Yale SOM offers a wide array of elective courses that explore issues related to social enterprise, ranging from non-profit management to public policy, from environmental stewardship to business ethics. A list of all syllabi can be found at courses.yale.edu.
Behavioral Science for Social Good
MGT 864 - Spring
All managers need to understand how best to engage and influence stakeholders to behave in ways that help to achieve the organization’s goals. This course provides a framework for organizing and selecting pathways to behavioral change. Using this framework, we then examine key behavioral insights about: 1) How best to provide and describe information to alter inaccurate knowledge and beliefs? 2) How to alter the environment or context to ‘nudge’ behavior? and 3) How to structure incentives to optimally motivate people?
Business Ethics
MGT 532 - Fall and Spring
Business is an activity in which parties exchange goods or services for valuable consideration. The goal of this course is to examine the ethical dimensions of such activities and develop skills for identifying and weighting ethical considerations. We will discover the tools we use for reasoning about right and wrong at the individual, firm, and policy levels, as well as explore “blind spots” – reasons why people fail to see the ethical dimension of decisions and thus, how they fail to live up to their own ethical standards.
Corporate Sustainability: Strategy and Management
MGT 688 / ENV 807 - Spring
This survey course focuses on the policy and business logic for making environmental issues and sustainability a core focus of corporate strategy and management. Students are asked to analyze when and how sustainability leadership can translate into competitive advantage by helping to cut costs, reduce risk, drive growth, and promote brand identity and intangible value. The course explores how to deal with a world of diverse stakeholders, increasing transparency, and rising expectations related to corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.
Data Visualization for the Social Sector
MGT 614 - Spring 2025
New for Spring 2025. Data alone is not always enough to drive insight or impact. Data surrounds us, and while transforming raw data through analytics can yield discovery, increasing there is a need to not only process it but also present it in a meaningful way to maximize actionable insight. The course will revolve around teaching students how to represent information and data in a visual and impactful ways using graphs, charts, graphics, images and other data narrative strategies. Students will primarily work in excel but will be exposed to other data visualization tools and examples of these tools in action from guest speakers and case studies. The structure of the course content will include specific information visualization practices alongside storytelling methods and design strategies for developing visual narratives to drive impact. The students will apply these techniques in a data visualization project of their choosing (either from course options, a Board Fellows engagement, Social Impact client data, or data from another source).
Energy Systems Analysis
MGT 563 / ENV 814 - Fall
This course offers a systems analysis approach to describe and explain the basics of energy systems. Students gain a comprehensive theoretical and empirical knowledge base from which to analyze energy-environmental issues as well as to participate effectively in policy debates. Special attention is given to introduce students to formal methods used to analyze energy systems or individual energy projects and to discuss also traditionally lesser-researched elements of energy systems (energy use in developing countries; energy densities and urban energy use; income, gender, and lifestyle differences in energy end-use patterns) in addition to currently dominant energy issues such as energy security and climate change.
ESG Controller
MGT 566 / ENV 811 - Spring
This is an applied course on the standards, guidelines, and tools for designing, implementing, auditing, and communicating a corporate environmental and social responsibility (CR) program. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the knowledge and tools needed to enter a career in CR and sustainability.
ESG Investing
Edward Watts and Stefano Giglio
MGT 929 - Fall
This course discusses incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information in investment portfolios. ESG objectives are important for investors representing trillions of dollars and may affect their portfolios’ risk and return. We will consider ways of blending portfolios’ financial and non-financial goals, and the potential for ESG-minded asset owners to impact the companies in which they invest. The course will blend academic research with case studies from investment practice.
Ethical Choices in Public Leadership
MGT 629 / GLBL 7290 - Fall
All public leaders must make choices that challenge their code of ethics. This interdisciplinary seminar draws on perspectives from law, management, and public policy in exploring how leaders develop their principles, respond when their principles fail or conflict, and make real-world choices when, in fact, there are no good choices.
