, as well as established firms who have realized it is in their interest to develop inclusive business models.
Students will work in teams in coordination with leading corporate partners executives to formulate an inclusive business model that they present at the session close.
This MOOC is dedicated to social entrepreneurship, and is developed by professors of the S&O Center in partnership with the ‘Ticket for Change’ project, of which HEC Paris is a platinum partner.
The project aims to inspire and help aspiring entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in society. The MOOC is based on individual and collective action learning for each participant, through three different stages: inspiration, introspection, and implementation.
ACTION
The Action Tank Social & Business' goal is to help large corporations develop and scale-up projects with social impact and viable business models.