National Conference on

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

DIMENSIONS AND DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION

(Sponsored by University Grants Commission)

August 21-22, 2009

Organised by

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE(Affiliated to Mangalore University)

SHIRVA- 574116, UDUPI DISTICT Karnataka – Indiawww.smcshirva.com

August 21, 2009

Technical Session I: 11 AM – 1PMEmerging Models of Social Entrepreneurship: An Overview

Key Speaker: Prof Chowdari Prasad, Professor, T A Pai Management Institute, ManipalChairperson: Dr Jayaprakash, Director, AJ Institute of Management, Mangalore

Paper presentation by Scholars / Researchers

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===============================================================================Emerging Models of Social Entrepreneurship: An Overview

Key Speaker: Prof Chowdari Prasad, Professor T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal

Udupi Dist. Karnataka – 576104Email: chowdarip@tapmi.edu.in

“Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit changes as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned and practised. Entrepreneurs need to search purposefully for the sources of innovation, the changes and their symptoms that indicate opportunities for successful innovation. And they need to know and to apply the principles of successful innovation.” – Peter Drucker

Paradigm Shift: The combination of Entrepreneurship Education in Schools and Colleges, the hassle-free flow of Venture Capital and evolution of good market would give momentum for the National Growth – Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India on the eve of the Republic Day, January 26, 2004.

Introduction:

It is said that Entrepreneurs are born and not trained. In India, there have been a large number of entrepreneurs even during the British

Rule period who were motivated to enter into businesses which were traditional as well as into new products and services.

Technological innovations, Industrial Revolution, Modernisation, Economic/Financial/Land/Legal Reforms including enactment of

Trade Union Laws and Industrial Laws as also setting up of specialised financial institutions in consonance with the planned economic

development of the country afforded newer opportunities to these risk takers to take up host of economic activities. Over the last six

decades of independence, India witnessed many entrepreneurs, techno-preneurs and edu-preneurs taking up employment and income

generation activities. Interestingly, religious leaders like Matha Amritanandamayee, Satya Sai Baba, Maharshi Yogi and others have

also been catering to the highly needed University education in private sector while other IT-Czars like Narayana Murthy and Nandan

Nilekani of Infosys and Azim Premji of Wipro have been diversifying into certain social enterprises by setting up Leadership

Institutes and Educational Foundations for taking up adult literacy and child education. It is heartening to note that organisations like

Dhirubhai’s Reliance and Adani Group venturing into education in Gujarat, Vedanta’s Agrawal setting up a University in Orissa as

part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Dr TMA Pai being a Medical Doctor from a remote place like Udupi took up

revolutionizing the private enterprises in Medicine, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Education, Nursing, etc., over fifty years

back which venture now is an internationally known Private University in Manipal and is emulated by many others in India.

Who is an Entrepreneur?

An Entrepreneur is an innovator or developer who recognises and seizes opportunities; converts these opportunities into

workable / marketable ideas; adds value through time, effort, money, or skills; assumes the risks of the competitive

marketplace to implement these ideas; and realises the rewards from these efforts.

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National Knowledge Commission’s Report on Entrepreneurship in India released in August 2008 is a very important document which

captures the status in the country with detailed analysis on opportunities in each of the States based on various parameters.

Entrepreneurship Education

In recent times, Entrepreneurship Education is catching up in Indian Academia at Collegiate level. Almost all the Universities, IITs,

NITs, IIMs and other special institutions like Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad have been offering

specialised courses on entrepreneurship to motivate the young budding professionals and managers to be on their own as job creators

instead of job seekers by turning to be entrepreneurs. Some of these institutes are also organising Business Plan Contests every year

and invite reputed Venture Capitalists and Private Equity players to selecting the prospects. They are also maintaining Incubation

Centres to impart necessary training and guidance to the start-ups.

Leading Management Institutes like Amrita Institute of Management-Ettumadai (TN), Great Lakes Institute of Management-Chennai,

Indian School of Business (ISB)-Hyderabad, Management Development Institute (MDI)-Gurgaon, SP Jain Institute of Management &

Research-Mumbai, T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI)-Manipal, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME)-

Bangalore, etc., have also been focussing on imparting of entrepreneurship education as part of their management programs. Other

organisations like The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Venture Capitalists Association of India

(VCAI), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and other Banks and Financial Institutions are also campaigning about

their various financing schemes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency (SMERA)

has been created four years back in 2005 to offer rating services to the small business units to strengthen their ability to raise credit

from organised sources. The following diagram gives a very good action-oriented model for Entrepreneurship Education:

Source: ISB, Hyderabad

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If educational institutions engaged in entrepreneurship program adopt the suggested steps, India can be proud to produce highly

qualified, talented, committed and dedicated entrepreneurs from out of whom, we may also see good number of Social Entrepreneurs.

