Luke Wu

Author: "Kapap Academy: The 'Everywoman' hero"

Writing team: "NTUC Foodfare: Eating well and eating 'good'", "Anthill Creations: Playscape for slum kids", and "SELCO India: Lighting up rural lives with solar energy"

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In the world of creating new ventures with the single goal of achieving financial profitability, it is well known that nine of ten startups are likely to fail. For new social ventures that have the twin goals of financial profitability and social… Show more

Author: "Kapap Academy: The 'Everywoman' hero"

Writing team: "NTUC Foodfare: Eating well and eating 'good'", "Anthill Creations: Playscape for slum kids", and "SELCO India: Lighting up rural lives with solar energy"

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In the world of creating new ventures with the single goal of achieving financial profitability, it is well known that nine of ten startups are likely to fail. For new social ventures that have the twin goals of financial profitability and social inclusiveness, the chances of failures are even higher.

This book provides insight into the common struggles of social activists and the strategic responses necessary to not only overcome their organizational issues but also address the world’s pressing social challenges. The book not only traces the journey of the social activists in growing their social ventures to flesh out real-life issues but also introduces the latest management thinking on social innovation in daily business decision. This book makes a useful contribution in furthering the concepts of social innovation and entrepreneurship and inspiring more change agents to create and implement effective, scalable and sustainable solutions to address social issues and meet the needs of the disadvantaged groups in the society. Show less

Kapap Academy Pte. Ltd. (Kapap Academy) was established in 2007, following the tragic death of the founder’s older brother, with a mission to empower everyday people to learn realistic self-defence skills. The founder and his apprentice-turned-business partner formulated a simple yet functional brand of self-defence, which they named the Modern Street Combatives method. Kapap Academy’s social mission was evident in its provision of both heavily discounted and completely free training sessions… Show more

Kapap Academy Pte. Ltd. (Kapap Academy) was established in 2007, following the tragic death of the founder’s older brother, with a mission to empower everyday people to learn realistic self-defence skills. The founder and his apprentice-turned-business partner formulated a simple yet functional brand of self-defence, which they named the Modern Street Combatives method. Kapap Academy’s social mission was evident in its provision of both heavily discounted and completely free training sessions for needy and vulnerable segments of society—in particular, women who were victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, as well as the elderly. Kapap Academy was able to sustain this social mission with a dual income stream. After its 10th-year anniversary, Kapap Academy was looking to export its brand of Modern Street Combatives overseas. This posed various challenges; in particular, whether to adopt a licensing model or a franchise arrangement. Each model had its pros and cons, but a decision had to be made. Show less

This book provides its readers with key foundational knowledge in entrepreneurship theory and practice, especially how the regulatory, demographic, social, economic, and political conditions in Asia enable (or sometimes hinder) enterprising individuals to start, develop, and grow their business ventures. Whether you are a student, educator, or participant (or even observer) in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, you will find this a useful introduction to entrepreneurship in Asia. You will find the… Show more

This book provides its readers with key foundational knowledge in entrepreneurship theory and practice, especially how the regulatory, demographic, social, economic, and political conditions in Asia enable (or sometimes hinder) enterprising individuals to start, develop, and grow their business ventures. Whether you are a student, educator, or participant (or even observer) in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, you will find this a useful introduction to entrepreneurship in Asia. You will find the numerous vignettes of entrepreneurs and Asian businesses to be illuminating, interesting, and instructive. Show less

Unlikely Innovation traces the journey of five corporations (BreadTalk, SPH Media Fund, DBS Foundation, IBM and Zara) in pursuing corporate innovation and entrepreneurship to fend off competition in their markets. It adopts a case study approach to highlight the challenges and dilemma that each of the five firms encountered in the face of technological disruptions and new competition, and how they adopted new strategies to deal with internal and external factors, as well as transform the… Show more

Unlikely Innovation traces the journey of five corporations (BreadTalk, SPH Media Fund, DBS Foundation, IBM and Zara) in pursuing corporate innovation and entrepreneurship to fend off competition in their markets. It adopts a case study approach to highlight the challenges and dilemma that each of the five firms encountered in the face of technological disruptions and new competition, and how they adopted new strategies to deal with internal and external factors, as well as transform the organization to minimize the threats and seize the opportunities presented. Unlikely Innovation is written for professionals and managers who have the mandate to grow their business and individuals who are interested in applying the latest concepts of innovation to advance their career. Show less

Anecdotally, nine out of ten business ventures end in failure. Why? Eight case studies from the front line of innovation in Asia, linked to conceptual frameworks emerging from practical experience and research, reveal how and why entrepreneurs succeed to beat the odds.