In the Social Entrepreneurship Simulation: Community Impact, students set up and manage a social enterprise, with the purpose of generating positive impact for the community while remaining financially sustainable.
Students experience that maximizing social impact while maintaining financial sustainability is possible, but challenging. Along the way, there are real dilemmas and trade-offs that must be addressed. Staying true to the organizational mission and values, and implementing solid management practices, will increase the chances of success.
There are two scenarios available: Local and National. In the Local Scenario, students set up and manage one center in their own community. In the National Scenario, they scale the organization across the country through social franchising.
In both scenarios, students select a societal challenge to address and the associated business idea that will help them to generate positive impact. Next, they work on a mission statement and business plan, which are presented to impact investors to obtain funding.
Next, students operate their business for four periods. Each period, they make decisions on staffing and pricing, select projects and allocate responsibilities to team members. They are also presented with strategic opportunities that present moral dilemmas for social entrepreneurs, balancing revenue generation with social impact.
After each period of decision-making, results are shown in the Dashboard. Results include the social enterprise’s societal impact, direct impact, number of volunteers, social media followers and financial results. A Composite Score is based on the combined results of societal and direct impact, with the weights for these two components set by the facilitator.
With the Community Impact simulation, students learn to:
Manage the challenges and rewards of setting up and operating a social enterprise that is designed to generate positive impact in the communities in which it operates.
Understand the value of planning, as well as the need to adjust plans in the face of changing circumstances.
Clarify their personal values, define an organizational mission, and make strategic and operational decisions that are aligned with their values and mission.
Understand the dilemmas and trade-offs that may exist between generating societal impact and financial results.
Make strategic and operational decisions, including responses to ethical dilemmas, that maximize organizational impact.
Scale a social enterprise through franchising in a way that maximizes impact across communities.
"The simulation was very engaging and well received by the students. They interacted effectively with one another, participated in meaningful discussions, and worked collaboratively throughout the activity. It was a valuable learning experience."
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