Millennium Development Goals announced by the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2003 lead the world to look at Financial

Exclusion and Inclusion issues in developed and developing countries. Several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Self-Help

Groups (SHGs), Voluntary Organisations, Business Consultants and Business Facilitators have sprung up in recent years to

supplement the efforts being made by the formal banking system towards rural finance and development. Inclusive Growth is

accorded high importance in recent years in order to extend offering of affordable financial services to people at the grass root level.

Vijay Mahajan of BASIX, and Vikram Akula of SKS Finance – both belonging to Andhra Pradesh are role models in this line.

Ashoka Foundation is yet another example of Indian Social Entrepreneurs rendering yeoman services in Africa for poverty alleviation.

In the year 2008, Dr Nachiket Mor, Executive Director of ICICI Bank gave up his position and illustrious career in the bank to take up

micro finance work through IFMR, Chennai. Mr Amit Chugh, an MBA from TAPMI (1991-93) switched from his lucrative career and

founded Cosmos Ignite to take energy to rural India. We can list out many more such names and examples of Social Entrepreneurs.

Social Entrepreneurship:

• Social Entrepreneurship is an emerging field that offers opportunity to young professionals to create societal / economic

value on a sustainable basis.

• According to some reports, globally this is the fastest growing sector and perhaps the only sector that is creating gainful

employment worldwide.

• Social Entrepreneurship is the process of recognizing and resourcefully pursuing opportunities to create social value and

craft innovative approaches to addressing critical social needs.

• By “Social Entrepreneurs,” we mean leaders of social-purpose organizations that demonstrate the following behaviors and

values:

– Focus on impact

– Primacy of mission

– Private initiative

– Willingness to blur sector boundaries

– Opportunity orientation and

– Innovation and resourcefulness.

Social Entrepreneurship Education abroad:

A quick search at the list of leading Business Schools abroad offering courses and programs at graduate level and above reveals the

following names.

• Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship (Oxford Said Business School)

• Center for Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (Faqua Business School, Duke University)

• Catherine B Reynold Program for Social Entrepreneurship (New York University)

• Entrepreneurship in Social Sector Program (Harvard Business School)

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• Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs (University of Geneva) and

Social Entrepreneurship Course Series (Stanford University)

The above diagram affords an idea as to the advantages of Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of Pyramid. Social Entrepreneurship is

concerned with concern for others by these individuals who create enterprises. They operate far above the ordinary mortals.

Social Entrepreneurship in some sectors:

We may list out a few sectors where Social Entrepreneurship is already set in and where potential exists:

• Education

• Energy

• Environment

• Rural / Community Development

• Rural Markets

• Healthcare

• Micro-Credit

• Rural Informatics

Some prominent examples of Social Entrepreneurship Ventures in India are:

1. Amul and Verghese Kurien in Anand

2. Basix and Vijay Mahajan, Hyderabad

3. Bhagavatula Charitable Trust, Vizag, AP founded by Dr Parameswara Rao

4. Child Relief (Rights) and You (CRY) founded by Rippan Kapur of Mumbai

5. Grameen Bank, Bangladesh and Dr Mohd Yunus

6. Foundation for International Community Association (FINCA) – Village Banking and Dr John Hatch in Bolivia

7. Food King of Sarath Babu, Chennai

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8. Lizzat Papad (SGMU), Mumbai

9. Polyhydron and Suresh Hundre, Belgaum

10. SEWA, Ahmedabad and Ms Ela Bhatt

If one goes through the above individuals, the enterprises created by them and their achievements through which their contribution to

the rural society in India at large, we can appreciate the need for more and more Social Entrepreneurs in our society.

Subroto Bagchee on Mother Teresa

Subroto Bagchee, the co-founder of Mind Tree Consulting in Bangalore belongs to one of the backward states in India – Orissa. He is

an Arts Graduate from Bhubaneswar and started his career as a Lower Division Clerk in a Government Department in Orissa. Having

been unable to cope with the work culture in his job, he shifted as a Management Trainee in Delhi Cloth Mills after about five years.

Even in Officer cadre in a leading private company in the capital city of New Delhi, he had mixed experiences in management career.

