Course Description


In our rapidly changing world, employee skills—such as intrapreneurship, agility, teamwork, empathy and collaborative leadership— are fundamental to an institution’s ability to innovate and grow into the future. The pitfalls of ignoring these skills can lead to loss of opportunity and competitiveness, along with increased redundancy and inefficiency. Social intrapreneurship is a methodology for sparking, cultivating, advancing and scaling social innovation within institutions. It involves intrapreneurial employees capitalizing on trends such as technology advancement and globalization, and deploying agile, startup strategies. 

Ashoka, one of the world’s largest networks of social entrepreneurs and Boehringer Ingelheim, a world-leading health company, have come together to create the six-week online course: Social Intrapreneurship for Innovation in Health. This course is part of the global “Making More Health” initiative to explore innovative pathways to improve access to healthcare for people, animals, and communities around the world. In this course, you will connect with a global community of health professionals from across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors and convene to learn intrapreneurial strategies for creating social and business impact in the health and wellness space.

In this course you will:

  • Prepare for a leading role in creating social and business impact within your institution
  • Gain skills and strategies to garner internal and external support for innovative projects
  • Learn how to collaborate and advance innovation in a bureaucratic setting
  • Develop intrapreneurial strategies for co-creation and prototyping
  • Connect with a network of intrapreneurs and innovators to share ideas and gain continuous support on your own innovation ideas
  • Engage with the global Ashoka network, including Ashoka Fellows, staff and other innovators

     

Recent examples of what participants have done as a result of this experience


"I just started a community-owned ambulance service business"

"I completed 200hr yoga teacher training along with 20hrs trauma-sensitive training, and have developed a teaching style that is inclusive. I have recently signed up to work with a nonprofit mental health support group in our community as well as with Healing Heroes, which teaches yoga and meditation to first responders and veterans"

"I have not started a new project, but rather used the learnings from the course to generate ideas for my ongoing work, both together with other people at Boehringer Ingelheim and on my own projects. I am much more aware of the impact and importance of social innovation. At the moment, I am particularly working on getting the patient more involved in drug development programmes"

"Two of my colleagues and I launched an initiative for treatment and prevention of foot diabetes wounds, driven by the suffering of the community around us and what we have learned from you. At the time I write this, I am going to a meeting to discuss clinical trials on patients"
 

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Course Curriculum

Module 1: The Business Case for Social Intrapreneurship

Module 1 explores the concept and definition of social intrapreneurship and investigates the business case for fostering intrapreneurship within institutions. Participants are exposed to real world examples and applications to the health sector.

Module 2: Intrapreneurial Challenges & Opportunities

On Module 2, we look into the importance of defining and understanding the challenges surrounding social intrapreneurship through market research and patient needs. We review examples of these challenges, with attention paid to communicating and framing the problem in a way that is be compelling and understandable to your audience.

Module 3: Strategies for Advancing Social Innovation Within Your Institution

An innovative idea only is not enough to advance an initiative within your institution. Module 3 explores the practical strategies and steps that social intrapreneurs can take when navigating bureaucratic and institutional obstacles.

Module 4: Co-Creation Part I: Leveraging Shared Value

Co-Creation is an opportunity for businesses to spark the next generation of sustainable solutions through collaboration with the social sector. New business models and ideas can be inspired by working closely with non-traditional partners, beginning with social entrepreneurs. Module 4 unlocks the concept of co-creation through real world examples of products, services or business models built out of co-creation.

Module 5: Co-Creation Part II: Idea Development and Pitching

Idea development and pitches are two potent tools for social intrapreneurs at an early stage of their innovations. This module will review the fundamentals of both, offer best practices, and look at case studies.

Module 6: Final Review and Wrap-up

The final module of the course is an exercise in reflection for course participants and is an opportunity to review all the content covered to date. It also enables participants to crystallize their professional connections made as a result of this course and debate concepts explored throughout. Participants are also invited to join the Making More Health virtual conference, to expand their learnings and grow their networks.

Other Testimonials

This course has been an excellent opportunity to build a Community of Practice rather than a didactic discourse. My next steps towards social innovation and impact will be to form an appropriate multi-disciplinary team that can increase the quality of life in India.

Supten Sarbadhikari, Centre for Health Informatics, India
man

I am proud to work for an organization that is forward thinking and looking for ways to Make More Health in our communities. This course helped me to understand the steps to getting something from an idea to becoming a fully supported project

Diana Montalvo, Boehringer Ingelheim, USA
woman

The biggest take home was that I can be a social intrapreneur! The case studies and the speakers convinced me that it is possible for one person to make a positive difference to many. I am more aware of the hurdles that will need to be overcome, but also strategies for overcoming them.

Chris Young, Boehringer Ingelheim, New Zealand
man