Stanford Social Innovation Review Podcast

Les Fusions et acquisitions se justifient-elles dans l’economie sociale ou sont elles le privilege de l’economie capitaliste? Cet atelier est consacré aux rapprochements entre organisations à mission sociale et étudie differents cas de figure rencontrés dans ce domaine mettant en évidence le potentiel de la pratique des fusions et acquisitions dans l’economie sociale, son contexte, ses enjeux, et ses perspectives. Nicolas Mottis, Professeur a l’ESSEC, fournit une analyse comparative des fusions et acquisitions dans les contextes lucratif et non lucratif. Venus de differents secteurs de l’economie sociale, trois panelistes partagent leur experience en la matiere: Jean-Marc Borello parle en tant que fondateur du groupe SOS. Philippe Calmette est le Directeur Général de FEGAPEI, la fédération nationale des associations gestionnaires au service des personnes handicapees. Dominique Giry offre sa perspective depuis sa position de directeur général du groupe Résideo, un groupe immobilier à vocation sociale qui trava

Microsoft founder Bill Gates transformed the world through his role in personal computing; now, he is transforming philanthropy, contributing to the betterment of those who live in poverty worldwide. In this audio lecture, Gates challenges Stanford MBA students to take on the world’s difficult problems as a focus of their career or life mission. He tells a bit about his own story, overviews the problems that face us globally, and suggests paths people can take to contribute to solutions. Gates spoke at the 2010 Stanford University commencement ceremony. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/bill_gates_education_for_the_real_world

The Disaster Management Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is helping incident responders learn to use social media. In this one-on-one interview conducted at Stanford University, host Karl Matzke and Jeannie Stamberger discuss how to write retweetable messages, how to separate legitimate helpers from posers and how to use social media to prevent loss of life. In one example, the World Bank used teens with cell phones to create GPS-linked maps identifying structures vulnerable to collapse in earthquake-prone areas. In another, during a recent evacuation drill at Stanford University, Stamberger reported that tweets provided useful information that would have taken exhaustive testing to uncover. In the immediate aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, the Google people-finder application helped connect lost quake victims to the friends and relatives who were looking for them. In another case, Ushahidi encouraged the use of Twitter hashtags #haiti or #haitiquake to report security threats, health emergencies and

Start-Up Chile is a program funded by the Chilean government that aims to attract early-stage global entrepreneurs. In this audio interview Stanford Social Innovation correspondent Ashkon Jafari talks with Nicolas Shea, the innovation and entrepreneurship advisor to the Chilean minister of economy, about how the program offers $40,000 grants and one-year visas to entrepreneurs who agree to live and work on a new high-tech venture for six months in Santiago. Nicolas discusses how the program began, its goals and vision, and some of the enterprises currently being seeded. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/nicolas_shea_international_development_and_entrepreneurship

The power of social norms has been used to promote energy conservation and other prosocial outcomes.  From studies involving the reuse of hotel towels, energy consumption in towns, and the reduction of theft at national forests, UCLA Anderson School of Management Professor Noah Goldstein demonstrates that individuals are greatly influenced when they know how peers behave in the same situation. This presents an opportunity for marketers, managers and policymakers to craft messages that encourage positive activity. Goldstein spoke at Small Steps, Great Leaps, a special research briefing convened by Professor Francis Flynn and Jennifer Aaker and their colleagues in the field of prosocial behavior.  They presented practical, and cost-effective solutions for encouraging donations, volunteerism, social activism, and other responsible, caring, and prosocial behaviors. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/noah_j._goldstein_the_role_of_social_norms_in_energy_and_water_conservation

Philanthropy and fundraising sometimes involve making that all-important call to a potential donor. It can be a thankless, depressing job. In this university podcast, Wharton associate professor Adam Grant shares research about the effectiveness of paid and volunteer call centers. Noting what executives and nonprofit leaders think are the most effective interventions to motivate fundraisers—and why those are dead wrong –- he discusses what can be done to help money-soliciting callers become more enthused and successful. The talk should be of interest both to managers who supervise callers and to fundraisers themselves. Grant spoke at Small Steps Big Leaps: The Science of Getting People to Do the Right Thing, an event sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Adam Grant is an associate professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on work motivation, job design, prosocial helping and giving behaviors, meaningful work, in

It is not news that nonprofit organizations with robust infrastructure — including sturdy information technology and financial systems, skills training, fundraising processes, and other essential overhead — are more likely to succeed than those without. Yet most nonprofits do not spend enough money on capacity building and systems. Ann Goggins Gregory and Don Howard of the nonprofit management consultancy The Bridgespan Group, look at the reasons so many nonprofits find themselves in a perpetual starvation cycle. The two consultants reveal what nonprofits and funders can do to break out of the cycle, so that overhead problems do not thwart organizations from achieving success in the pursuit of their missions and goals. They spoke at the Nonprofit Management Institute convened by the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Ann Goggins Gregory is the director of knowledge management at The Bridgespan Group and a former consultant in Bridgespan’s strategy area. In her consulting work, her clients included education

