Yes, examples of b-school social enterprise and MBA students doing good are all the rage these days, but this video and the people in it, including one former UN official, are actually pretty impressive.
The video was IMD’s entry in a competition run by the Global Business School Network, which links business schools in developed and emerging countries. It was runner up to a group of Thunderbird students who helped Guatemalan Public and Private sectors build business capacity.
The first business on the video is Cloud 9, started by student Mahoto Harada. The company makes clothes and accessories in Mongolia, using nomadic craft techniques and western designs, to sell in Harada’s native Japan. Harada submitted his start-up as one of the projects for the entrepreneurship class at IMD.
The second business is a garment factory in South Africa, employing mostly black and female workers. Student Rosemary Meacham-Zittel was part of the IMD team that worked with the factory on a two-week program called the “Discovery Expedition” in 2010. The Expedition matches IMD students with start-up companies for consulting work.
Finally, Lars-Fredrick Forberg, IMD MBA 2010 is partnering with the founder of Kenya-based Kyoto Energy while on the IMD program. The company supplies equipment to make life easier for ordinary Kenyans, such as water bags, solar cookers, water heaters and flashlights that all run on renewable energy. The firm has also built a solar energy farm outside Nairobi.
Howie Chan, director of the film, firmly believes that “social enterprise” is more than just a bandwagon for MBA students to jump on till something better comes along. “This idea is definitely getting more attention for MBA students and rightfully so, as leaders that want to build sustainable businesses need to be social enterprises. Of course I think we can make a difference!”
“I believe that anyone can make a difference and be more socially responsible,” adds Chan, a Singaporean national who studied engineering in the US and was a Product Marketing Manager at medical device firm Medtronic before business school. “MBAs are taught to tackle business challenges, so I would assume that we can at least make the same difference [as anyone else].”
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