Evaluation of Social Entrepreneur and Venture - Essay Example

Evaluation of social entrepreneur and venture affiliation Evaluation of social entrepreneur and venture MEMO a social impact investor From: student name Date: 08th June 2015 Re: Evaluation memo In the year 2013, one of the global fellow in echoing green organization called Kane Sarhan came up with a bold social venture. His social venture was to challenge the outdated debt-bearing higher learning model by introducing an apprenticeship based learning program competent at elevating workforce potential worldwide. Enstitute was his social venture, and it unlocks new, low-cost model of higher education with an apprenticeship based learn by doing a program that turns small businesses and startups into classroom whereas equipping students with their desire. It works in collaboration with the best innovators and entrepreneurs to educate the workforce of tomorrow, transform lives through entrepreneurship focused education and revitalize economies. It intends to teach a total of 500,000 students by the end of 2025 (NEWSHOUR, 2013). Social impact Enstitute has redefined higher education as it has changed the way of learning instead of learning being from an intern level, you learn from being a manager or an entrepreneur of a certain company. Through this education has turned out to be much more fun than it used to be in the past, and the level of involvement of the students is high and students are well prepared for the working environment. Before an intern gets the speed needed at work and becomes trusted with work it takes like three to four months, and this is like the whole internship period. Therefore, a two-year apprentice is much more worthy and advantageous for a business. Through enstitute students will have the chance to learn from the topmost entrepreneurial personalities in the town and leave the program with adequate tools, connections, recommendations, and experience to turn out to be businesspersons themselves if they wish. Lastly, Enstitute will equip its students with skills that are not learned in schools but are needed in the sociological world to succeed. They comprise of leadership by inspiration through collaboration, adaptability and agility, entrepreneurship and initiative, written and verbal voice with expertise to communicate, nurturing imagination and curiosity, and lastly the capability to analyze and access data (Sportelli, 2014). Social innovation Enstitute is trying to transform the traditional normality that going to college is a must. Moreover, on a social basis, the idea of college is still the norm in multiple cultures as people believe that by going to college is the only way you can secure a job in the corporate world. Enstitute is trying to innovate this as its aim is to prove to the world that school is not the only way out and that through the apprenticeship programs individuals will be able to perform well in the corporate world. Despite critics that the corporate world does not need only the on-job skills and that critical-thinking skills are necessary for life and one’s career, enstitute also offers these skills through their semiformal curriculum (Weissman, 2014). Individuals get to learn about finance, sociology, history, among other subjects and this helps them to understand the culture well, and it will be of great help to their lives and careers. The world is evolving, and, therefore, the methods of learning should also change so as to accommodate the students who do not like reading and also the less fortunate students in the society (Shaila, 2012). Financial sustainability The level of students dropping school since they cannot be able to pay their fees is high. Financial aids are not easily available nowadays, and students are not willing to finish school with large amounts of debts that they will have to pay for a long period of time. Therefore, in the present world, getting a degree certificate is so expensive, and it is turning out to be hard for the less fortunate to acquire one. However, Enstitute makes the dreams of students like this come true as it teaches them skills in different fields of study through on-job-training. This venture is aimed at changing the outdated view that the top skilled jobs require a bachelor’s degree. Employers should concentrate more on the skills and not just the certificates as the majority of things that we learn in class are not even applicable in the real working environment. This way of learning is cheap as no amount of money is needed to be part of the enstitute program (SELIGSON, 2013). Measurement Enstitute is at the moment creating a market-based credentialing procedure that is workable with top startups and corporations to measure the quality, competence, and the skills of their graduates centered on a digital portfolio of experience and work. Additionally, the education and exposure in the supplemental curriculum of enstitute, and the actual reviews and evaluations of work and experience are also to be measured. Measurement can be done through different methods that determine their social value potential, competitive advantage potential, and the sustainability potential. This will be able to measure how effectively and efficiently the enstitute social venture is and the expertise they inflict to their students through different tasks they carry out (West, 2015). Social value potential To measure the social value potential, individuals should look at the social need, achievable impact, mission alignment, community support, and social return on investment. The achievable impact of the social venture is determined from the activities the individuals have carried out for the company in the course of their apprenticeship period. If the activities are appealing, then the social venture has a positive impact on the businesses. Moreover, how the venture assists individuals to carry out their day to day tasks of the corporation determine the mission alignment of enstitution and the returns they have brought to the business not necessarily the monetary value but also how they relate to consumers determines the venture’s social return on investment. Additionally, the support the venture gives to the community is also measured through the cheap learning options they offer to the community determine their social value. Finally, how enstitution blends in different cultures and their awareness of those cultures also measures their social need (casserly, 2013). Competitive Advantage potential So as to measure competitive advantage potential, barriers to entry, attractiveness of mission, management team, strategic partnerships, and control over assets are looked at. How the venture helps individual plan, their task and the level of expertise they demonstrate indicates