Financing Green Technologies
MGT 842 - Spring
This course will explore how investing in renewable energy is different than in investing in more prosaic sectors. These differences include capital intensity, commodity markets, mature industry structure, local and federal regulation, and market imperfections. The course will also review the differences in policy support given to renewable energy in other countries. While the emphasis is on renewable energy, many of the same issues obtain in considering other green technologies—from water to new packaging.
Global Social Entrepreneurship
MGT 529 (India) Fall - Spring - Asha Ghosh
MGT 865 (Brazil) Spring - Tony Sheldon
The Global Social Entrepreneurship (GSE) courses link teams of Yale students with mission-driven social entrepreneurs (SEs) to focus on a specific management challenge that the student/SE teams work together to address during the semester. The course covers both theoretical and practical issues, including case studies and discussions, and in-country field work. Meets SOM's Global Studies Requirement.
GNAM: Natural Capital: Risks and Opportunities in Global Resource Systems
MGT 920 - Spring
Natural resource constraints affect most, if not all, functional areas of the modern corporation. Many large companies are taking proactive approaches to managing these risks and capturing the opportunities they create. As such, they are increasingly expecting their employees to have a basic familiarity with the environmental and social, as well as the economic, megatrends affecting these systems.
Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Economics
MGT 698 - Spring
This course teaches students the critical skills in analyzing and working within the healthcare industry. The first portion of the course focuses on the Economic and Financial drivers of the domestic healthcare system, including private and public financing and delivery models. In the latter portion of the course, the students learn about current issues of importance to this $4.5 trillion dollar industry. The course is part didactic/part seminar style, with team projects and presentations as a major component of the grade.
Housing Connecticut: Developing Healthy and Sustainable Neighborhoods
Kate Cooney, Andrei Harwell, Anika Singh Lemar, and Alan Plattus
MGT 632 / ARCH 4293 - Fall
Enrollment in this course is by application. In this interdisciplinary clinic taught between the School of Architecture, School of Law, and School of Management, and organized by the Yale Urban Design Workshop, students will gain hands-on, practical experience in architectural and urban development and social entrepreneurship while contributing novel, concrete solutions to the housing affordability crisis in Connecticut. Working in teams directly with local community-based non-profits, students will co-create detailed development proposals and architectural designs anchored by affordable housing, but which will also engage with a range of community development issues including environmental justice, sustainability, resilience, social equity, identity, food scarcity, mobility, and health. Through seminars and workshops with Yale faculty and guest practitioners, students will be introduced to the history, theory, issues, and contemporary practices in the field, and will get direct feedback on their work. Offered in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH) as part of the Connecticut Plan for Healthy Cities, student projects will center on community wealth building and equitable economic recovery in some of Connecticut’s most economically distressed neighborhoods, by proposing multi-sector, place-based projects that focus on housing, health, and economic development. Proposals will have the opportunity to receive funding from the State both towards the implementation of rapidly deployed pilot projects during the course period, as well as towards predevelopment activities for larger projects, such as housing rehabilitation or new building construction. Students in the course will be organized into multi-disciplinary teams including law, management, and architecture students, who will ideate together and take on specific team roles, modeling real-world project development teams. Teams will be assigned to work with non-profit developers tackling development or redevelopment projects that include affordable housing. Facilities of the Yale Urban Design Workshop will be available to students of the course. Students may have the opportunity to continue their leadership in these projects following the end of the course, in a professional capacity, as they move towards implementation. Students will interact with their nonprofit partners, the Connecticut Commissioner of Housing, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the Connecticut Green Bank.
Housing Markets
MGT 883 - Spring
The goal of this course is to provide a set of tools to guide us while exploring general features of housing markets. Topics covered include how to assess whether houses are over- vs. under-valued, how to shop for mortgage contracts, the budgeting decision of whether to buy vs. rent, and the investment problem of being a multi-family residential landlord. The course content includes lectures, guest speakers, a take-home final exam, and assignments designed as step-by-step walkthroughs of housing investment problems.
