Thomas J. C. Raymond

Thomas J.C. Raymond, at 88; a teacher at Harvard Business School for 37 years - The Boston Globe

Dr. Thomas J. C. Raymond taught at the Harvard Business School Business School for 37 years.

In its recent obituary of Dr Raymond The Boston Globe reports that:

In a newsletter published this spring by Harvard, Dr. Raymond discussed his business philosophy. ''I don't think it's about making money," he said. ''It's more about acting as the custodian of the world's resources, both human and natural, and making sure those resources are put to work in such ways that they are useful for the survival of the human race."

Unfortunately, amongst students of social entrepreneurship there are many who discount the value of the contribution business oriented entrepreneurs make in putting resources to work in ways 'that are useful for the survival of the human race.'

The remarks of a Ph. D. candidate (Paola Grenier) at the London School of Economics (posted at: ssireview), I believe, reflect this bias. Grenier reportedly wants to challenge 'the dominance of business schools in the development of research and and education into social entrepreneurship'. She feels that, 'social justice needs to be a bit more centre stage in social entrepreneurship.'

At this years Oxford Said Business School Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship a slight majority of the delegates I met held similar views, and one of the speakers went so far as to denounce 'the myth of compassionate capitalism.' If such attitudes prevail, and entrepreneurs are driven out of social entrepreneurship, we face yet another 50 years of ineffectual humanitarian effort.

(I will be returning to this topic in the near future.)