National Conference on

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
DIMENSIONS AND DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION

(Sponsored by University Grants Commission)

August 21-22, 2009

Organised by

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE

(Affiliated to Mangalore University)
SHIRVA- 574116, UDUPI DISTICT
Karnataka – India
www.smcshirva.com

August 21, 2009

Technical Session I: 11 AM – 1PM

Emerging Models of Social Entrepreneurship: An Overview
Key Speaker: Prof Chowdari Prasad, Professor, T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Chairperson: Dr Jayaprakash, Director, AJ Institute of Management, Mangalore
Paper presentation by Scholars / Researchers
===============================================================================

1
 Emerging Models of Social Entrepreneurship: An Overview

Key Speaker: Prof Chowdari Prasad, Professor

T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Udupi Dist. Karnataka – 576104
Email: chowdarip@tapmi.edu.in

“Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit changes as an opportunity
for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of
being learned and practised. Entrepreneurs need to search purposefully for the sources of innovation, the
changes and their symptoms that indicate opportunities for successful innovation. And they need to know
and to apply the principles of successful innovation.” – Peter Drucker

Paradigm Shift: The combination of Entrepreneurship Education in Schools and Colleges, the hassle-free
flow of Venture Capital and evolution of good market would give momentum for the National Growth
– Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India on the eve of the Republic Day, January 26, 2004.

Introduction:
It is said that Entrepreneurs are born and not trained. In India, there have been a large number of entrepreneurs even during the British
Rule period who were motivated to enter into businesses which were traditional as well as into new products and services.
Technological innovations, Industrial Revolution, Modernisation, Economic/Financial/Land/Legal Reforms including enactment of
Trade Union Laws and Industrial Laws as also setting up of specialised financial institutions in consonance with the planned economic
development of the country afforded newer opportunities to these risk takers to take up host of economic activities. Over the last six
decades of independence, India witnessed many entrepreneurs, techno-preneurs and edu-preneurs taking up employment and income
generation activities. Interestingly, religious leaders like Matha Amritanandamayee, Satya Sai Baba, Maharshi Yogi and others have
also been catering to the highly needed University education in private sector while other IT-Czars like Narayana Murthy and Nandan
Nilekani of Infosys and Azim Premji of Wipro have been diversifying into certain social enterprises by setting up Leadership Institutes
and Educational Foundations for taking up adult literacy and child education. It is heartening to note that organisations like
Dhirubhai’s Reliance and Adani Group venturing into education in Gujarat, Vedanta’s Agrawal setting up a University in Orissa as part
of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Dr TMA Pai being a Medical Doctor from a remote place like Udupi took up revolutionizing
the private enterprises in Medicine, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Education, Nursing, etc., over fifty years back which
venture now is an internationally known Private University in Manipal and is emulated by many others in India.

Who is an Entrepreneur?
An Entrepreneur is an innovator or developer who recognises and seizes opportunities; converts these opportunities into
workable / marketable ideas; adds value through time, effort, money, or skills; assumes the risks of the competitive
marketplace to implement these ideas; and realises the rewards from these efforts.

National Knowledge Commission’s Report on Entrepreneurship in India released in August 2008 is a very important document which

2
captures the status in the country with detailed analysis on opportunities in each of the States based on various parameters.
Entrepreneurship Education
In recent times, Entrepreneurship Education is catching up in Indian Academia at Collegiate level. Almost all the Universities, IITs,
NITs, IIMs and other special institutions like Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad have been offering
specialised courses on entrepreneurship to motivate the young budding professionals and managers to be on their own as job creators
instead of job seekers by turning to be entrepreneurs. Some of these institutes are also organising Business Plan Contests every year
and invite reputed Venture Capitalists and Private Equity players to selecting the prospects. They are also maintaining Incubation
Centres to impart necessary training and guidance to the start-ups.

Leading Management Institutes like Amrita Institute of Management-Ettumadai (TN), Great Lakes Institute of Management-Chennai,
Indian School of Business (ISB)-Hyderabad, Management Development Institute (MDI)-Gurgaon, SP Jain Institute of Management &
Research-Mumbai, T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI)-Manipal, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME)-
Bangalore, etc., have also been focussing on imparting of entrepreneurship education as part of their management programs. Other
organisations like The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Venture Capitalists Association of India
(VCAI), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and other Banks and Financial Institutions are also campaigning about
their various financing schemes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency (SMERA)
has been created four years back in 2005 to offer rating services to the small business units to strengthen their ability to raise credit
from organised sources. The following diagram gives a very good action-oriented model for Entrepreneurship Education:

Source: ISB, Hyderabad

If educational institutions engaged in entrepreneurship program adopt the suggested steps, India can be proud to produce highly
qualified, talented, committed and dedicated entrepreneurs from out of whom, we may also see good number of Social Entrepreneurs.