Impact Measurement & Financial Reporting in the Social Sector
MGT 801 / GLBL 6522 - Spring
This course will provide students with technical skills to evaluate performance in the social sector, namely by measuring impact and analyzing financial reports. Students will be introduced to tools and methods to measure social impact, with an emphasis on causality and cost-benefit tradeoffs. Sequentially, students will acquire the technical knowledge to interpret the financial reports of nonprofit organizations (topics include expense classification, contributions, donor-imposed restrictions, endowments, etc.).
Inclusive Economic Development Lab (IEDL)
MGT 826 - Spring
The Spring 2025 Inclusive Economic Development Lab course explores the theme of Harnessing Data for the Public Good. This is a project-based class where students will have the opportunity to engage with key actors in neighborhoods in New Haven, CT and potentially other U.S. Cities to develop a concrete class deliverable providing a set of analyses or practice modules that city and community actors can use to enhance inclusive economic development. Over the semester, the class will work on: 1) production of a season of the CitySCOPE podcast, 2) a public curriculum deck showcasing key learnings from the semester, and 3) a specific client deliverable based on team project. See website for more info on past projects: https://iedl.yale.edu/
Spring 2025 IEDL info and application: https://yale.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8pq9o4zpmZj8Udg
Inequality and Social Mobility
MGT 537 - Fall
This course provides a description of current trends in inequality and social and intergenerational mobility in the US and abroad, their possible causes, and the impact of public policies in shaping these trends. Drawing primarily on empirical evidence from the economics literature, we will examine the role of income, racial, and residential segregation; of access to education; and of labor market policies in determining economic opportunities within and across generations. The course will also provide a set of analytical tools required to understand and critically “consume” empirical academic research, as well as public commentary and policy, related to this topic.
Insurance and Finance for the Poor
MGT 823 - Fall
This course will focus on insurance, savings, credit, and other financial services for the poor. We will use the tools of economic theory and quantitative analysis to explore these topics, including: the potential role these instruments play as drivers of well-being, poverty alleviation, income growth and social and economic development; why households lack access to these instruments; and potential solutions. We will consider the role played by the state, market and broader society, including both the formal and informal sectors.
Market Failures and Economic Policy in Developing Countries
MGT 526 / GLBL 6530 - Spring
This course develops the economic tools to help understand and forecast economic growth in developing countries. It covers standard macroeconomic models used to make long-run growth forecasts and then investigates how different microeconomic market structures create a risk of slowing economic growth ("market failures"). We discuss how firms and governments should respond to these market failures.
Modern Philanthropy: Perspectives and Challenges
Judith Chevalier and Paige MacLean
MGT 867 - Fall
Co-taught by a philanthropic advisor and an economics faculty member, this course will examine alternative approaches to philanthropy and address many of the challenges and tradeoffs facing modern philanthropists. We will examine the history of philanthropy and foundations, the current state of philanthropy, debates about the role of philanthropy in society, and the complicated relationship between philanthropy and social justice.
Political Ethics and Issues for Organizations
MGT 863 - Spring
This course will explore operational and practical management issues that arise for organizations when acting at the intersection of the public and private sectors. That intersection is inherently political, implicating a framework of laws, challenging the decision-making abilities of individuals intermediating the public/private relationship and relating to policy debates animating today’s public discourse. The course will specifically address debates about corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental, social and corporate governance standards (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Public Health Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship
MGT 631 / HPM 631 - Spring
This is a case-based course about innovation and entrepreneurship for health equity and drivers of health. Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, racism, gender and other biases and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, healthy foods, safe environments, and health care. We refer to these as drivers of health. COVID-19 has brought to light for many of the complexities in drivers of health, and the role of entrepreneurship and cross-sectoral collaboration in eliminating health disparities. No prerequisites, all are welcome.
Private Capital and Impact Investing
MGT 891 - Spring
This course, which is taught from the perspective of an institutional investor, provides an introduction to Private Capital and Impact Investment markets including 1) the development of the venture capital industry 2) an overview of the private equity industry 3) an exploration of how venture capital and private equity investment firms are embracing ESG factors, and 4) the development of impact investment and how the private capital model is used for positive environmental and social impact.
