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‘You Hired me as a Ballerina and Now Want Me to be a Basketball Player’: Hard Truths About Evolving Talent at Scale
Does your talent strategy look the same as it did a year ago? If it does, you're probably doing it wrong – especially if your organization is scaling. According to Kimberly Langsam at CASE at Duke University, a growing organization's talent strategies and support infrastructure must constantly evolve. She explores why talent is one of the key challenges of scale, and shares insights from social entrepreneurs and others featured in a new report from the Scaling Pathways series.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Unleashing the Social Intrapreneur: Why Organizations Should Look Inward to Boost Global Development and Economic Sustainability
The term “intrapreneurship” has been around for decades, but the concept itself – which refers to practicing entrepreneurship within a larger enterprise or organization – is more important than ever. Authors at IDEX Global Fellowship explore why this entrepreneurial mindset is needed within both traditional and social businesses, and how impact-focused intrapreneurship is not only changing employee management and retention, but also benefiting the broader world.
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- Social Enterprise
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Storytelling as a Strategy: What Entrepreneurs Can Gain from Crafting a Compelling Narrative
As Steven Spielberg once said, cinema’s power of persuasion is shown by getting “everybody to clap at the same time.” Likewise, successful entrepreneurs must also tell stories with persuasion and purpose, says Ami Dalal at FINCA Ventures. She explores how effective storytelling can help an enterprise build its brand and attract investors, customers and talent, and shares two essential approaches to help early-stage companies craft compelling narratives.
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- Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise, WASH
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The Rise (and Rise) of the Gig Economy in Kenya – And How to Take It to the Next Level
The gig economy is growing fast in East Africa, fueled by a young population and burgeoning mobile and smartphone penetration. Countries like Kenya now have gig platforms offering everything from taxi rides to cleaners and handymen, and analysts say this is only the beginning. Gituku Ngene at Google.org Youth Impact Labs explores the gig economy's growing impact, the barriers it faces – and solutions that could unlock its full potential.
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- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Who Owns Poverty?: A Q&A with Fundación Paraguaya Founder and CEO Martin Burt
Why do so many anti-poverty efforts fail? And what should we do differently? In his new book, "Who Owns Poverty," Fundación Paraguaya founder and CEO Martin Burt explores those questions from the viewpoint of the real experts: poor families themselves. He presents some key insights from the book in this Q&A – and the book is available to NextBillion readers at a discount (or as a free e-book)!
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- Finance, Social Enterprise
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Designing for Social Good, Not ‘Feel Good’
Designing products for multinational corporations and their affluent target markets is very different from designing products for low-income, rural consumers. Jordan Westerberg, industrial designer with social venture development firm Factor[e], has worked in both of these worlds. He discusses a recent project that redesigned a solar conduction dryer for Indian farmers, and cautions against being drawn to simplistic, feel-good products when designing for social impact.
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- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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The Planetary Potential of Banishing Kerosene Lighting – And How Entrepreneurship Can Help
Kerosene lamps are still used by hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. They contribute to climate change by releasing not only CO2 but also black carbon, an especially potent greenhouse gas. What's more, they exact a grim human toll, from burns and fires to toxic smoke and poisoning hazards. Alicia Oberholzer and Fid Thompson at Solar Sister call for an end to kerosene lighting, and highlight how women's entrepreneurship can make it happen.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Why Charities Are Launching For-Profit Businesses
“If you have a business and start a nonprofit, no one thinks twice,” Pipkin says. “But if you start a nonprofit and then start a business, people think, Wait a second.” That’s beginning to change. All three nonprofits ultimately entered the moneymaking game. It is, they believe, the next phase of social entrepreneurship.
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- Uncategorized