The CASE Knowledge Center is a collection of our research, writings, articles, and interviews we have published and conducted on social entrepreneurship over the years. You can use the category listings on the side of the page to filter the publications to your particular topic of interest. If you have any questions, please contact us at case@fuqua.duke.edu or subscribe to our newsletter below.
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Scaling Pathways
Through the Scaling Pathways series, CASE partners with the Skoll Foundation, USAID, and Mercy Corps Ventures to share lessons, insights, and analysis from transformative social enterprises in driving impact at scale. The series includes in-depth case studies, cross-cutting theme papers on key challenges and opportunities related to scale, snapshots of scaling organizations, and more.
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Angel Networks in Emerging Markets
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Partnership to Advance Entrepreneurship Initiative (PACE) funded CASE to research opportunities for development institutions to support angel networks to drive private sector investment in entrepreneurship in Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
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SEAD: Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke
The Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke (SEAD) was a five-year accelerator program in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the USAID Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN). Through the accelerator program the SEAD team has captured lessons learned and policy implications to ensure that our work impacts both entrepreneurs on the ground and the broader development community.
The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust
By Gregory J. Dees and Everett Harper In February 1999, the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust (ABFT) was preparing to expand its operations outside Cape Town, South Africa. However, their plans were challenged by a strike at the Community Bakery, a …
Artists for Humanity
By J. Gregory Dees, Shirley Brice Heath and Laura Smyth Artists for Humanity (AFH) is a nonprofit that hires 30 to 40 teenagers each year for after-school work and training in the arts and entrepreneurship. The young artists, working in …
New Profit, Inc
By James L. Heskett, J. Gregory Dees and Jaan Elias Having founded what they called a “venture philanthropy” operated like a hybrid between a venture capital fund and a philanthropy, New Profit’s organizers are confronted with two issues: 1) the role …
A Customer by Any Other Name
By Gregory J Dees Social Entrepreneurs can create mutually beneficial relationships with their stakeholders and donors by learning from customer-oriented businesses. Specifically, three good habits social entrepreneurs can learn from customer-oriented business includes: Understanding what people value and the alternatives they …
Enterprising Nonprofits
By Gregory Dees The move by non-profit organizations to raise additional funds by allowing corporate partners the commercial use of their name or reputation would likely result in the corruption of the social mission of the nonprofit organization. Several options …
The Challenges of Combining Social and Commercial Enterprise
By Gregory J Dees and Jaan Elias A comparison of nonprofit and for-profit business organizations at a time when business is considered the model of efficiency and innovation provides significant insights into the norms that characterize these institutions, their functions …
Normative Foundations of Business
By Gregory J Dees and Jaan Elias What is the appropriate role for business to play in a capitalist society? In analyzing responses to this question, this note distinguishes two separate dimensions. The first involves the distinctive objective of business …
Social Enterprise: An Alternative Career Choice for MBAs
By Gregory J Dees For new MBAs interested in pursuing nontraditional business careers, the social sector provides a promising and challenging alternative. For the majority of MBAs, it is more likely that they will serve the social sector on a …
Thinking About Starting A Business? Read This First
By Gregory J Dees Nonprofit leaders have long fantasized about creating businesses that generate earned income to fund their operations. The social entrepreneur’s bottom line is her missions. Making more money, only to fritter it away on ineffective or inefficient …
Responding to Market Failures
By Gregory J Dees This note broadly defines the concept of market failure and explores options for responding to it, paying particular attention to the role of business leaders in addressing market deficiencies Harvard Business Review, 1996 Responding to Market …