He then shifted to Sales profession in Wipro Ltd., and Lucent Technology in Bangalore and experienced different line while India was

undergoing economic reforms as also when Information Technology was gaining its importance. After reaching higher positions with

successful assignments, he co-founded a new company named Mind Tree Consulting during the end of last century while IT industry

was also facing tough times. He narrates all his encounters in his career and life in two of his books released recently ie., “The High

Performance Entrepreneur” and “Go Kiss The World”. The following are a few sentences from his second book wherein he terms

Mother Teresa as an Entrepreneur. We know that Mr Bagchee himself is a role model for the India’s youth as an outstanding person /

employer as also a Social Entrepreneur par excellence. Bagchee says in his book:

“I always like to think of Mother Teresa as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. She started with an angel investment of five

rupees in 1948 from the Archbishop of Calcutta. By the turn of the century, her Missionaries of Charity had 602 homes in 125

countries and her band of 4,000 sisters from as many as 40 different national origins marched to the same mission, vision and core

values. How did she build that institution? What was the impetus? Disease and death that crawled in the gutters of Calcutta and

nudged her sari each time she walked past? Was it the negative energy of her surroundings? Or was it the possibility of positive

outcomes? Or, spreading love, joy, seeing a dying destitute as an angel of peace? It wasn’t the former. She was to recall later that

she had, in fact, ‘received’ her call…”

Conclusion:

Mother Teresa can also be referred as one of the earliest Social Entrepreneurs in India. Like it is said in the beginning, Social

Entrepreneurs are also born and not trained or made. Name, Fame, Money, Greed or Power do not influence these individuals in their

actions. They operate above their selfish motives. They have no personal ambitions or ambitions. They are mostly unsung and

unheard heroes of our society. Many of them sacrifice their personal comforts and careers and work hard for social issues and welfare.

They are the change agents working for emancipation of the society. Individual stories of 50 Social Entrepreneurs in India covered in

a Special Issue of Outlook Business are at Annexure A. Now, a fair idea of the emerging models of social entrepreneurs can be had.

*********

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References:

1. Business & Management Chronicle, A Magazine for MBA Aspirants – Special issue on Entrepreneurship of July, 2009

2. How to Change the World – Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of Ideas by David Bornstein (2009)

3. Ingrid Srinath at CRY : Combining Values and Viability in a Social Venture by Philip Anderson Case Study of INSEAD

on Child Rights and You (CRY) published in DARE.CO.IN – monthly magazine Volume 2, Issue 10, July 2009

4. Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship by Prof Madhukar Shukla, XLRI, Jamshedpur (a Course being offered in MBA)

5. Occasional Paper – OP No. 05/14 dated June 2005 : Social Entrepreneurs directly contribute to Global Development

Goals by (1) Christian Seelos, Visiting Lecturer, Senior Researcher, IESE Business School, Universidad de Navarra, Avda,

Pearson, 21-08034 Barcelona, (IESE) – cseelos@iese.edu; (2) Kate Ganly, Research Assistant, IESE; and (3) Johanna Mair,

Professor of General Management, IESE.

6. Outlook Business for Decision Makers : Independence Special (23rd August – 05 September 2009) : Volume No.4 : Issue 18

featuring 50 Social Entrepreneurs of India and How They are Making India Better. (See Annexure A)

7. Searching for Social Entrepreneurs : Who they might be, Where they might be found, What they do by Paul C. Light,

Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University - Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meetings

of the Association for Research on Non-profit and Voluntary Associations, November 17-18, 2005.

8. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish – The inspiring stories of 25 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Graduates who chose

to tread a path of their own making by Rashmi Bansal (2008) published by Centre for Innovation Incubation and

Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad

9. Supporting Rural Entrepreneurship by Brian Dabson, President of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, an

independent national non-profit organisation that promotes asset-building and economic opportunity strategies, particularly in

low-income communities and distressed regions. For further information, see www.cfed.org.

10. (1) The High Performance Entrepreneur – Golden Rules for Success in Today’s World (2006) and (2) Go Kiss The

World – Life Lessons for the Young Professional (2008) by Subroto Bagchi, Co-Founder of Mind Tree Consulting,

Bangalore.

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ANNEXURE ‘A’

