Christian Seelos, and Johanna Mair, “Innovation is not the Holy Grail,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2012; a cautionary note about means and ends Grace Davie, “Social Entrepreneurship: The Call for Collective Action,” Organization Development Perspective, 2011; a strong article about the need for collaboration Frank R. Baumgartner, “Some Thoughts on Reform Miracles,” paper presented at the Reform Miracles International Seminar, May 27-28, 2005; a short introduction to the role of friction in driving major policy breakthroughs; stick to the general question of whether reform miracles exist, and how you will create friction through you work in this course WEEK 2 (JANUARY 29): ENTREPRENEURSHIP/INNOVATION IN ACTION READINGS Atul Gawande, “The Heroism of Incremental Care,” New Yorker, January 23, 2017; a great writer on an important subject; perfect fit with Seelos and Mair Robert B. Reich, “Entrepreneurship Reconsidered: The Team as Hero,” Harvard Business Review, May 1987; an early challenge to the heroic leader Lee Fleming, “Breakthroughs and the ‘Long Tail’ of Innovation,” MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2007; one of my all-time favorites on the success rates of teams versus “lone wolves” Pino G. Audia, and Christopher I. Rider, “A Garage and an Idea: What More Does an Entrepreneur Need?” California Management Review, fall 2005; getting older, but still an accessible piece about the of entrepreneurship accessible Nicholas Kristof, “Why 2017 Was the Best Year in History,” New York Times, January 6, 2018; a quick op-ed on recent trends in social and economic change; once you have finished the piece, go to Our World in Data (https://ourworldindata.org) and read a bit on the solutions that are leading the world forward SOCIAL EXPLORING THREE AND FOUR)
available in hardcopy on NYUClasses, but also frequently updated online at broad summary of topics related to gender; follow the online links to see specific studies as you wish Johanna Ray Vollhardt, “Altruism Born of Suffering and Prosocial Behavior Following Adverse Life Events: A Review and Conceptualization,” Social Justice Research, February 2009; a challenge to traditional images of prosocial behavior as a response to positive life experiences; does suffering increase the motivation to help others? ASSIGNMENT 1 Go to the NYUClasses “Assignments/Attributes” folder and pick one attribute that you believe is of concern for social entrepreneurship and innovation. Read at least two of the credible, research-based articles in the folder about how the attribute might contribute to social entrepreneurship and innovation. Tell me why you selected the attribute and what you learned. WEEK 4 (FEBRUARY 12): SOCIAL MAPPING READINGS Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking, September 7, 2017; Executive Summary and Chapter 1; a history of evidence-based policy and a set of recommendations for reform Wagner’s dean is a member of the bipartisan group W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Logic Model Development Guide, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2004; Introduction and Chapters One, Two, and Three; still the most useful summary I have seen; simple is better here; become familiar with the basic terms READ TWO OF THESE SHORT ARTICLES: Geoff Mulgan, “Measuring Social Value,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2010; an inventory of options for estimating social impact with a useful inventory of options Lisbeth Schorr, “Broader Evidence for Bigger Impact,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2012; short article on the use of randomized control trials as the gold standard of evaluation
Lee Fleming, and Olav Sorenson, “Financing by and for the Masses,” California Management Review, January 1, 2016; very short introduction to everything you wanted to know as the crowdfunding industry matures Ryan Carey, ed., The Effective Altruism Handbook, Centre for Effective Altruism, 2015; Introduction, Chapters 1-5, 13-17; I am not entirely sure where this movement is going, but it has taken hold with a furry that suggests a shift in the philosophy of giving; 30 pages of easy reading in total Kim Jonker, “In the Black with BRAC,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2009; a case study of BRAC’s heavy dependence on social enterprise with a thoughtful analysis of when and how to structure a social business; BRAC now wants to secure all its revenues from social enterprise, but is the strategy sound, will it work, and what might be lost in the change? WEEK 7 (MARCH 19): CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY READINGS Gordon Clark, Andreas Feiner, Michael Viehs, From the Stockholder to the