Lessons in Business Principles Have Social Merit, Too

Lessons in Business Principles Have Social Merit, Too
By NED RANDOLPH – 5/11/2009
San Diego Business Journal Staff

While the free market may be on the skids, its principles can be co-opted for social good.

First pioneered out of Harvard about 10 years ago, the concept of social entrepreneurism uses business principles to solve social problems, says Tim Orlando, an investor who is teaching a class on the subject at San Diego State University.

Orlando, who had to expand enrollment twice this spring to meet student demand, is teaching students that economic principles can improve any organization, whether private or nonprofit.

“Young people are really looking for something they can sink their teeth into,” he said.