Henley Challenges: Pivoting for Societal Impact
Established in 2020 Henley Challenges is a multi-day activity including a faculty webinar, online group work and group presentation. After the webinar, you will form working groups to explore the topic in more depth, bringing your own perspectives and present back on Wednesday 15 December.
Join us on 10th November 12:00 – 13:30 GMT as we embark on our Year of Sustainability and Societal Impact for our next Henley Challenges. Each Henley Challenges connects you to one of the Business Schools’ centres of excellence from the Henley Centre for Leadership to the Henley Centre for Customer Management. Click here to watch past Henley Challenges.
For this challenge we are excited to partner with the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship and will be joined by its Academic Director Professor Andrew Godley, Henley’s Pro-Dean of Resources and Partnerships.
Case study:
Chike Maduegbuna gave up a promising career as a management consultant in Lagos because he was passionate about wanting to help Nigeria’s youth achieve their potential. His first venture was to set up a subscription library to support the development of business skills, but then he pivoted his business entirely to set up a training centre, Afrinolly, for the Nigerian film industry. And then, in 2019, Afrinolly pivoted again to become the producer of the largest reality TV show in Africa. Chike’s entrepreneurial career shows how pivoting a business or social enterprise can dramatically enhance its impact.
The challenge:
Find a small business or social enterprise near you and explore whether and how that enterprise could enhance its societal impact through pivoting. If you are part of a business or social enterprise you can offer your own company as the case study for your group.
Autumn 2021 Schedule
Part One: Thursday 10th November 12:00 – 13:30 GMT
12:00 – 12:30: Lecture by Andrew Godley
12:30 – 13:00: Interview with Chike Maduegbuna
13:00 – 13:20: Attendees assigned groups, discuss ideas, exchange contact details
13:20 – 13:30: Opportunity to ask any final questions
Part Two: Thursday 15th December 12:00 – 13:30 GMT
12:00 – 12:10: Recap, scene setting, final questions
12:10 – 13:10: Group presentations, timings to be shared following part one
13:10 – 13:30: Feedback by Andrew
Speaker profile
Professor Andrew Godley is the Pro-Dean of Resources and Partnerships at Henley Business School. He is a Professor of Management and Business History and the Academic Director of the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Andrew’s research interests lie in the areas of entrepreneurship and business history. Andrew has published in journals ranging from Economic History Review, Business History Review, Journal of Management Studies and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and won research grants from the ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust and British Academy among others.
Andrew has been a consultant to several leading firms and government departments and is a frequent commentator in the broadcast and written media on trends in entrepreneurship. He is a Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University, China, where he is the Co-Director of the Reading-Zhejiang Sino-British Entrepreneurship Research Centre. He supervises doctoral students in the area of global entrepreneurship and business history.
