Module 5: Impact
Led by Gorgi Krlev (ESCP Business School) and
Mikołaj Pawlak (Warsaw University)
Impact
Contents
Today almost all organizations, be they for-profit businesses, non-profit associations, social start-ups or public agencies, want to (or claim to) create positive impact for society. Yet, many organizations do not even know how to start assessing whether or not they are having the positive impact they aspire to have. This is why impact measurement is becoming ever more important. This module explores what social impact is (and is not), why organizations should invest in building social impact measurement capacity, and how they can measure social impact effectively.
Students dive into key concepts of impact measurement, such as theory of change, identification of target groups, attribution of outcomes, and methods for data gathering. We orient at lessons from healthcare research as well as poicy evaluations. These will help students better differentiate between greenwashing or “impactwashing” and genuine efforts of assessing impact. They will not only work with examples of good and bad practices, but also use those tools and insights to craft an impact measurement design of their own.
Course Materials
Videos
Lecture recordings
Readings
Glasziou, P., & Heneghan, C. (2009). A spotter's guide to study designs. Evidence-Based Medicine, 14(2), 37-38. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebm.14.2.37-a
Ruff, K., & Olsen, S. (2016). The Next Frontier in Social Impact Measurement Isn’t Measurement at All. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Available at: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_next_frontier_in_social_impact_measurement_isnt_measurement_at_all
Wry, T., & Haugh, H. (2018). Brace for impact: Uniting our diverse voices through a social impact frame. Journal of Business Venturing, 33(5), 566-574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.04.010
Krlev, G. (2019). If we are serious about changing the world, we need to get our evidence right. LSE Impact Blog. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/11/04/if-were-serious-about-changing-the-world-we-need-to-get-our-evidence-right-a-comment-on-the-2019-nobel-prize-for-economics/
