BUU44624 Organising for Social Impact 2025/26

(10 ECTS)

Lecturer:

Prof Gemma Donnelly-Cox

Email: gdnnllyc@tcd.ie

Office Hours: Day and time to be confirmed

Pre-Requisite
BUU33804 Social and Environmental Innovation

Available to Exchange students 

Module Description

Organizing for social impact is set in the context of social innovation. Social innovation is the creation and implementation of a novel concept, idea or organization, that benefits society and is achieved through community, business, institutional and/or behavioural change  If you are interested in thinking differently and making a difference, whether your focus is climate action, or gender equality, you are interested in social innovation. Whether you want to change the world, or help make your neighbourhood a better place to live, your desire to make a difference needs to be matched with the knowledge and skills to develop workable solutions, to deploy them effectively and to assess their impact. Understanding how to identify, organize for, and deliver social impact is the objective of this module. This module introduces concepts for and approaches to social impact and value creation, linking social impact theory, business practices learned throughout the business degree and new strategies for defining, delivering and measuring social impact.  You will learn about global and regional approaches to social innovation, how to develop a theory of change and use logic models, and how to intervene in a process of social innovation.  You will learn how to engage with key individuals within the fields of social innovation and social change in Ireland and abroad, including academics,  practitioners and activists.

Learning and Teaching Approach

The core learning activity in the module is gaining the knowledge needed to assess the development of social innovation and applying it to the practice of delivering social impact.

Throughout both semesters, classroom work is team-based, with participants working in lecturer-selected teams comprising full time TCD students and full year visiting students. Each team will have a mix of disciplines, programmes, and geographies. 

The first semester is focused on knowledge and skills acquisition, with workshops combining a lecture section and a team-based assignment.  Teams will work on a ‘Communicating Impact’ project for a socially innovative Irish social enterprise or nonprofit organization.  First semester workshop participation is supported by pre-class preparation to introduce core concepts and ideas. Workshop time is used for short lecture sessions, teambuilding, case discussion, and debating strategies that might apply to featured social innovations.  Teams will produce a written report on their assigned project organization, and a graphical representation of how social value is created in its social innovation process. The final session of the semester is a public poster exhibition, presenting the value creation infographics developed by the teams.  The first semester examination tests knowledge and critical understanding of theory and concepts introduced during the semester.

The second semester is focused on use of acquired knowledge and skills, individually and in teams. Teams in the second semester will propose, assemble, promote, and curate social innovation speaker panels. Each team member will write up a critical review report on their team’s panel and its place in the series. The final, case examination tests capacity application of knowledge gained in the module and in other undergraduate modules.

Module Level Learning Outcomes

• LO1 Demonstrate the ability to describe and apply the key theories / frameworks / debates in the field of social innovation and social impact
• LO2 Evaluate a social innovation in an Irish / international context with respect to the potential for sustainable impact and systemic change
• LO3 Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences, in both oral and written presentations.
• LO4 Demonstrate the capacity to understand, assess and address social and environmental challenges locally and globally
• LO5 In module participation and assignment completion, demonstrate the capacity to work effectively as an individual and in teams, in multi-cultural settings and with diverse stakeholders, with an awareness of the need for work-life balance.

Relation to Degree 

While some of the theoretical content of this course will be new to business studies students, the module is integrative of the study of organizations and management that participants have developed over the previous three years and during their Senior Sophister year.  As such, it builds on participants’ functional knowledge of human resource management, accounting, finance, marketing and operations as well as strategy, entrepreneurship, organization theory and behaviour.  Social Entrepreneurship, and Business in Society are very relevant to this module. 

The team assignment, workshop discussion and term exam will provide students with opportunities to apply their functional knowledge to the domain of social innovations and enterprises and engage in s social innovation process.

Workload

Textbooks and Required Resources

The required readings are drawn from relevant academic and ‘grey’ literature which will be provided to students via the Blackboard site. The readings for each lecture topic are provided in the module schedule below. They may be updated throughout the semester, a few weeks ahead of the session which they will be used.

Student preparation for the module:  In addition to the prerequisite, the main preparation for this module is the completion of the Business programme to date.  

Course Communication

Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.

All module materials (lecture slides, readings, assignments, etc.) will be available on Blackboard and students will be required to submit their module assignment as well as any in-class assignments through Blackboard.  Questions regarding module assignments, test or other requirements must be posted on the designated discussion board to facilitate group communication and learning.  Emails to the lecturer’s direct email address should only be for questions of personal relevance to the student alone.

Assessment:

Participation in workshops is a module requirement. Credit for attendance and participation is included in your team assessment.

Late Submission Policy:      

Unexcused assignments submitted after the designated submission deadline may be penalised by 10% of the grade awarded for each working day late, or part thereof.  Assignments beyond 5 days late will not be accepted.  In the event of a non-medical reason for non-submission of a term-assignment a student should consult with and receive prior approval from the lecturer concerned. Students unable to submit a term assignment for medical reasons must produce a medical certificate to the School of Business Studies office within three working days of the missed submission date. Certificates received after that time will not be accepted.

Supplemental Assessment

Students who fail the module and are permitted to submit a supplemental assessment by the Court of Examiners will sit a 3 hour final exam in the supplemental assessment period. Students who are unable to sit the Christmas or Summer exam will sit a deferred two-hour exam in lieu of the paper they were unable to sit. 

Biographical Note:

Gemma Donnelly-Cox (BA, MA, MPhil, DPhil, FTCD) is Associate Professor of Business and Co-Director of the Centre for Social Innovation in Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin.  Her research is focused on social innovation, philanthropy, governance, and organizational responses to change at the level of organization, organizational field and society.  She has expertise in research, consulting and management in the nonprofit sector. She has served on several boards of nonprofit organizations and as an Expert in Venture Philanthropy and Social Investment for the European Commission.  Her publications address organizational responses to altered conditions of support and modes of organizing in the nonprofit sector, including hybrid organizational forms.

Her current research is on philanthropy and social investment, and the dynamics of organizational fields, with a focus on institutional logics and entrepreneurship..  Her PhD students are exploring the social entrepreneurial character of state-funded nonprofit organizations and managerial work in faith based organizations.

She completed her DPhil in Management at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and her MPhil in Management at Templeton College, University of Oxford.  She also has a BA in History and Politics from the University of Waterloo, and is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.