In 2010 Katherine Fulton, President of the Monitor Institute, took a three-month break from her long and impressive career strategizing for nonprofit and entrepreneurial organizations. The time off renewed her and gave her insights into the challenges nonprofit professionals face in an increasingly fast-paced, demanding world. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fulton advises those who labor in what she calls “communities of hope” to slow down in order to find the courage to reflect on the many uncertainties ahead. Her five recommendations, one of which is to love the challenges themselves, are practical, highly philosophical, and very personal. Katherine Fulton is a partner of the Monitor Group and President of the Monitor Institute, which is dedicated to helping innovative leaders achieve sustainable solutions to social and environmental problems. She has spent three decades catalyzing social change as a leader, strategist, teacher, editor, writer, speaker, and adviso

Annually, more than a trillion dollars are spent on millions of American nonprofit and government institutions. And 15 nonprofits are started each day. But there is still not significant progress on social issues in the United States. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Andrew Wolk, CEO of Root Cause, argues that the time has come for a social impact market—one that fosters innovation and collaboration across the governmental, business, and nonprofit sectors to maximize scarce resources and spread solutions. Wolk believes this cross-sector approach presents our best chance to solve long-term educational, healthcare, environmental, and other problems. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/the_emerging_social_impact_market

BigTent arose out of a need to find a white-label platform to support volunteer-based group leaders without a lot of operations money. Groups such as PTAs, alumni groups, and new-mother groups need to be able to maintain membership lists and have a means of disseminating important information, organizing volunteers for events, and other activities. In this interview conducted by Sheela Sethuraman, Laney Whitcanack talks about how BigTent offers online aid for the self-perpetuation of these inherently intimate groups, which typically have both online and offline member connections. It’s quality in relationships, not quantity, that Whitcanack emphasizes. Advertising sponsors recognize the worth of volunteer leaders and “household CEOs,” as Whitcanack dubs the typical involved moms, who make decisions for families and influence their communities. Laney Whitcanack focuses on online and offline innovations that connect people with communities they care about. Taking notice of the scarcity of good and cheap technol

Small business is about doing what needs to be done for the customer in front of the counter. It’s the model of innovation, efficiency, and customer service. So when Intuit, which serves small businesses with its tax and accounting software, and eBay, arguably the largest small business incubator in the world, wanted to talk to small businesses about green initiatives, they had a lot to say. Now both Intuit and eBay have sites for the small businesses they serve to ‘talk green.’ They’ve picked up a lot of insight. In September, eBay launched the reuseable eBay box. The green revolution comes from the far ends of individual thinking, lab science, and it can lead to legislation that sometimes vindicates and sometimes blindsides small businesses. Some small businesses already have solutions. Everyone could use a little more information-sharing. The information is difficult to aggregate, but it’s out there. Amy Skoczlas Cole, of eBay says in 2007 the eBay Green Team assembled forty-strong, grew to 24,000 employee

In the developing world, healthcare is often a scarce commodity. That’s why innovative products such as those being produced by re:motion designs are so important. In this audio interview, Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Ashkon Jafari talks with CEO Joel Sadler about the company’s initial product, the JaipurKnee, an artificial knee joint costing less than $20 that is dramatically changing the lives of amputees in developing countries. He describes how he became invovled in the field of medical devices, how his engineers have approached design and prototyping, and how the company has secured funding and created partnerships. He also offers advice for the aspiring engineering or design student. Joel Sadler is the co-founder and CEO of re:motion designs. A former product designer at Apple, he is currently a fellow and lecturer at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. A Jamaican native, Sadler was inspired to work on low-cost medical devices after an MIT fellowship to

At the conference “Small Steps, Big Leaps: The Science of Getting People to do the Right Thing,” scientists present tactics for summoning better behavior. They brief attendees at the Center for Social Innovation on data that shows that “gentle nudges, subtle tweaks, and quiet prompts ” are more effective tactics for encouraging social responsibility. Appealing to the better angels of our nature sounds good in theory, but in this audio lecture, Stanford professor Francis Flynn offers practical solutions to problems such as how to ask people for help, how to motivate people to ask for help, and what to do after people have refused to help. He sheds light on what it means to take the perspective of the person asking for help versus the perspective of the person being asked. His counter-intuitive results spark interesting questions from the audience, many of whom are in nonprofits dependent on volunteer recruitment and fund-raising to achieve their goals. Francis Flynn says he chose an academic career, in part, b

Identity-related purchasing decisions are illuminated by Leif Nelson who shows how cause-related marketing intersects with pay-what-you-want pricing. Nelson contends greater revenue and increased goodwill for corporate sponsors can be directly related. These field experiments at major theme parks manipulated various aspects of the purchasing experience for souvenir action photos. Nelson shares his research group’s results and methodology. Finally, he defines a new concept of “shared social responsibility.” Leif Nelson and his co-authors, Ayelet Gneezy and Uri Gneezy, published “Shared Social Responsibility: A Field Experiment in Pay-What-You-Want Pricing and Charitable Giving” in Science magazine. They found that while fewer people purchase pay-what-you-want items linked to charitable donations, the price per item rose more than enough to compensate for the slight loss in volume. Total corporate revenue was greater when charitable donations were involved. Purchasers consistently reported feeling more positive