50 Social Entrepreneurs in India (Source: Outlook Business – Independence Special : Sept 05, 2009)

S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity

01 Ms Saloni Malhotra DesiCrew, Chennai Rural BPO

02 Ms Anita & Kalyan Paul Grassroots, Naini village Women empowerment

03 Prashant Lingam & Ms Aruna

Kappagantula

Bamboo House India Sustainable livelihood for Tribals in

Tripura

04 Ms Marie and Stan Thekaekara Just Change, Nilgiris, TN Fair Trading between buyers and sellers

05 Rajendra Joshi Saath, Ahmedabad Enriching Slums

06 Ms Gita Ram & Ms Neelam

Chibber

Industree Crafts, Bangalore Artisan Connection

07 Ms Umadevi Swaminathan Rudi Multi Trading,

Sabarkantha, Gujarat

Farm to Market

08 Ms Prema Gopalan Sakhi Retail, Marathwada Women Retailers

09 Ms Ishita Khanna Ecosphere Spiti, Himachal

Pradesh

Greener Pastures

10 Adarsh Kumar Livelihoods Equity

Connect, Jodhpur/Jaipur

Profitable Unions

11 Arbind Singh Nidan, Patna The Deliverer

12 Kaushlendra Samriddhi, Bihar Farming Out Profit

13 Solomon JP LabourNet, Bangalore Worker Hotline

14 William Bissell Fabindia, Artisans United – Micro Finance

15 Varun Sahni & Anant kumar LifeSpring Hospitals,

Hyderabad

Affordable Births

16 Ms Kousalya Periasamy Positive Women Network HIV Positive Women in Tamil Nadu

17 Dr. Devi Shetty Narayan Hrudayala,

Bangalore

Heartcare Hero

18 Rajeev Kher Shramik Sanitation Mobile Toilets

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Systems, Pune

19 Santanu Bhattacharjee Technable Solutions, WB Skill Diviner

20 Nishant Saxena Elements Akademia,

Kanpur

Service Matters

S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity

21 Aditya Natraj Kaivalya Education

Foundation, Rajasthan

Grooming Government School Principals

22 Anand Kumar Ramanujan School of

Mathematics

Cracking IIT

23 Shriram Ayer Nalandaway, Chennai Helping disadvantaged children in life

24 Amitabha Sadangi International Development

Enterprise, Delhi

Water Wealth

25 Manish Khera

Financial Information

Network & Operations,

Dharavi, Mumbai

Doorstep Banking

26 Vijay Aditya Ekgaon Technologies, Cash & Camera

27 Anurag Gupta A Little World, Mumbai Walking Cashier

28 Sulax Shah Shree Kamadhenu

Electronics, Gujarat

Milk Manager

29 Vivek Gupta Saran Renewable Energy,

Patna, Bihar

Rural Power

30 Ned Tozun & Sam Goldman D.Light Design, Orissa Lighting Lives

31 Harish Hande Selco, Bangalore Sun hai na

32 Ms Shobha and Rajnikant Arole

Comprehensive Rural

Health Project or Jamkhed

Project, Kusadgaon, MH

Basic Health care to Rural poor

33 Ashok Khosla Development Alternatives,

Delhi

Eradicate poverty and rebuild the health of

the environment

34 Ms Ela Bhatt SEWA, Ahmedabad To co-opt women into war on poverty

35 Javed Abidi

National Centre for

Promotion of Employment

for the Disabled People

Making society more sensitive to the

physically challenged

36 Bunker Roy Barefoot College, Tilonia,

Ajmer District, Rajasthan

Empower Communities to solve their own

problems. Focus on women needs.

37 Jockin Arputham National Slum Dwellers

Federation, Sewri, Mumbai

Empowering Slum Communities and

integrating slums into city development

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38 George Abraham Score Foundation,

Safdarjung, South Delhi

Improving the standard of living of

visually impaired people

39 Dr G Venkataswamy Aravind Eye Hospital,

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Affordable eye care for all. About 40% of

patients get free treatment.

S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity

40 C V Madhukar PRS Legislative Research,

Bangalore

Provides research on Bills to 790MPs

41 Samir Mehra Suminter India Organics,

Surendranagar, Gujarat

Organic Router to support farmers

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Gijs Spoor,

Edapalil Mathai Koshy and

Satish Chukkapalli

Zameen Organic,

Hyderabad

Cotton Spoor – provides organic cotton

farmers with sustainable agricultural

livelihood.

43 Rangaswamy Elango

Former Panchayat

President, Kuthambakkam,

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Super Sarpanch – Set up 300 model

villages by 2011, along the lines of

Kuthambakkam in TN

44 Anshu Gupta Goonj, Khooni Darwaza,

near Delhi Gate, New Delhi

Kapda Aur Dignity – Collecting clothes

and other items for needy rural folk.

45 Inir Pinheiro

Grassroots, Purushwadi

Village, off Mumbai

Pinheiro Travels – to promote rural tourism

by developing villages as tourist

destinations

46 Milind Ranade Kachra Vahtuk Shramik

Sangh, Mumbai

The Trade Unionist – to organise dalit

labourers, especially conservancy workers

47 Ravi Agarwal

Toxic Link, Okhla Industrial

Area, South Delhi

Detoxifying Agent – to spread awareness

on the hazards of improper disposal of

toxic waste.

48 B L Soni Ecoreco, Mumbai

Recycling Evangelist – Disposing of part

of the 400,00 tonnes e-waste churned out

in a year.

49 Ashok Rathod Oscar, Mumbai

Beyond the Slums – Helps slum kids

realise their potential and drive change in

society.

50 Gopinath Parayil Blue Yonder, Kerala Watering the River – To focus on local

community development through tourism

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