Publications

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2011
Book

Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business

By: Joseph L. Bower, Herman B. Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. The global financial meltdown of 2008 nearly triggered another Great Depression, economies in Europe are still teetering, and powerful... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Leading Change; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy

March 2017 (Revised April 2021)
Module Note

Responsibilities to Society

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

This module note for students outlines an approach to help managers deliver on their responsibilities in relation to society. The approach frames these responsibilities in terms of potential harms to third parties beyond investors, customers, and employees. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Political Activity; Corporate Social Responsibility; Human Rights; Role Of Business In Society; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Business and Community Relations; Rights; Society

2020
Book

Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead

By: Joseph L. Bower, Dutch Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

Who should take the lead in fixing market capitalism? Business—not government alone. The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Pandemics, income inequality, resource depletion, mass... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Business And Society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Policy; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

A New Ecosystem for Business and Society

In their opening comments at the IS2K conference, Harvard University President Neil L. Rudenstine and Harvard Business School Dean Kim B. Clark called forth, respectively, the spirits of the industrial past... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Dec 2015
News

Addressing Gender Equity In Business And Society

initiative’s faculty chair, who is also the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean for culture and community. “One of our main goals... View Details

2021
Working Paper

The Changing Role of Business in Society

By: Michael E. Porter

Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public good, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the... View Details

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15 Aug 2022
Video

The Role of Business in Global Society

02 May 2024
Video

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on AI’s Impact on Business and Society

03 Apr 2009
What Do You Think?

How Much Obsolescence Can Business and Society Absorb?

Summing Up To remain sane and relevant, must we smell the flowers as well as the ozone? This month's question of how much obsolescence business and View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Publishing; Journalism & News

11 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

When Business Competition Harms Society

Competition Corrupts Business Practices, suggests that many organizations in highly competitive markets are likely to bend the rules if doing so will keep their customers from leaving for a rival firm. "Competition is generally... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

May 9, 2024
Article

Business Education Is Broken: Here Are Strategies to Fix It

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Business schools have lost their way. Students are schooled in a system that, having raised the standard of living for millions of people over centuries, is now facing systemic failures in both the environmental and social domains—failures that market forces cause and,... View Details

Keywords: Education Reform; Business And Society; Climate Change; Equality and Inequality; Environmental Sustainability; Business Education

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01 Dec 2016
News

HBS Alumni Contribute to Business and Society

Josh Lerner, Head of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit and the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at HBS, recently led a research study aimed at quantifying the economic and social... View Details

01 Dec 2018
News

Sustaining Business And Society For The Long Term

Henderson says. “It can also help companies rethink their role in society and the power they have to make a difference in ways that go beyond fi nding business opportunities.”... View Details

2010
Dictionary Entry

Civil Society - Business Relations

By: James E. Austin and Alnoor Ebrahim

Keywords: Civil Society or Community; Business and Community Relations; Business Ventures; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Video

Business in Society Courses | HBS Online

2022
Book

Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies

By: Ranjay Gulati

This book offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Business And Society; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Culture

April 2017
Article

The Responsibilities and Role of Business in Relation to Society: Back to Basics?

By: Nien-he Hsieh

In this address, I outline a back-to-basics approach to specifying the responsibilities and role of business in relation to society. Three “basics” comprise the approach. The first is arguing that basic principles of ordinary morality, such as a duty not to harm,... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Corporate Responsibility; Harm; Human Rights; Institutions; Pareto Efficiency; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Moral Sensibility; Society; Rights