How can you boost credibility to nonprofits, who may appear to be warm, but needy?  Or how do you promote warmth and admirability to for-profits, who may appear to be competent, but greedy?  Marketing professor Jennifer Aaker shows how stereotypes can be reframed to influence consumer behavior - nonprofits see greater fundraising success when they highlight the effectiveness of their work rather than their need, while for-profits aligned to a social mission convey a greater sense of social consciousness than their competitors. Aaker spoke at Small Steps, Big Leaps, a special research briefing she convened with Professors Francis Flynn and their colleagues in the field of prosocial behavior. They presented practical, and cost-effective solutions for encouraging donations, volunteerism, social activism, and other responsible, caring prosocial behaviors. Jennifer Aaker, social psychologist and marketer, is the General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Her resea

Money doesn’t make you happy, but giving it away does. This is the theme of an audio lecture given by Harvard Business School Professor Mike Norton at the Stanford Center on Social Innovation’s conference, Small Steps, Big Leaps: The Science of Getting People to Do the Right Thing. Norton discusses his research on how much money a person must spend, and under what conditions, in order to experience an increase in happiness and well-being. He also focuses on practical applications of his knowledge, strategizing creative ways for companies to engage in philanthropy and to encourage their employees to donate money. Mike Norton is an associate professor of business administration in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. After earning a BA in Psychology and English from Williams College and a PhD in Psychology from Princeton University, he was a fellow at the MIT Media Lab and at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on consumer behavior, consumer psychology, decision-making, nonprofits,

With money on the mind, people work harder and longer before asking for help and are more reticent to help others.  This self-sufficiency orientation elicits less prosocial behavior, such as the willingness to volunteer or donate to causes. Marketing professor Kathleen Vohs’ research finds that money acts as a psychological resource that changes people’s motivations. In a series of lab experiments, primed subjects subtly exposed to the concept of money are more motivated by their own goals and are less socially focused.  Vohs spoke at Small Steps, Big Leaps, a special research briefing convened by Professors Francis Flynn and Jennifer Aaker and their colleagues in the field of prosocial behavior. They presented practical and cost-effective solutions for encouraging donations, volunteerism, social activism, and responsible, caring and other prosocial behaviors. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/kathleen_vohs_8212_money_makes_people_less_socially_focused

Dysfunctional water and sanitation infrastructure can be seen strewn all across the developing world. Wells, pumps, and toilets fall into disrepair and areas once pronounced “covered” are again confronted by problems resulting from a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation. This exacerbates the challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. In this audio interview, part of a Stanford Center for Social Innovation series on water, Water for People CEO Ned Breslin talks with Stanford MBA student Ashish Jhina about performance metrics, planning, and financing practices aimed at supporting a longer term vision for water and sanitation infrastructure. He stresses the importance of setting appropriate tariffs and of budgeting for inevitable operational and maintenance costs from the outset. He explains how new business models could catalyze local entrepreneurial involvement in sanitation thereby making efforts to improve sanitation coverage more successful and sustainable. Edwa

Retirement plans, green energy, organ donations — how can defaults help you save money, save the environment, and save lives?  What difference does it make if you have the choice to opt-out now or opt-in later?  Eric Johnson, Columbia Business School professor examines the powerful role that defaults hold in changing behavior and the way we construct our values.  He offers insight on how to design defaults to maximize impact and presents common pitfalls to avoid.  Johnson spoke at Small Steps, Big Leaps, a special research briefing convened by Professors Francis Flynn and Jennifer Aaker and their colleagues in the field of prosocial behavior. They presented practical, and cost-effective solutions for encouraging donations, volunteerism, social activism, and other responsible, caring, and prosocial behaviors. Eric J. Johnson is a marketing professor at Columbia University’s School of Business. His research interests are in consumer and managerial decision-making and electronic commerce. He is among the most wi

Asia’s water systems are struggling in the face of climate change and the increasing water demands of their growing economies. In such a scenario, a significant water availability gap seems imminent. In this audio interview, part of a Stanford Center for Social Innovation series on water around the world, the Asian Development Bank’s Arjun Thapan talks with Stanford MBA student Ashish Jhina about the need for countries to look at water as an economic good, in addition to being a public good. He explains how public private partnerships could help bring about increased operational efficiency and higher quality service, as well as more comprehensive coverage of the urban poor by water and sanitation systems. He points to numerous success stories in India, China and the Philippines as evidence of the viability of the PPP model and its success in more adequately meeting the demands of its customers. Arjun Thapan joined ADB in 1991 and since January 2010 is the Special Senior Advisor to the President of ADB for Inf