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During his M.B.A. studies at University of California at Berkeley, Jeff Denby told everyone his ultimate career goal: to start an underwear company.
Soon, professors and classmates at the Haas School of Business began to call him 'the underwear guy.'
But Mr. Denby -- who had formerly worked in industrial design and went to business school interested in supply-chain management -- decided early in his program that he wanted to create a company that was about more than just boxers or briefs. In his view, it was critical to create a product that was environmentally friendly and sustainable -- and whose sales could help support good causes.
This type of social entrepreneurship -- that is, building a for-profit company with a social conscience or linked with a social cause -- is becoming increasingly attractive to would-be business founders. The idea is to make money while either directly impacting consumers with its services or funneling a portion of profits to charities. Often, these companies employ people or source resources from economically depressed areas of the world.
And with an increased interest in socially responsible money-making, business schools have been pushed to create a whole host of courses and study tracks to help M.B.A. students sort out the best way to pull it off. Schools like Oxford University, Cornell University and Dartmouth College have all seen increased demand for instruction in social entrepreneurship.
Some administrators say it is a generational progression of business-school students who have grown up socially aware. Others say a lack of traditional jobs has spurred an interest in entrepreneurial ventures -- and the focus on societal impact is partly a matter of trying to escape the stigma of the 'greedy M.B.A.'
'I think the interest in entrepreneurial ventures with social value [is about] more than the fact that people can't get jobs as easily,' says Colin Mayer, dean of Oxford's Said Business School in the U.K. 'There's also a sort of underlying sense of guilt about what happened during the crisis.'
For his part, Mr. Denby, who graduated in May 2008, has long wanted to use his business skills for good. Before Mr. Denby launched PACT Organic Underwear as an online-only company in August, he researched all aspects of manufacturing and distribution to make sure his products would be legitimately sustainable, from the labor he employed to the inks used in the garment dye. Then he decided to pair each pattern used on the underwear with a themed charity. For example, 10% of the proceeds from one blue pattern inspired by a Japanese woodcut, go to a marine-conservation group.
Mr. Denby says his entrepreneurial spirit was fostered by Berkeley's curriculum. In one social entrepreneurship-focused course, guest speakers would make weekly appearances to discuss their for-profit business models. Mr. Denby also enrolled in a start-up workshop where students 'spent a lot of time figuring out who we wanted to work with,' he says.
At Oxford's Said Business School, students use the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship to insert these concepts into their business plans.
Recent projects include building water-purifying systems in Africa and developing Internet banking systems in regions without significant technology infrastructure. Oxford has offered electives in social entrepreneurship through the center for years but recently expanded its options.
The school also provides a venture fund that students can tap to fund worthy projects. In those cases, the school has a stake in the company -- and its success -- says Mr. Mayer, adding that the increased focus among students stems from the dearth of traditional jobs in finance, as well as the malaise surrounding the economic collapse.
'There is a real sense that doing good business can promote real change in economically depressed regions,' Mr. Mayer says.
What's more, a for-profit enterprise with a socially responsible backbone is more attractive to nervous investors during economic turbulence than traditional business plans, argues Gregg Fairbrothers, director of Dartmouth College's Entrepreneurial Network at the Tuck School of Business.
'Financing is tough for start-ups,' says Mr. Fairbrothers. 'For investors to take a risk with you, it helps to have tangible social good coming from it, not just the promise of a fat IPO that will make everyone rich.'
在加州大学伯克利分校（University of California at Berkeley）就读MBA时，邓比（Jeff Denby）就告诉每个人他的终极职业目标：开一家内衣公司。
很快，哈斯商学院（Haas School of Business）的教授和同学们都开始叫他"内衣男".
但邓比就读MBA后不久就决定，他希望创建一家不仅仅是卖男式平脚或三角内裤的内衣公司。他此前曾工作于一家工业设计公司，就读商学院的时候对供应链管理方向产生了兴趣。在他看来，重要的是制造一件环保又可持续的产品──其销量有助于支持这些善意的理由。
对潜在创业者来说，这种社会公益创业正变得越来越有吸引力。社会公益创业就是组建一家拥有社会良知或与社会事业有关的盈利性公司，意在获取利润的同时，通过其服务直接影响消费者，或将一部分利润用于慈善事业。通常来说，这些公司会从全球经济困难地区雇佣人员或是使用当地资源。
鉴于对社会责任感盈利的兴趣增强，商学院已经受此影响推出了一整套讲座和课程，意在帮助MBA学生们寻找实现这一目标的最佳途径。在牛津大学（Oxford University）、康奈尔大学（Cornell University）以及达特茅斯学院（Dartmouth College）等学校，社会公益创业的教学需求都出现了增长。
一些管理人士说，商学院学生日益具有关注社会意识是一个进步。其他人说，是传统职位缺乏引发了学生们对创业投资的兴趣，他们注重社会影响一定程度上是为了避免"贪婪MBA学生"的恶名。
牛津大学赛义德商学院（Said Business School）院长梅耶（Colin Mayer）说，我认为学生对具有社会价值的创业投资产生兴趣并不只是因为找工作不容易。这也是他们因为对危机中所发生的事情产生了一种内在的负罪感。
邓比毕业于2008年5月，他一直希望将自己的商业技能用于善处。邓比8月份创建了只在网络销售的内衣公司PACT Organic Underwear;此前他研究了制造和分销的每个方面，确保他的产品从雇佣劳工到服装染料所用的墨水都是合乎法律并具有可持续性。然后他决定将内衣使用的每个团案都和一个慈善主题挂钩。举例来说，一个蓝色图案内衣的灵感取自一件日本木刻，其10%的销售收益将捐献给一个海洋�；ぷ橹�。
邓比说，他的创业精神源自于自己在伯克利上的课程。在一门以社会公益创业为主的课上，学院每周邀请嘉宾来和学生们讨论盈利性业务模式。邓比还参加了一个创业研讨会，他说，同学们在会上花了很多时间讨论我们希望和谁共事的问题。
在牛津大学赛义德商学院，学生们通过斯科尔社会公益创业研究中心（Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship）,将这些想法运用于他们的商业计划。
近期的项目包括在非洲修建水净化系统，在缺乏明显科技基础设施的地区建设网络银行体系。牛津大学近年来一直通过该中心提供社会公益创业的选修课，但最近扩大了选修课程规模。
赛义德商学院还提供了一个风险基金，学生们可以从中获取资金用于有价值的项目。梅耶说，在这些情况下，学院会获得创业公司的股份，分享其成功。他补充说，学生们日益专注这方面，一方面是因为金融行业传统职位的缺乏，另一方面也是因为经济崩溃带来的糟糕感觉。
梅耶说，学生们真正感觉到，从事好业务可以给经济贫困地区带来真正的变化。
此外，达特茅斯学院塔克商学院（Tuck School of Business）创业网络部门主任法布雷斯（Gregg Fairbrothers）说，在经济动荡时期，一个具有社会责任感的盈利性创业公司会比传统的商业计划更能吸引紧张不安的投资者。
法布雷斯说，创业公司要获得融资不容易。要说服投资者和你承担风险，需要用投资能实际造福社会这一点来打动他们，而不仅仅是承诺以后会通过丰厚的首次公开募股（IPO）让所有人都发达。