Renewable Energy Project Finance
MGT 683 / ENV 635 - Spring
The course is intended to be a practicum, exposing students to real-world tools of the trade as well as the theory underlying them. Students develop the skills necessary to construct a detailed financial model, largely comparable to what would be used by an investment firm, project developer, or independent power producer. Lectures also provide an introduction to risk management, energy market dynamics, alternative contractual structures, financial structuring, and the core engineering and risks inherent in the most common renewable energy technologies.
Social Innovation Starter
MGT 637 - GLBL 6535 - Fall
This course is about experiencing social innovation. Over the course of the semester, students form innovation teams working with real-world organizations representing multiple topic areas including health, education, climate, civic engagement, and other topics. We will apply the ten-stage framework of the textbook “Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step.” This course runs during the same semester as the Social Entrepreneurship Lab at Yale School of Management, which is also cross-listed. The key distinction is that in the former, students pick their own topic to research and ideate on, whereas in this course students work on projects for existing organizations.
Start-up Founder Practicum
MGT 646 - Fall and Spring
The purpose of this course is to provide full-time Yale SOM students with a mechanism to work on their start-up ventures for credit, applying principles derived from their other coursework, particularly the integrated core curriculum. Students in this course articulate milestones for their ventures and work with faculty, staff, and mentors to meet those milestones.
Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations
MGT 527 - Fall
The purpose of this course is to study, discuss, and debate many issues of concern to managers of nonprofit organizations, including mission definition, competing internal and external demands, resource scarcity and uncertainty, governance systems, and managing strategic change.
Strategies for Land Conservation
MGT 686 / ENV 956 - Spring
This is a professional seminar on private land conservation strategies and techniques, with particular emphasis on the legal, financial, and management tools used in the United States. The seminar is built around presentations by guest speakers from land conservation organizations. Speakers are assigned topics across the land conservation spectrum, from identification of target sites, through the acquisition process, to ongoing stewardship of the land after the deal is done. The tools used to protect land are discussed, including the basics of real estate law, conservation finance, and project/organization management. Students are required to undertake a clinical project with a local land conservation organization.
Sustainable Business Capstone Consulting Clinic
MGT 687 / ENV 953 - Spring
The intended outcome of this course is to provide you with a ‘capstone’ experience; consulting to an organization in its early formative years, confronting real-life challenges at the intersections of starting-up, business strategy, and environmental sustainability; all with regular contact with the Founder/Founding team of an entrepreneurial venture started by recent alumni or current student Founders.
Sustainable Innovation in Healthcare
MGT 995 - Spring
This course explores the practical issues of managing ongoing innovation in the healthcare industry through the lens of analyzing how executives meet the need for the continuous advancements in quality, technology and efficiency in the development, marketing and sales of pharmaceutical products, health technology and patient service delivery. The course combines case discussion, lectures, seminar-style interactions and guest executive speakers.
Topics in Advanced Management for Business & Society
MGT 633 - Fall
This course is designed to foster participants’ ability to think more holistically about globalization, global trends, and the role of business. It is structured around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 objectives, backed up by 169 specific targets, that were adopted by the UN in 2015 after broad-based consultations involving governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics, and the business community.
Understanding and Reducing Bias in Organizations
MGT 678 - Spring
This course helps students understand what bias is, why it matters, and how it shapes inequality in important organizational processes (e.g., teamwork, hiring, advancement). We will also examine what the science says about whether, when, and which strategies can help reduce bias in organizations. We begin by understanding scientific evidence around how bias can operate as an interpersonal, organizational, and structural process and how it can impede organizational effectiveness. We then examine strategies for reducing the effects of bias both among individuals at the interpersonal level and among organizations as it exists within organizational cultures.
Urban Poverty and Economic Development
MGT 536 - Fall
The course topics includes: (1) measurements and theoretical explanations of poverty, incorporating both panel data and ethnography; (2) analytic tools for assessing community and regional economic flows; and (3) strategies for economic development and wealth building among low-income urban populations and communities. We examine innovative approaches in the traditional areas of economic development, workforce development, housing, education, and individual income support and wealth building.