You’re not just interested in making money. You’re interested in making a difference in the world too. Set your career and your business on the road to success by learning evidence-based strategies to achieve sustainable social impact: profits with purpose. This specialization was designed to give you the tools and strategies you need to create measurable social impact around the world – whether your impact goal is to create jobs, to reduce malnutrition, or to increase access to environmentally-friendly and affordable housing, or to make a positive difference in some other way. In these four courses taught by acclaimed Wharton professors, you’ll learn how to apply effective business strategies to real-world problems through a deep understanding of the global practices and trends shaping the world today. By the end of this Specialization, you’ll be able to: ● Lead, invest and make business decisions for social impact ● Analyze information about global trends to make more informed strategic business decisions ● Understand the role of corruption in societies so you can make better business decisions ● Develop, launch, test, and scale entrepreneurship projects which have high-potential of significant positive social impact
Business Strategies for A Better World Specialization
Develop Business Strategies for Social Impact. Learn the skills you need to help your purpose-driven business thrive
Offered By
Skills you will gain
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.
There are 4 Courses in this Specialization
Global Trends for Business and Society
In this course, you’ll learn to analyze rapidly changing global trends, their effects on consumer and labor markets, financial systems, and geopolitical relationships among countries all over the world. Professor Mauro Guillen of the Wharton School has designed this course to help you understand the magnitude of influence these trends have on the business world and society. Through real-world case studies, both historical and contemporary, you’ll examine how changes within one society affect others. By the end of this course, you’ll have gained the tools to be able to identify, analyze, and adapt to global changes as they affect your business and society.
Corruption
You can't understand the world today if you don't understand corruption. Every day, we see high-level government officials resigning, governments changing, hundreds of thousands of people standing in squares, holding up signs, and often risking their lives to protest the corruption in the world. It's critically important to the health of our societies to understand what people are protesting against. We want to understand corruption. This course is designed to teach you about what corruption is, what causes corruption, the effects of corruption, and how to control corruption. We'll be talking about this from a global perspective using examples from all over the world. We'll also be talking about corruption from the perspective of countries, governments, businesses, citizens, and the people within these entities. At the end of this course, you'll have a better understanding of why the world is changing according to the path of corruption. If you're in a position to make changes within your respective entity, to make decisions about corruption, you'll be able to make better decisions.
Social Entrepreneurship
How do we create innovative and effective solutions to social problems around the world ? This course was designed for individuals and organizations who want to identify and bring about transformative societal change. Professors Jim Thompson and Ian “Mac” MacMillan help you develop both a strategy and a framework for your social enterprise based on their years of experience and expertise teaching social entrepreneurship and advising entrepreneurs. You’ll learn how to define a social problem, understand contextual realities, develop a solution, and plan for effective deployment. By the end of this course, you’ll have a deep understanding of the realities of launching an enterprise, be prepared for every step of the process, and put your social entrepreneurial venture on the path to success.
Business Strategies for Social Impact
When is it good business practice to invest for social good? What are the most innovative and effective business strategies for developing positive social impact around the world? Designed by renowned Wharton professors Katherine Klein and Chris Geczy to help individuals, organizations, and investors bring about societal change, this course introduces the fundamentals of impact investing, and developing a business strategy that drives social impact. You’ll learn how to become a leader who cultivates purpose and inspires change, measure societal impact through evidence-based models, and invest in ventures effectively and meaningfully. By the end of this course, you’ll have a deep understanding of the realities of leading an organization with purpose, and be able to build successful strategies that bring impactful change to the world.
Instructors
Christopher Geczy
Adjunct Professor of Finance
James D. Thompson
Director, Wharton Social Entrepreneurship Program
Philip Nichols
Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics
Ian "Mac" MacMillan
Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Mauro Guillen
Professor of International Management
Katherine Klein
Edward H. Bowman Professor of ManagementAbout University of Pennsylvania
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the refund policy?
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Can I take the course for free?
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
Time to completion will vary based on your schedule, but we anticipate most learners being able to finish the material in 6 months.
What background knowledge is necessary?
No specific background is required—this Specialization is ideal for employees, entrepreneurs, managers, consultants, or anyone who has an interest in business and social impact.
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
Although you can take the courses in this Specialization in any order, we do recommend that you follow the suggested sequence of courses (Global Trends for Business and Society, Corruption, Social Entrepreneurship, and Business Strategies for Social Impact).
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
Coursera courses and certificates don't carry university credit, though some universities may choose to accept Specialization Certificates for credit. Check with your institution to learn more.
What will I be able to do upon completing the Specialization?
By the end of this Specialization, you’ll know how to lead, invest and make business decisions for social impact, analyze information about global trends and corruption to make more informed strategic business decisions, and develop, launch, test, and scale entrepreneurship projects which have high-potential of positive social impact. Through your deeper understanding of the connection between businesses and the world, you'll be able to create business strategies that drive positive social change.
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.