Aspen Institute has published its latest Closer Look at Business Education report, this time focused on Social Entrepreneurship / Social Enterprise. The report features excerpts from an interview with Duke’s Greg Dees, often viewed as the father of the academic discipline.  Download the report: http://www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org/pdf/sereportlist.pdf  

The rate at which SE content is increasingly included in MBA curricula has been staggering, given the normal pace of change in academia.  In this report, the authors identify some of the most interesting courses, case studies, and campus academic centers.  Some tough questions remain, however, including the intellectual cohesion of the SE concept, its relevance to MBA education, and its ability to tackle the world’s toughest issues.

In addition to the report, EABIS member, IESE, also provides a SE course and does leading edge research on SE and the Bottom of the Pyramid, led by Johanna Mair. Relevant links:

• http://www.eabis.org/research/BoP/
• http://www.iese.edu/en/RCC/CBS/Eventosyactiv/SocialE/Socialentrepreneurship.asp?ComponentID=9081&SourcePageID=8241#1
• http://insight.iese.edu/doc.asp?id=00573&ar=6
• http://www.iese.edu/en/RCC/CBS/Investigacion/EmpresaSostenible/Indice.asp#9107

Following the open call earlier this year (July 2006), the participants to be involved in the EABIS Knowledge & Learning Network on SMEs and CSR have now been selected:

• Mette Andersen (The Copenhagen Centre, Denmark)
• Boleslaw Rok (Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management, Poland)
• Jonas Eder-Hansen (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
• Ted Fuller (Teesside Business School, UK)
• Jan Lepoutre (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Celine Louche (Vlerick Leuven Business School, Belgium)
• Gary Lynch-Wood & David Williamson (University of Manchester, UK)
• Mario Molteni (Universita Cattolica di Milano, Italy)
• Geoff Moore (Durham Business School, UK)
• David Murillo (ESADE Business School, Spain)
• Francesco Perrini (Bocconi University, Italy)
• Juliet Roper (Waikato Management School, New Zealand)
• Laura Spence (Brunel University, UK)
• David Grayson (BITC, UK)

The Network will meet in Copenhagen on 27th of October 2006, hosted by Copenhagen Business School. The purpose of the meeting is to clarify priority areas of research and consider possible funding sources to enable a pan-European research project, or projects, to get under way.

This meeting follows a conference on 26^th October entitled “The Social Responsibility of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Integration of CSR into SME Business Practice” also being hosted by Copenhagen Business School.

For further details of the EABIS Knowledge & Learning Network on SMES and CSR please contact Geoff Moore (geoff.moore@durham.ac.uk) or Bart Neerscholten (bart.neerscholten@eabis.org)