3
Millennium Development Goals announced by the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2003 lead the world to look at Financial
Exclusion and Inclusion issues in developed and developing countries. Several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Self-Help
Groups (SHGs), Voluntary Organisations, Business Consultants and Business Facilitators have sprung up in recent years to
supplement the efforts being made by the formal banking system towards rural finance and development. Inclusive Growth is
accorded high importance in recent years in order to extend offering of affordable financial services to people at the grass root level.
Vijay Mahajan of BASIX, and Vikram Akula of SKS Finance – both belonging to Andhra Pradesh are role models in this line. Ashoka
Foundation is yet another example of Indian Social Entrepreneurs rendering yeoman services in Africa for poverty alleviation. In the
year 2008, Dr Nachiket Mor, Executive Director of ICICI Bank gave up his position and illustrious career in the bank to take up micro
finance work through IFMR, Chennai. Mr Amit Chugh, an MBA from TAPMI (1991-93) switched from his lucrative career and
founded Cosmos Ignite to take energy to rural India. We can list out many more such names and examples of Social Entrepreneurs.

Social Entrepreneurship:
• Social Entrepreneurship is an emerging field that offers opportunity to young professionals to create societal / economic
value on a sustainable basis.
• According to some reports, globally this is the fastest growing sector and perhaps the only sector that is creating gainful
employment worldwide.
• Social Entrepreneurship is the process of recognizing and resourcefully pursuing opportunities to create social value and
craft innovative approaches to addressing critical social needs.
• By “Social Entrepreneurs,” we mean leaders of social-purpose organizations that demonstrate the following behaviors and
values:
– Focus on impact

– Primacy of mission

– Private initiative

– Willingness to blur sector boundaries

– Opportunity orientation and

– Innovation and resourcefulness.

Social Entrepreneurship Education abroad:

A quick search at the list of leading Business Schools abroad offering courses and programs at graduate level and above reveals the
following names.

• Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship (Oxford Said Business School)

• Center for Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (Faqua Business School, Duke University)

• Catherine B Reynold Program for Social Entrepreneurship (New York University)

• Entrepreneurship in Social Sector Program (Harvard Business School)

4
 • Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs (University of Geneva) and
Social Entrepreneurship Course Series (Stanford University)

TheMultiplier Effect of BOP Entrepreneurship

Creates rural
employment

Spawns multilayered Stimulates rural

economic development growth

Entrepreneurship
at BOP
Evolves regional
Improves local
role models for others
economic activity
to emulate

Enhances productivity
and efficiency at
local level

The above diagram affords an idea as to the advantages of Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of Pyramid. Social Entrepreneurship is
concerned with concern for others by these individuals who create enterprises. They operate far above the ordinary mortals.

Social Entrepreneurship in some sectors:

We may list out a few sectors where Social Entrepreneurship is already set in and where potential exists:
• Education
• Energy
• Environment
• Rural / Community Development
• Rural Markets
• Healthcare
• Micro-Credit
• Rural Informatics
Some prominent examples of Social Entrepreneurship Ventures in India are:
1. Amul and Verghese Kurien in Anand
2. Basix and Vijay Mahajan, Hyderabad
3. Bhagavatula Charitable Trust, Vizag, AP founded by Dr Parameswara Rao
4. Child Relief (Rights) and You (CRY) founded by Rippan Kapur of Mumbai
5. Grameen Bank, Bangladesh and Dr Mohd Yunus
6. Foundation for International Community Association (FINCA) – Village Banking and Dr John Hatch in Bolivia

5
 7. Food King of Sarath Babu, Chennai
8. Lizzat Papad (SGMU), Mumbai
9. Polyhydron and Suresh Hundre, Belgaum
10. SEWA, Ahmedabad and Ms Ela Bhatt
If one goes through the above individuals, the enterprises created by them and their achievements through which their contribution to
the rural society in India at large, we can appreciate the need for more and more Social Entrepreneurs in our society.

Subroto Bagchee on Mother Teresa

Subroto Bagchee, the co-founder of Mind Tree Consulting in Bangalore belongs to one of the backward states in India – Orissa. He is
an Arts Graduate from Bhubaneswar and started his career as a Lower Division Clerk in a Government Department in Orissa. Having
been unable to cope with the work culture in his job, he shifted as a Management Trainee in Delhi Cloth Mills after about five years.
Even in Officer cadre in a leading private company in the capital city of New Delhi, he had mixed experiences in management career.
He then shifted to Sales profession in Wipro Ltd., and Lucent Technology in Bangalore and experienced different line while India was
undergoing economic reforms as also when Information Technology was gaining its importance. After reaching higher positions with
successful assignments, he co-founded a new company named Mind Tree Consulting during the end of last century while IT industry
was also facing tough times. He narrates all his encounters in his career and life in two of his books released recently ie., “The High
Performance Entrepreneur” and “Go Kiss The World”. The following are a few sentences from his second book wherein he terms
Mother Teresa as an Entrepreneur. We know that Mr Bagchee himself is a role model for the India’s youth as an outstanding person /
employer as also a Social Entrepreneur par excellence. Bagchee says in his book:

