2018-2019 / GEST0379-1

Social Companies Funding

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Master in population and development studies (120 ECTS)6 crédits  
 Master in labour sciences (60 ECTS)6 crédits  

Lecturer

Sybille Mertens de Wilmars

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

  • Course description
The financing of social enterprises determines the development of their activities and the achievement of their objectives. In general, social enterprises face the same financing needs as traditional businesses. However, they face specific difficulties in accessing resources (the need to resort to partially non-market resources, to mobilize "patient" capital, and to resort to financing methods that are compatible with their purpose). On the contrary, they have privileged access to certain sources of financing (public financing, philanthropy, socially responsible investment).
By linking financing methods to individual or collective impacts generated by the social enterprise (financing-mix theory), this course offers students:


  • The basic rules in corporate finance
  • A detailed understanding of the economic rationality of the financing mix of these companies
  • The discovery of innovative business models, adapted to the pursuit of a social purpose through an economic activity
  • Basics for writing a business plan for social purpose

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, students will have been able to:

  • Understand the economic rationality of the various financing methods of social enterprises and acquire a thorough operational knowledge
  • Understand using practical cases the basic rules of corporate finance  and apply them also to social enterprises
  • Understand recent trends and understand the issues
  • Acquire the ability to design the financing of a social enterprise as part of an adapted Business Model.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

  • Students must be able to express themselves in French or English and must be able to read fluently French and English.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Learning activities include

  • Conceptual and theoretical presentations by the teacher (powerpoint)
  • Readings and discussion in class
  • Case studies prepared in the classroom
  • Corporate visits and meetings with social entrepreneurs
Non compulsory learning sessions on financial budgeting for social business plans

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

The course is mainly face-to-face. Students will also be invited to participate to 2 conferences and to prepare sessions by readings and exercises at home.

Recommended or required readings

The course will use the virtual interface Lol @, on which will be mailed:

  • PowerPoint presentations of the various sessions,
  • A bibliography containing books and reference articles suggested for each topic.

Assessment methods and criteria

The evaluation will be based on three elements:

  • Individual writing in preparation for the sessions - 3 essays - 20%
  • Financial forecast (in groups of 2)  - 30%
  • Individual oral exam - 50%
In the second session, the evaluation will be done only through an oral examination.
 

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

The course takes place in the second term, Tuesday morning at Sart Tilman Campus .

Contacts

Sybille Mertens Cera Chair- Center for Social Economy HEC-Management School - University of Liège - B33/box 4 - 4000 Liège Tel : + 32(0) 4 366 27 51 - smertens@uliege.be