how attractive the venture is and how competitive their graduates are in the market. Furthermore, how it assists individuals to manage the available assets efficiently and effectively and the team work they portray in groups are also some of the aspects that determine the competitive advantage of the enstitution. Finally, the level of how the social venture can be able to help individuals and give them the knowledge and expertise to manage a team or group is also an important factor as it adds up to their competitive advantage. Through all this aspects, the potential of the individuals enrolled in the enstitution curriculum to be competitive out there in the corporate world is determined. Sustainability potential Venture capability, ability to generate earned income, investor interest, venture capacity, and compelling mission are some of the aspects that individuals should look at when measuring the sustainability potential. The competence and the capacity of the enstitution venture significant aspects that should be looked at. This will enable to determine its sustainability potential as the number of individuals the venture can sustain and educate at a particular time may vary and can they accommodate numerous students like colleges do, and how competent their graduates are some of the factors to consider (Mehr, 2014). How convincing is the mission that it will be able to equip the students will all the necessary skills needed in their careers and also their lives is also a significant aspect that will be able to determine the effectiveness of the venture in the corporate world. In addition, to measure the ventures sustainability potential, the ability of fulfil the interests of the investors and also to be able to produce the profits generated by a corporation are also key as they will determine its efficiency (Kamenetz, 2012). Appendix The entrepreneurship alternative to college One does not to have a degree so as to be successful, and this is evident with some of the richest individuals in the world who are school dropouts. The common thing about the majority of the affluent in the society comprising of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Oprah Winfrey, among others, is that they left school since college was not their thing. The road to success is not always determined by a degree it takes practice and instructions are not needed in the corporate world. Therefore, Enstitution is a good initiative as it natures entrepreneurs from a younger age by equipping them with skills through practice. Bill Gate, who is a philanthropist, billionaire and the founder of Microsoft, did not graduate from Harvard so as to embark on an expedition of altering how individuals use the computer. In the present day, he is worth $80 billion which is double the college endowment of Harvard which is at $32 billion. Mark Zuckerberg and other dropouts left school and take their talent to the technology industry and are today making over $41 billion in total. This shows that dropouts in Harvard are on top of their graduates by far. This shows that a degree is not the only way to success. Furthermore, Oprah Winfrey came to find out that pleasing individuals through the television is learned better through practice and not through instructions. This made her concentrate less on college and put more effort on her own show which was a hit even before she graduated and has interviewed 28, 000 guests on her couch more than even the seats in Hale Stadium in Tennessee State University which are only at 10,000. As it turns out to be, the experience is the new degree in today’s world that is why the creation of programs like Enstitution are the in thing. Not everybody learns well in a traditional classroom, and that is why Enstitution offers students an opportunity to select their classes and undertake a two-year apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship comprises directly learning hands on the day-to-day and progressing with the industry in actual time. I am certain that times have changed, and as the days move forward, the old methods become less and less operational. Students don’t need to take long hours memorizing concepts they will not apply in real life they need to practice each and every day as practice makes perfect. 90% of participants from Enstitute graduate the program with a full-time job at the company they have been working for, or they can be able to start their own as they have the skills. Concisely, this is the best alternative to higher education (Farr, 2013). References Casserly, M. (2013, April 17). The Apprentices: Learn-By-Doing Entrepreneurship At Enstitute. FORBES, 1. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/04/17/the-apprentices-learn-by-doing-entrepreneurship-at-enstitute-2/ Farr, C. (2013, May 7). How these college dropouts beat Harvard grads in competition for jobs. VB News, 1. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/07/how-these-college-dropouts-beat-harvard-grads-in-competition-for-jobs/ Kamenetz, A. (2012, June 18). [E]nstitutes Apprenticeships Give You Skills You Cant Pick Up In A Classroom. FAST COMPANY, 1. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/1839274/enstitutes-apprenticeships-give-you-skills-you-cant-pick-classroom Mehr, H. (2014, May 22). Is Experience the New Graduate Degree? THE HUFFINGTON POST, 1. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hila-mehr/experience-institute_b_5367686.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in NEWSHOUR, P. (2013, 0ctober 6). Enstitute: The entrepreneurial alternative to college. PBS NEWSHOUR, 1. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education-july-dec13-enstitute_10-06/ SELIGSON, H. (2013, May 4). The Apprentices of a Digital Age. THE NEW YORK TIMES, 1. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/business/enstitute-an-alternative-to-college-for-a-digital-elite.html?_r=0 Shaila, K. a. (2012). Enstitute: Education that leads to Jobs. INDIEGOGO, 1. Retrieved from https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/enstitute-education-that-leads-to-jobs#/story Sportelli, N. (2014, July 30). Colleges Versus Their Dropouts: Who Comes Out On Top? Forbes, 1. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2014/07/30/colleges-versus-their-dropouts-who-comes-out-on-top/ Weissman, C. G. (2014, MARCH 25). Enstitute expands its apprenticeship program to St. Louis. PANDODAILY, 1. Retrieved from http://pando.com/2014/03/25/enstitute-expands-its-apprenticeship-program-to-st-louis/ West, J. (2015, January 26). NOT ALL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES NEED COLLEGE. ENSTITUTE, 1. Retrieved from http://www.enstitute.org/#!NOT-ALL-HIGH-SCHOOL-GRADUATES-NEED-COLLEGE-GUEST-POST/c1cnp/293CC255-19EC-465E-9471-B8B882A52F25 Read More