28 August 2009
NUS Business School officially launches the NUS Centre for Social Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy (CSEP) (社会创业与慈善事业中心) to heighten interest in this area among its student population and Singaporeans. In fact, CSEP has started its research work for about a year now and have been building up various programs under its umbrella within the past year. CSEP’s mission is to advance social entrepreneurship and philanthropy research and education, as well as enhance the community development efforts of the university's students, alumni, staff and other stakeholders.
Two current research projects looking at trends in philanthropy and at how religiosity and social networks affect voluntarism reveal interesting findings which could lead to further studies and discussions in these areas. (Please see separate factsheets on research findings into these two areas)
CSEP is also currently working on three other research projects:
(a) case studies of both local and regional social enterprises;
(b) development of a system of metrics to measure social value created by social enterprises;
(c) study of the institutional context of social enterprises: examining legitimation, cooptation and embeddedness.
Moving forward, CSEP aims to embark on research in the following areas:
(a) evaluating social enterprise performance: measuring multiple bottom lines
(b) research on the antecedents and outcomes of employer-supported volunteer programs;
(c) research on the antecedents and outcomes of corporate philanthropy;
Says Assoc Prof Albert Teo (张子颖), Director of CSEP, “CSEP believes in not only doing research on the subject of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy but also in actually pulling up our sleeves and chipping in to help out in whatever way we can.”
In this area, CSEP has found opportunities for more than 100 final-year business students to carry out their consulting practicums with social service organizations, social enterprises and co-operative societies. The practicum projects enable students to apply the theories and knowledge acquired from their classes to address the varied needs of the host organizations. Specifically, the students assist the organizations in areas such as planning and strategizing, branding and marketing, conducting market and price surveys, identifying opportunities for corporate tie-ups, conducting needs analyses, developing social audit systems, and managing their cash flows.
Local organizations currently hosting consulting practicum teams include social service organizations like Simei Care Centre and Tampines Family Service Centre, social enterprises like Bizlink Centre and GAT (Gift and Take), and co-operative societies like ISCOS and NTUC Foodfare Co-operative. Starting from this semester, two practicum teams are being hosted by Gawad Kalinga, a non-profit organization in the Philippines, and its local partner, GK Hope Initiative. Next semester, some students will embark on their practicum with Living Hope Boys’ and Girls’ Home in Bangalore, India.
Training is another area that CSEP looks into. The centre co-runs a Volunteer Service Management Programme with YMCA Singapore. Participation in this management programme is open to managers, executives and volunteers of non-profit organizations in Singapore. The lecturers for this programme include both NUS Business School faculty members and lecturers affiliated with YMCA Singapore. And the facilitators for the programme are actually members of the NUS Business School Alumni Association.
CSEP is also involved in the area of community development, having seed-funded and incubated a couple of web-based student projects aimed at promoting public awareness of and interest in social entrepreneurship and philanthropic giving.
In addition, the Centre is also working with various student groups that plan to embark on community development expeditions to Vietnam and China. These student groups aim to move beyond what overseas youth expedition project (YEP) teams typically engage in. Besides helping out with infrastructural building projects and conducting English and enrichment classes, these student groups would also engage in cultural documentation and work with the host communities in fleshing out possible social entrepreneurial projects.
Says Prof Bernard Yeung, Dean of NUS Business School: “CSEP was established at the right time. In the face of globalisation, the world is particularly challenged with income disparity, poverty, food and water shortages, lack of access to healthcare and sanitation, marginalization of communities among many others. Many of these problems have been further exacerbated by the economic meltdown. NUS Business School wants, and needs, to be a part of these global efforts to address social problems. We want to exercise social responsibility and contribute back to the larger community. As an educational institution, our initiatives of this kind raise awareness among our students and help build their commitment to the human race.”
At the launch event, Mr Keith Chua (蔡长春), Co-Trustee, Mrs Lee Choon Guan Trust Fund donated a generous gift of $1.5 million in support of the Centre. The donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Singapore government thus bringing the total funding to S$3 million. This gift will enable the Centre to engage more students in community development efforts and build up research in the field of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy.
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ABOUT NUS BUSINESS SCHOOL
Established in 1965, NUS Business School is known for its focus in providing management thought leadership from an Asian perspective, enabling our students and corporate partners to leverage on the best global knowledge and deep Asian insights to drive business education and growth in Asia and around the world. This combination of global knowledge and Asian insights is reflected in all aspects of its research, teaching and industry outreach. As Asia’s Global Business School, NUS Business School is a leading authority on business in Asia.
The School has consistently received top rankings in the Asia-Pacific region by independent publications and agencies, such as Financial Times, Economist Intelligence Unit, and QS Top MBA, in recognition of the quality of its programmes, faculty’s research and graduates. In its 2008 rankings, The Financial Times ranked the NUS Business School’s Asia Pacific Executive MBA programme 20th in the world, the highest ranking ever achieved by any business school in Singapore. The Financial Times ranked the NUS MBA 35th in the world. In 2009, QS Global 200 Business Schools 2009: The Employers’ Choice Survey rated NUS Business School graduates third in the Asia Pacific. The School’s research is ranked 47th in the world by the University of Texas, Dallas. The School is accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), an endorsement that the School has met the highest standards for business education.
The School has more than 110 top research faculty, over 2,500 BBA, MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD students; more than 2,000 annual participants in Executive Education programmes; and over 45,000 alumni in diverse organisations and positions of leadership throughout the world.
For further information, please contact
Ms Jacqueline See
Associate Director, Corporate Relations & Communications
NUS Business School
National University of Singapore
Tel: 6516 6687 Mobile: 9685 8660
Email: jacquelinesee@nus.edu.sg