MBA CONCENTRATION
Social Impact Management
A GROWING NUMBER OF CORPORATIONS ARE SEEKING to improve their social and environmental impact, while meeting their economic bottom line. The Social Impact Management concentration will prepare you to identify opportunities for improving social impact and to lead successful social impact initiatives.
Many of the tools needed for effective Social Impact Management can be found in the core MBA curriculum. In Economics, you will explore how markets work and where they tend to fail. In Social Policy Frameworks, you will explore the roles of the for-profit, non-profit and public sectors and the potential for collaboration between them. You will learn to lead change in Leadership and Organizational Behavior, to mobilize employees and develop their capabilities in Human Resource Management, to develop strategic plans for social impact in Strategic Management, to evaluate financial outcomes in Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting, and to evaluate social outcomes in Evaluation for Managers. In Social Justice, Management and Policy, you will explore different meanings of social justice across individuals, across societies and over time.
Beyond the core MBA curriculum, you will explore new forms of corporate social responsibility in Corporations and Communities and will learn to launch new programs and enterprises in Social Entrepreneurship. To build additional expertise and tools for effective social impact management, you can choose from a wide array of elective courses offered at the Heller School and the International Business School at Brandeis, from Fundraising and Development to Environmental Impact Assessment to Operational Risk Management.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students in the Social Impact Management concentration take the full spectrum of MBA core courses (52 credits) and can choose from all available management and policy electives (4 credits). In addition, students take the following specialized courses (6 credits):
- BUS 277f, Managing the Triple Bottom Line
(2 credits) - HS 228a, Social Entrepreneurship (4 credits)
Students also must select additional courses from the following list in consultation with a faculty advisor (6 credits):
- HS 225a, Fundraising and Development
(4 credits) - HS 256f, Community Building for Managers
(2 credits) - HS 264f, Principles of Ecology for Development Planners (2 credits)
- HS 272f, Creating Microfinance Institutions and Partnerships (2 credits)
- HS 282f, Environmental Impact Assessment
(2 credits) - HS 283f, Gender and Development (2 credits)
- HS 285f, Rights-Based Approach to Development (2 credits)
- HS 319a, Work and Individual and Social Development (4 credits)
- HS 422f, Cost-Effectiveness (2 credits)
- HS 534b, Assets and Social Policy (4 credits)
- BUS 231a, Entrepreneurial Finance and Business Plans) (4 credits)
- BUS 264f, Business and the Environment (2 credits)
- BUS 273f, Supply Chain Management (2 credits)
- BUS 275f, Transnational Negotiations (2 credits)
- BUS 276a, Business Dynamics (4 credits)
- BUS 278f, Corporate Governance (2 credits)
- BUS 280f, Operational Risk Management
(2 credits) - MG 799, Business Sustainability
The Social Impact Management concentration also requires successful completion of a Team Consulting Project (TCP) in which students consult with an organization on the assessment and improvement of its social and/or environmental impact.