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Duke MBA Students Consult with Social Entrepreneurs Across the Globe

May 26, 2010

By Sangeeta Ballal

I am absolutely sure we can change the world, if we want it seriously enough, and work for it
- Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank

To go and do…

Through an innovative curriculum and a growing global footprint, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business goes beyond traditional business school education and challenges MBA students to become "leaders of consequence"- global leaders who rethink the boundaries of their own worldview and effect positive change in the world.

One program that embodies this spirit of "leaders of consequence" is the Duke MBA Global Consulting Practicum (GCP).  The GCP is a unique program that matches teams of students with social enterprises in developing countries.  The teams consult with these organizations on issues of strategic importance and help them increase their social impact. The students take part in a course at Fuqua and also have a two week, in-country field visit to gather information and work closely with their social enterprises on the ground.

While many other universities have programs which allow students to travel and see a new locale, the GCP gives students the opportunity to "go and do" - immersing themselves in a culture, applying critical business skills to real world issues, and creating social value and.

Not Your Typical Study Abroad…

The GCP is a six credit course led by Duke's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE). CASE piloted the GCP in the 2007-2008 academic year with 22 MBA students conducting projects in Nicaragua (led by Matt Nash, CASE Managing Director) and South Africa (led by Paul Bloom, CASE Faculty Director).  According to Mr. Nash, the GCP was launched as a result of increasing demand from students for the opportunity to apply the skills they were learning in their classes to real-world situations.  "The GCP gives CASE the opportunity to test the theories and frameworks we develop in research, which ultimately presents a win-win situation for the students, clients, and CASE," commented Mr. Nash. 

The CASE staff recruits potential partner organizations ("clients") in selected countries.  These can be nonprofits or for-profits serving base of the pyramid markets and must propose a project of strategic importance to the growth of that social enterprise.

Once partner organizations are vetted and selected, students are given the opportunity to review potential projects and apply for the course.  The selection process is competitive and results in teams of four to six students who are matched with a socially entrepreneurial client. The selected students then spend six weeks attending class sessions at Duke exploring key issues in the fields of social entrepreneurship, learning consulting skills and conducting research in preparation for 12-days of in-country field work over Spring Break. 

The demand for the GCP is clear.  Over the past three years, the program has grown from 22 students on four teams working in South Africa and Nicaragua in 2007-2008 to 62 students working with eleven clients in Belize, India and South Africa this spring.

Making a Difference…

The GCP provides students with hands-on exposure to the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact in a developing economy and an opportunity to apply their business skills to real world problems.  Just as importantly, the GCP provides quality business consulting to social enterprises and small businesses across the globe. 

In the first three years of the GCP, Fuqua students have provided management expertise to a variety of organizations and helped impact positive social change in fields as diverse as education, health care and microfinance. For example, past GCP projects have included:

  • Business plan development for creating a sustainable, profitable street-vending business in Jaipur, India to help improve the lives of street vendors. 
  • Strategy development for a Nicaraguan alternative energy provider including recommendations for internal operational improvements, next step financing options and plan for expansion throughout Central America.  
  • A fundraising strategy for an educational NGO in Jaipur seen as a pioneer in the field of education for the urban deprived.
  • Best practice research and feasibility analysis for a non-profit microfinance institution looking to develop remittance-backed products and services for their consumers. 
  • A feasibility assessment for scaling a South African educational trust to enable youth with learning disabilities to become more resilient, skilled, and contributing members of society.

Developing the Next Generation of Global Leaders…

The GCP's impact on both the students and client organizations has been remarkable.  Rina Shah, a 2010 MBA Candidate in the Health Sector Management program, worked in South Africa with the Marang House, an organization that provides medical care in a non-institutional environment to seriously ill children.  She came from a healthcare consulting background but was drawn to the GCP for the international experience and the chance to have a social impact.  Rina and her GCP teammates were asked to research and develop a business model for Marang House that would make it more sustainable.  Ultimately, they presented three business model recommendations, one of which caught the interest of a prospective investor who offered funding pending Marang House's implementation of the team's recommendations.

The Executive Director of Marang House said, "The quality of the work and commitment of the team was outstanding. This, together with their skills, knowledge of the case and their eagerness to come up with realizable solutions made it an absolute pleasure to work with them. Marang House made a giant step forward in the process of transforming to a self-sustainable social enterprise and now has a road map that maps out and helps with the next steps to take."  Rina felt so strongly about her experience that she is currently serving as the Teaching Assistant for the course and has told students, "The GCP is unlike most other travel opportunities.  There is a special connection that is made with a place and its people when you do more than just sightsee, but rather put in time, effort, intellect, and heart in making life for this place and its people better."

Liliana Valle, a 2009 alumna, participated in the first GCP program, which has played a key part in developing her professional focus on social entrepreneurship.   During her GCP experience, she worked with a small and growing business in Nicaragua, Oscarito's, which employs low income women in the design and manufacture of children's clothing while implementing environmentally sustainable practices .  Liliana and her team developed a new market entry strategy for the company and identified opportunities to incorporate organic textiles.  Oscarito's implemented the group's recommendations, which resulted in increased interest in its products.  As part of the project, Liliana's team also worked closely with Agora Partnerships, a nonprofit dedicated to providing entrepreneurs in developing countries with the tools, networks, and financing necessary to launch socially responsible businesses.  Stemming from the connections she made on the trip, Liliana worked as an intern at Agora Partnerships the following summer and developed a "light capital" scaling strategy for the organization.  Today, in part as a result of her experiences with GCP, Liliana has launched her own socially minded business, Mistti (www.meetmistti.com), that focuses on selling Latino-inspired baked goods while increasing awareness about the Latino culture in the United States.

In March 2010, 62 first and second year MBAs traveled to Jaipur, India; Johannesburg, South Africa, and Dangriga, Belize to consult with eleven social enterprises.  The students tackled issues ranging from education to health care to economic development.  Paige Elisha, a first year MBA student who participated in the India GCP said, "Leaving India, I felt an incredible sense of clarity for my own life and was truly recharged by my GCP experience.  My time working with a microfinance organization was incredibly challenging but also made me hungry to make an impact on others. I was inspired by the nonprofit we worked with, by my fellow classmates and by the realization that we can all change the world with the skills we are learning at Fuqua."

Through the GCP, CASE and the Fuqua School of Business hope to engage more students in more areas of the world to "go and do," aiding social enterprises and building a network of leaders of consequence with the skills to change the world.


For more information, visit www.CASEatDuke.org or www.DukeMBAGCP.org or contact
 CASE Associate Director Erin Worsham (erin.worsham@duke.edu)