“I always like to think of Mother Teresa as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. She started with an angel investment of five
rupees in 1948 from the Archbishop of Calcutta. By the turn of the century, her Missionaries of Charity had 602 homes in 125
countries and her band of 4,000 sisters from as many as 40 different national origins marched to the same mission, vision and core
values. How did she build that institution? What was the impetus? Disease and death that crawled in the gutters of Calcutta and
nudged her sari each time she walked past? Was it the negative energy of her surroundings? Or was it the possibility of positive
outcomes? Or, spreading love, joy, seeing a dying destitute as an angel of peace? It wasn’t the former. She was to recall later that
she had, in fact, ‘received’ her call…”

Conclusion:
Mother Teresa can also be referred as one of the earliest Social Entrepreneurs in India. Like it is said in the beginning, Social
Entrepreneurs are also born and not trained or made. Name, Fame, Money, Greed or Power do not influence these individuals in their
actions. They operate above their selfish motives. They have no personal ambitions or ambitions. They are mostly unsung and
unheard heroes of our society. Many of them sacrifice their personal comforts and careers and work hard for social issues and welfare.
They are the change agents working for emancipation of the society. Individual stories of 50 Social Entrepreneurs in India covered in a
Special Issue of Outlook Business are at Annexure A. Now, a fair idea of the emerging models of social entrepreneurs can be had.
*********
6
References:

1. Business & Management Chronicle, A Magazine for MBA Aspirants – Special issue on Entrepreneurship of July, 2009
2. How to Change the World – Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of Ideas by David Bornstein (2009)
3. Ingrid Srinath at CRY : Combining Values and Viability in a Social Venture by Philip Anderson Case Study of INSEAD on
Child Rights and You (CRY) published in DARE.CO.IN – monthly magazine Volume 2, Issue 10, July 2009
4. Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship by Prof Madhukar Shukla, XLRI, Jamshedpur (a Course being offered in MBA)
5. Occasional Paper – OP No. 05/14 dated June 2005 : Social Entrepreneurs directly contribute to Global Development
Goals by (1) Christian Seelos, Visiting Lecturer, Senior Researcher, IESE Business School, Universidad de Navarra, Avda,
Pearson, 21-08034 Barcelona, (IESE) – cseelos@iese.edu; (2) Kate Ganly, Research Assistant, IESE; and (3) Johanna Mair,
Professor of General Management, IESE.
6. Outlook Business for Decision Makers : Independence Special (23rd August – 05 September 2009) : Volume No.4 : Issue 18
featuring 50 Social Entrepreneurs of India and How They are Making India Better. (See Annexure A)
7. Searching for Social Entrepreneurs : Who they might be, Where they might be found, What they do by Paul C. Light,
Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University - Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meetings of
the Association for Research on Non-profit and Voluntary Associations, November 17-18, 2005.
8. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish – The inspiring stories of 25 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Graduates who chose
to tread a path of their own making by Rashmi Bansal (2008) published by Centre for Innovation Incubation and
Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad
9. Supporting Rural Entrepreneurship by Brian Dabson, President of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, an
independent national non-profit organisation that promotes asset-building and economic opportunity strategies, particularly in
low-income communities and distressed regions. For further information, see www.cfed.org.
10. (1) The High Performance Entrepreneur – Golden Rules for Success in Today’s World (2006) and (2) Go Kiss The World
– Life Lessons for the Young Professional (2008) by Subroto Bagchi, Co-Founder of Mind Tree Consulting, Bangalore.

