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Social Value Investing: A Management Framework for Effective Partnerships
Social Value Investing presents a new way to approach some of society’s most difficult and intractable challenges. Although many of our world’s problems may seem too great and too complex to solve — inequality, climate change, affordable housing, corruption, healthcare, food insecurity — solutions to these challenges do exist, and will be found through new partnerships bringing together leaders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
In their new book, Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke present a five-point management framework for developing and measuring the success of such partnerships. Inspired by value investing — one of history’s most successful investment paradigms — this framework provides tools to maximize collaborative efficiency and positive social impact, so that major public programs can deliver innovative, inclusive, and long-lasting solutions. It also offers practical insights for any private sector CEO, public sector administrator, or nonprofit manager hoping to build successful cross-sector collaborations.
Social Value Investing tells the compelling stories of cross-sector partnerships from around the world — Central Park and the High Line in New York City, community-led economic development in Afghanistan, and improved public services in cities across Brazil. Drawing on lessons and observations from a broad selections of collaborations, this book combines real life stories with detailed analysis, resulting in a blueprint for effective, sustainable partnerships that serve the public interest. Readers also gain access to original, academic case material and professionally produced video documentaries for every major partnerships profiled — bringing to life the people and stories in a way that few other business or management books have done.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
450 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2018
53 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 12, 2018
Written as a text book so not really for a casual reader but for a practitioner, business developer, researcher or teacher, it is a very good book and definitely worth a look. I prefer books that lay out a framework that I can use with students and researchers and this book definitely does that. While some parts of the framework are not necessarily anything new, it is pulled together in a comprehensive way with good case studies, which would make this a good book for graduate students. However in the Performance part of the framework, the authors definitely cover some new ground and their tools are substantive. I am looking forward to seeing how some of this might fit into some new partnership work. It's clearly not suited for everything but the authors are pretty clear about that. Measuring social impact is still an emerging area even though a lot of work has been done in the last decade.
January 31, 2020
The case study chapters could have been made shorter and would have been tagged while using in the next chapter for frameworks. Book has been written in very general way, hence not everything can directly be implemented.
However, few of the frameworks are good especially the impact balance sheet.
Compensating the risk with philanthropic funds with a cause communicated creates efficient frontier chart was a good idea. Similarly, calculating IRR or NPV for cross sector social partnership, I hadn't have thought, so found something new.
The book leaves you with a mindset to continue think and develop your own customised framework on 5P, which I liked the most.
Overall, worth having a look, especially when you are in to partnership or wants to collaborate with Govt, NGO for long term sustenance of coalition.
However, few of the frameworks are good especially the impact balance sheet.
Compensating the risk with philanthropic funds with a cause communicated creates efficient frontier chart was a good idea. Similarly, calculating IRR or NPV for cross sector social partnership, I hadn't have thought, so found something new.
The book leaves you with a mindset to continue think and develop your own customised framework on 5P, which I liked the most.
Overall, worth having a look, especially when you are in to partnership or wants to collaborate with Govt, NGO for long term sustenance of coalition.
April 30, 2025
Social Value Investing by Columbia University professors Howard Buffett and William Eimicke was, to me, a good follow-up to
Mission Economy
by Mariana Mazzucato, albeit with a different angle: whereas I found Mazzucato better on the political side, Buffett and Eimick excel in business administration and investment theory. Especially the latter is a language I’m not used to, which makes this book all the more interesting.
Cross-sector partnerships
Like Mazzucato, the authors view collaboration as the key to managing large public projects. They make a case for cross-sector partnerships involving not only private and public entities, but also the non-profit sector (civil society organisations). We expect too much from government, Buffett and Eimicke argue, while we fail to hold the private sector accountable for negative externalities, and rely on the social sector to close the gap. Cross-sector partnerships help to overcome collective action problems. In turn, different roles are identified: funders, implementers, and third-party stakeholders such as citizens.
Inspired by Benjamin Graham’s ( The Intelligent Investor ) and David Dodd’s value investing paradigm, they present what they call social value investing: ‘a voluntary collaboration between organisations from two or more sectors that leverage their respective teams and resources to achieve mutually agreed-upon and measurable goals’. In this book, they set out a framework focused on paradigms regarding process, people, place, portfolio, and performance. A case study is provided for each element.
Impossible to disagree with
The authors combine existing paradigms and theories to define their own approach. As a result, many chapters include information that feels like old hat or is so abstract that it’s impossible to disagree with. Collaborative leaders are said to need vision, drive, integrity, an admirable ambition, emotional intelligence, and empathy – qualities rarely absent from job listings these days. Place-based strategies should include inclusive engagement, committed leadership, mutual accountability, recognition of process (like celebrating milestones together), participatory decision-making, and continual improvement. Again, nothing groundbreaking here. If you understand the theory of change or how to use data, you’re already halfway there when it comes to process and performance.
Look beyond
Ultimately, it’s the integration of disciplines, the use of case studies, and, above all, the optimistic tone that make this book stand out. Buffett and Eimicke dare to look beyond, demonstrate that it has been done, and challenge society – governments, businesses, and civil society organisations alike – to act by seeking one another out.
Cross-sector partnerships
Like Mazzucato, the authors view collaboration as the key to managing large public projects. They make a case for cross-sector partnerships involving not only private and public entities, but also the non-profit sector (civil society organisations). We expect too much from government, Buffett and Eimicke argue, while we fail to hold the private sector accountable for negative externalities, and rely on the social sector to close the gap. Cross-sector partnerships help to overcome collective action problems. In turn, different roles are identified: funders, implementers, and third-party stakeholders such as citizens.
Inspired by Benjamin Graham’s ( The Intelligent Investor ) and David Dodd’s value investing paradigm, they present what they call social value investing: ‘a voluntary collaboration between organisations from two or more sectors that leverage their respective teams and resources to achieve mutually agreed-upon and measurable goals’. In this book, they set out a framework focused on paradigms regarding process, people, place, portfolio, and performance. A case study is provided for each element.
Impossible to disagree with
The authors combine existing paradigms and theories to define their own approach. As a result, many chapters include information that feels like old hat or is so abstract that it’s impossible to disagree with. Collaborative leaders are said to need vision, drive, integrity, an admirable ambition, emotional intelligence, and empathy – qualities rarely absent from job listings these days. Place-based strategies should include inclusive engagement, committed leadership, mutual accountability, recognition of process (like celebrating milestones together), participatory decision-making, and continual improvement. Again, nothing groundbreaking here. If you understand the theory of change or how to use data, you’re already halfway there when it comes to process and performance.
Look beyond
Ultimately, it’s the integration of disciplines, the use of case studies, and, above all, the optimistic tone that make this book stand out. Buffett and Eimicke dare to look beyond, demonstrate that it has been done, and challenge society – governments, businesses, and civil society organisations alike – to act by seeking one another out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews