Kelley employs MBA’s plan for local nonprofit

Six Kelley School of Business MBAs have been chosen to implement business concepts from  author Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great and the Social Sector” to benefit Giving Back to Africa, a Bloomington-based not-for-profit dedicated to educating young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a press release.

Team leader Nadirah Al-Uqdah already knew GBA founder Ann Marie Thomson, so when a board member of GBA asked if Kelley students would be interested in the project, Al-Uqdah said she was excited.

“GBA was a great choice because they were local but also had an international reach, giving us an opportunity to apply the frameworks in a more complex environment,”
Al-Uqdah said.

Groups from all across North America competed and student teams from Yale University, University of California Berkeley, University of Alberta and Duke University were also selected, according to the press release.

“Good to Great and the Social Sector,” a New York Times best-seller, discusses a framework of concepts to move a company or nonprofit from good to great.

“Working with Giving Back to Africa was a great opportunity to apply theoretical business knowledge to help a Bloomington nonprofit improve their operations,” team member Neha Kale said.

The case study program allows graduate students to learn how to apply business skills to the private sector, and the chosen teams get to participate in a conference call with Collins to gain feedback on their plan.

“To see a young generation of leaders embracing the ‘Good to Great’ ideas is inspiring,” Collins said in the press release. “The whole thing just seems to me to be a win for everybody because we are putting ideas in a place where they can make a difference.”

The book explains concepts like “Good is the enemy of great” and “It is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.”

Al-Uqdah learned of the project and got in contact with other Kelley MBA classmates Virginia Myers, Chantal St. Louis, Anne Christensen, Neha Kale and Unyi Agba. They divided the team of six into two teams of three to focus on different aspects of the project, Al-Uqdah said.

“As a second-year MBA student, I am constantly seeking ways to apply classroom learnings in a real-world setting,” Al-Uqdah said. “The Net Impact project provided a great opportunity.”

Currently in its first year, the Good to Great case study program was co-developed and managed by ChimpWorks, Jim Collins’ management laboratory, and Net Impact, a nonprofit that encourages the use of the power of business to promote sustainability, according to the Net Impact website.

“We will present our final recommendations to the GBA board and work with them to develop an implementation strategy over the next few weeks,” Al-Uqdah said. “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with my classmates on the
project.”