Publications

Awards

Boston NAACP: Kivie Kaplan Humanitarian Award

By: Gerald C. Chertavian

Recipient of the Boston NAACP’s Kivie Kaplan Humanitarian Award in 2015. View Details

25 Apr 2014
News

Finding sustainable solutions for humanitarian crises

Robert Goodwin (GMP 3, 2007) believes professionals and their companies are the critical link in solving the world's most serious problems. As the cofounder of Executives Without Borders, Goodwin proved his case in developing countries by strengthening View Details

August 6, 2020
Article

Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism

By: Frank Cooper and Ranjay Gulati

Any organization can write a check or mobilize resources when confronted with a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic or a social movement such as Black Lives Matter. But corporate crisis response becomes much more meaningful when stakeholders know that the organization... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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Article

Charitable Giving to Humanitarian Organizations in Spain

By: Arthur C. Brooks

06 Aug 2020
News

Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism

2019
Book

Problem Solving: HBS Alumni Making a Difference in the World

By: Howard H. Stevenson, Russ Banham and Shirley Spence

Problem Solving is the culmination of four years of research conducted by a small project team from 2015 through 2018 in collaboration with HBS alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Its broad and deep knowledge base is derived from a survey of 13 MBA classes... View Details

Keywords: Harvard Business School; Alumni; Influence; Social Responsibility; Humanitarianism

July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan

Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details

02 Jan 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Should Businesses Take a Stand on Societal Issues?

Keywords: Re: Hubert Joly

June 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Peace Winds Japan

By: John A. Quelch

Kensuke Onishi, the young entrepreneurial founder of an international Japanese nongovernment organization specializing in humanitarian relief in emerging economies, is considering its future strategic direction. This case includes extensive commentary on Peace Winds'... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Japan; Afghanistan; Iraq

April 2009 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Bono and U2

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Katherine Miller and Rachel Wilcox

This case traces the 30-year development of the rock band U2 and the development of its four members as artists, business leaders, and humanitarians (with particular attention paid to lead singer Bono's global humanitarian work). The case examines the beginnings of the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Globalized Markets and Industries; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Social Enterprise; Music Industry

September 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Genzyme's Gaucher Initiative: Global Risk and Responsibility

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

In Egypt, Genzyme's humanitarian commitment to treat all sufferers of the rare Gaucher disease worldwide first confronts its commercial imperative to recoup the huge investment required to bring the drug Cerezyme to market. Here Tomye Tierney must decide how to balance... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Investment; Emerging Markets; Negotiation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Sales; Commercialization; Expansion; Value Creation

December 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

The World Food Programme during the Global Food Crisis (A)

By: Anette Mikes, Peter Tufano, Eric D. Werker and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Rising food prices threatened an unprecedented number of people around the world with malnutrition or starvation in 2008. The new Executive Director of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP)—the world's largest food relief agency—must not only address this... View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalized Firms and Management; Nutrition; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare

09 Apr 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Sustaining a Legacy of Giving in Turkey

Keywords: Re: Christina R. Wing

October 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Ӧzyeğin Social Investments: A Legacy of Giving

By: Christina R. Wing, Zeshan Gondal and Brittany L. Logan

This case explores the work of Özyeğin Social Investments, founded by Hüsnü Özyeğin, one of Turkey's most successful entrepreneurs. With a focus on education, health, gender equality, rural development, and disaster relief in Turkey, Özyeğin Social Investments and the... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family Business; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Turkey

May 2024
Article

Refugees Are Hosted in Highly Vulnerable Communities

By: C. Austin Davis, Paula Lopez-Peña, A. Mushfiq Mobarak and Jaya Y. Wen

Low- and middle-income nations host 76 percent of the world's refugees. This study uses original data to explore within-country spatial variability in refugee-hosting responsibilities. We find that hosting responsibilities for the displaced Rohingya people in... View Details

Keywords: Refugees; Political Elections; Equality and Inequality; Immigration; Developing Countries and Economies; Income

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

BRAC in 2020

By: Tarun Khanna and Shreya Ramachandran

In 2020, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, BRAC, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has some big problems to tackle. Its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, has left behind a challenge: take the 1981-founded organization from Bangladesh to every... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Education; Health; Social Issues; Poverty; Programs; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Education Industry; Health Industry; Bangladesh; South Asia

28 Feb 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Muhammad Ali: A Case Study in Purpose-Driven Decision Making

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons; Sports

September 2007
Journal Article

Refugee Camp Economies

By: Eric D. Werker

This paper describes the economy of a refugee camp. Key distortions to the economy of Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda are noted and the findings are used to construct a generic model of a refugee camp economy. Camp economies are influenced by host country... View Details

Keywords: Refugees; Economy; Policy; Civil Society or Community; Human Needs; Societal Protocols; Uganda