Business
Society and Business Lab Looks Ahead
- Adlai Wertman, founding director of USC Marshall's Society and Business Lab
By Jeremy Deutchman on October 14, 2009 8:42 AM
One year after taking a step in shaping the global business landscape, the Society and Business Lab - a USC Marshall effort to encourage the use of business models to address challenges around the world - has established a foothold in the social enterprise arena.
Funded with a $1 million commitment from the Salesforce.com Foundation and led by founding director Adlai Wertman, the Society and Business Lab set itself an ambitious goal in 2008: leveraging education, programming and research to create the next generation of enlightened business leaders.
“As global challenges continue to grow in scope and complexity, new business models must be applied to create sustainable solutions,” said Wertman, who is also professor of clinical management and organization at USC Marshall. “These models can exist as new entrepreneurial enterprises or within existing corporations looking to deepen their corporate social responsibility efforts.”
This fall, the lab welcomed its inaugural class of Society and Business fellows, a designation awarded to a small group of USC Marshall MBA students interested in pursuing careers in the social sector, the environment and health.
Fellows receive individual mentoring from the Society and Business Lab faculty and staff; targeted guidance and counseling to assist them in obtaining summer internships; professional development tailored to nontraditional business careers; and opportunities to meet with industry leaders.
The 11 students accepted into this year’s class also will benefit from a program that focuses both on honing their skills and building a vital community of like-minded peers, said Margaux Helvey MBA ’08, the Society and Business Lab’s associate director.
“The resources available to most business students aren’t always relevant to people who want to use their business skills but apply them to social and environmental problems,” Helvey said. “Not only are we here to help them, but we also provide an identified cohort from day one, which enables them to become sources of support and encouragement for each other.”
This past summer marked the lab’s first Nonprofit Summer Internship Subsidy Program, in partnership with the Career Resources Center, which helps USC Marshall MBA candidates gain hands-on experience by providing a stipend to support summer employment in the nonprofit sector.
This year, students occupied a variety of positions with a broad range of organizations, including the Fulfillment Fund, Chrysalis, Pacific Charter School Development, Green Dot, Families in Schools and New Ventures Mexico.
Another component of the Society and Business Lab’s strategy to redefine social enterprise is VentureBuild, an online learning program that allows social entrepreneurs to test the feasibility of their ideas. With seed funding from the Orfalea Foundations, VentureBuild has a target launch date set for 2010.
The lab’s emphasis on making a difference around the world makes it the ideal home for Global Business Brigades, an organization that offers undergraduates a chance to participate in international service learning.
This January, lab staff members will accompany students on a one-week trip to Panama, where they will work with a local micro-enterprise to improve the success and sustainability of the business.
Closer to home, this fall the lab will host a Lunch and Learn series open to USC Marshall students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the greater USC community. The 2009-10 series will take place monthly and feature influential leaders in the social enterprise arena.
TAGS: globalization
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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