7
 ANNEXURE ‘A’

50 Social Entrepreneurs in India (Source: Outlook Business – Independence Special : Sept 05, 2009)

S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity

01 Ms Saloni Malhotra DesiCrew, Chennai Rural BPO
02 Ms Anita & Kalyan Paul Grassroots, Naini village Women empowerment
03 Prashant Lingam & Ms Aruna Bamboo House India Sustainable livelihood for Tribals in
Kappagantula Tripura
04 Ms Marie and Stan Thekaekara Just Change, Nilgiris, TN Fair Trading between buyers and sellers
05 Rajendra Joshi Saath, Ahmedabad Enriching Slums
06 Ms Gita Ram & Ms Neelam Industree Crafts, Bangalore Artisan Connection
Chibber
07 Ms Umadevi Swaminathan Rudi Multi Trading, Farm to Market
Sabarkantha, Gujarat
08 Ms Prema Gopalan Sakhi Retail, Marathwada Women Retailers
09 Ms Ishita Khanna Ecosphere Spiti, Himachal Greener Pastures
Pradesh
10 Adarsh Kumar Livelihoods Equity Profitable Unions
Connect, Jodhpur/Jaipur
11 Arbind Singh Nidan, Patna The Deliverer
12 Kaushlendra Samriddhi, Bihar Farming Out Profit
13 Solomon JP LabourNet, Bangalore Worker Hotline
14 William Bissell Fabindia, Artisans United – Micro Finance
15 Varun Sahni & Anant kumar LifeSpring Hospitals, Affordable Births
Hyderabad
16 Ms Kousalya Periasamy Positive Women Network HIV Positive Women in Tamil Nadu
17 Dr. Devi Shetty Narayan Hrudayala, Heartcare Hero
Bangalore
18 Rajeev Kher Shramik Sanitation Mobile Toilets
Systems, Pune
19 Santanu Bhattacharjee Technable Solutions, WB Skill Diviner
20 Nishant Saxena Elements Akademia, Service Matters
Kanpur
S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity
21 Aditya Natraj Kaivalya Education Grooming Government School Principals
Foundation, Rajasthan
22 Anand Kumar Ramanujan School of Cracking IIT

8
 Mathematics
23 Shriram Ayer Nalandaway, Chennai Helping disadvantaged children in life
24 Amitabha Sadangi International Development Water Wealth
Enterprise, Delhi
Financial Information
25 Manish Khera Network & Operations, Doorstep Banking
Dharavi, Mumbai
26 Vijay Aditya Ekgaon Technologies, Cash & Camera
27 Anurag Gupta A Little World, Mumbai Walking Cashier
28 Sulax Shah Shree Kamadhenu Milk Manager
Electronics, Gujarat
29 Vivek Gupta Saran Renewable Energy, Rural Power
Patna, Bihar
30 Ned Tozun & Sam Goldman D.Light Design, Orissa Lighting Lives
31 Harish Hande Selco, Bangalore Sun hai na
Comprehensive Rural
32 Ms Shobha and Rajnikant Arole Health Project or Jamkhed Basic Health care to Rural poor
Project, Kusadgaon, MH
33 Ashok Khosla Development Alternatives, Eradicate poverty and rebuild the health of
Delhi the environment
34 Ms Ela Bhatt SEWA, Ahmedabad To co-opt women into war on poverty
National Centre for Making society more sensitive to the
35 Javed Abidi Promotion of Employment physically challenged
for the Disabled People
36 Bunker Roy Barefoot College, Tilonia, Empower Communities to solve their own
Ajmer District, Rajasthan problems. Focus on women needs.
37 Jockin Arputham National Slum Dwellers Empowering Slum Communities and
Federation, Sewri, Mumbai integrating slums into city development
38 George Abraham Score Foundation, Improving the standard of living of visually
Safdarjung, South Delhi impaired people
39 Dr G Venkataswamy Aravind Eye Hospital, Affordable eye care for all. About 40% of
Madurai, Tamil Nadu patients get free treatment.
S No. Name(s) Enterprise Line of Activity
40 C V Madhukar PRS Legislative Research, Provides research on Bills to 790MPs
Bangalore
41 Samir Mehra Suminter India Organics, Organic Router to support farmers
Surendranagar, Gujarat
Gijs Spoor, Cotton Spoor – provides organic cotton
42 Edapalil Mathai Koshy and Zameen Organic, farmers with sustainable agricultural
Satish Chukkapalli Hyderabad livelihood.
Former Panchayat Super Sarpanch – Set up 300 model
43 Rangaswamy Elango President, Kuthambakkam, villages by 2011, along the lines of
Chennai, Tamil Nadu Kuthambakkam in TN
44 Anshu Gupta Goonj, Khooni Darwaza, Kapda Aur Dignity – Collecting clothes

9
 near Delhi Gate, New Delhi and other items for needy rural folk.
Grassroots, Purushwadi Pinheiro Travels – to promote rural tourism
45 Inir Pinheiro Village, off Mumbai by developing villages as tourist
destinations
46 Milind Ranade Kachra Vahtuk Shramik The Trade Unionist – to organise dalit
Sangh, Mumbai labourers, especially conservancy workers
Toxic Link, Okhla Industrial Detoxifying Agent – to spread awareness
47 Ravi Agarwal Area, South Delhi on the hazards of improper disposal of
toxic waste.
Recycling Evangelist – Disposing of part
48 B L Soni Ecoreco, Mumbai of the 400,00 tonnes e-waste churned out in
a year.
Beyond the Slums – Helps slum kids
49 Ashok Rathod Oscar, Mumbai realise their potential and drive change in
society.
50 Gopinath Parayil Blue Yonder, Kerala Watering the River – To focus on local
community development through tourism

10