Shareholder, September 2014; the case for CSR from the corporate side of the debate; be careful about the conclusions, however—some of the assertions do not fit the evidence presented in the research Deborah Doane, “The Myth of CSR,” Stanford Social Innovation Review,” Fall 2005; very tough criticism of the “good company” as the answer to the world’s problems; short and to the point Herman Aguinis, and Ante Glavas, “Embedded Versus Peripheral Corporate Social Responsibility: Psychological Foundations,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology, November 2013, 314-319 only; my favorite piece on how to tell the difference between real and false CSR; browse it for key points Olivier Boiral, “Sustainability Reports as Simulacra? A of A and A+ GRI Reports,” Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Fall 2013; an analysis of the role of images in CSR reporting and the distortions of reality that follow from CSR as a form of marketing ASSIGNMENT 3
Mayer N. Zald, “Making Change: Why Does the Social Sector Need Social Movements,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2004; one of the very few articles I have found in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on politics and social pressure; a very good case study about creating friction C. Daniel Batson, Nadia Ahmad, and Jo-Ann Tsang, “Four Motives for Community Involvement,” Journal of Social Issues, 2002; motivation is the key to social impact, but there are at least four different motives in play ASSIGNMENT 4 Go to the Frameworks Institute website, on the “Research on Issues” tab on navigation bar, browse the research on framing an issue about which you care and explore the talking points research provided on the website (be prepared to switch topics if the research is dated or thin). Ask how you might design a research project to develop a frame for the solution you presented in your second memo. WEEK 12 (APRIL 23): SOCIAL RATIFICATION READINGS Harold A. McDougall, “Social Change Requires Civic Infrastructure,” Howard Law Journal, Winter, 2013; broad review of the rise and fall and rise again of civil society organizations; case studies of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street provide context for broader argument on the need for community reengagement READ THESE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital,” Journal of Democracy, January 1995; Putnam’s first piece on the decline in social capital that preoccupies us to this day Robert Putnam, “Bowling Together,” American Prospect, February 11, 2002; a much more hopeful assessment of the state of social capital in the wake of the September 11 attacks Thomas Sander and Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone? The Post-9/11 Split,” Journal of Democracy, January 2010; a final and disheartening assessment of the continued decline in social capital Lara Putnam, and Robert D. Putnam, “The Real Scandal the DNC Should Avoid,” Washington Post, November 10, 2017; the latest
assessment of how politics has undermined social capital; short, short, short READ BOTH FOR AN INTRODUCTION TO COLLECTIVE IMPACT John Kania, and Mark Kramer, “Collective Impact,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011; a broad call for collaboration and focus in pursuing ratification of social change Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, and Mark Kramer, “Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work, Stanford Social Innovation Review, January 2012; a summary of the core elements of successful collective impact; fast and to the point. SOCIAL DISRUPTION THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN) WEEK 13 (APRIL 30): SOCIAL SCALING READINGS Andrew B. Hargadon, and Yellowlees Douglas, “When Innovations Meet Institutions: Edison and the Design of the Electric Light,” Administrative Science Quarterly, September 2001; Edison’s strategy for diffusion of electric lighting here in NYC; very useful discussion of the transition from idea to industry James W. Dearing, “Social Marketing and the Diffusion of Innovations,” in D. W. Stewart, ed., The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing, 2015; easy, strong chapter on basic notion of how ideas spread Atul Gawande, “Slow Ideas: Some Ideas Spread Fast. How Do You Speed the Ones that Don’t?” New Yorker, July 29, 2013; a great article on why the use anesthesia spread quickly and antiseptics did not; this is a MUST read Taz Hussein, Matt Plummer, and Bill Breen, “How Field Catalysts Galvanize Social Change,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2018; accessible analysis of collaboration and networking as a form of scaling for greatest impact; easy and insightful analysis from Bridgespan Group ASSIGNMENT 5