The School of Management at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has been awarded around 150,000 by the European Social Fund Objective 3 programme to develop a unique national postgraduate programme for managers working in the social enterprise sector.
Commenting on the award, Bob Doherty, LJMUís Senior Lecturer in Social Enterprise, said: ìSocial enterprises are very exciting organisations. Many are working to address failures in the private and public sectors, providing innovative business solutions to social exclusion, sustainable energy use, managing waste and the inequalities in world trade. Like any other businesses, social enterprises need to grow, become sustainable and reduce their dependence on grants and donations. In order to do this they need to be managed more effectively. This course will help them do just that.î
LJMU is a national leader in social enterprise education, having launched the UKís first masterís programme specifically for social enterprise managers in 2003.
Now thanks to the new ESF funding, LJMU will be able to share its expertise with more organisations across the country through the development of a new postgraduate programme, which will be delivered on a residential basis and via web-based distance learning support.
Unlike organisations that are driven to maximise their profits for shareholders and owners, social enterprises work towards primarily social objectives and re-invest their profits to meet these goals.
The social enterprise sector is expanding rapidly, and itís currently worth around 18bn to the UK economy, employing around half a million people. The problem is that although itís seen as a key driver for overall economic change and social cohesion, the sector suffers from a lack of managers with the right strategic management and planning skills to ensure its long-term future.
Bob Doherty continued: ìThe sector needs to invest in its managers if they are to become the business leaders of the future. Itís not enough to add social enterprise modules on to existing management degrees. The sector needs training that is specifically tailored to meet their needs and delivered at a time that suits them and their employees. Thatís why we have chosen to develop our course using innovative active learning approaches and residential study. It means that more organisations from across the country will be able to benefit from LJMUís expertise and improve their performance.î
John Vaughan, Director of LJMUís School of Management, commented: ìWorking with social enterprise is a priority for LJMU and this is the second ESF award that we have received to assist the sector. The first allowed us to develop a sustainable programme within Merseyside and thanks to the new funding weíll be able to contribute to expansion of the social enterprise sector on a national scale.î
A pilot of the new national postgraduate programme will be launched in May. LJMU is currently working in partnership with the Social Enterprise Coalition and the Community Action Network to promote the course as widely as possible and to share best practice with organisations across the UK.
For further details on the course, please contact Bob Doherty by emailing r.doherty@ljmu.ac.uk or telephone 0151 231 3342
University awarded 150K ESF funding to develop new social enterprise management programme
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