Publications

21 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

The Geography of Corporate Giving

Why companies support nonprofits and other socially responsible activities is an intriguing question for both academics and practitioners. After all, there is no clear-cut evidence that corporate "do-gooding" results in greater... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

December 2019 (Revised August 2022)
Exercise

Janet Ames (A)

By: Brian Trelstad and Brian Trelstad

The series of Janet Ames cases follow a fictional alumna of Harvard Business School into her consulting career in Boston. Over the series of cases, Ames is first offered the opportunity to join the board of a Boston-based non-profit organization, which offers students... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Board; Non-profit Management; Career Changes And Transitions; Evaluation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Governing and Advisory Boards; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Management; Personal Development and Career; United States

12 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

One Report: Better Strategy through Integrated Reporting

document. By "nonfinancial" we mean the kind of information that is typically provided in a company's corporate social responsibility or sustainability report regarding its performance in environmental, social, and governance terms. But... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

23 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

How Corporate Responsibility is Changing in Asia

ever when deciding where to source their goods and invest. The countries that can offer the best deal in terms of infrastructure and government stability—not just low wages—will come out ahead, she added. Lessons From Nike As director of... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

November 1974
Case

Job Corps

Describes the efforts of the director of Job Corps to stave off the destruction of his agency by the Nixon administration. In this process, the director built extensive power bases which he mobilized in support of Job Corps. The end result was that Job Corps was not... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Power and Influence; Business and Government Relations

23 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

Bringing the Environment Down to Earth

groups are the company's adversaries. At times, that view is justified; some regulators and advocates are indeed hostile to business. But government and nonprofit organizations will always play a role in... View Details

Keywords: by Forest Reinhardt

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

challenges, few BOP ventures can be expected to reach scale at the pace seen in their mainstream counterparts. Indeed, those BOP ventures that do quickly reach scale often credit some of their success to support from governments, multilateral donors, and View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2015 (Revised August 2019)
Background Note

Higher Education in China: Internationalization in Turbulent Times

By: William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby and Yuanzhuo Wang

The rapid growth in quantity and quality of universities in China since 1978 is the most recent evolution in a long history of higher education. From as early as the Tang Dynasty, academies existed to prepare scholars for the civil service examination, but by the... View Details

Keywords: Non-profit Management; University Administration; University Faculty; University Curriculum; Education Reform; Nonprofit Organizations; Management; Higher Education; History; Governance; Education Industry; China

30 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 30, 2008

(forthcoming) Abstract This paper analyzes the association between ownership, top management incentives, and expenditures on accounting information. We argue that organizations with privately appointed boards of directors such as for-profit and non-governmental View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 1991 (Revised April 1992)
Case

Hospital Sector in 1992

Examines the major issues facing the hospital sector in 1992. The environment surrounding the industry is one of great uncertainty and rapid change, and involves significant public policy questions. Describes recent trends, issues and new types of competitors that... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Change; Health Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

21 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Altruistic Capital: Harnessing Your Employees’ Intrinsic Goodwill

economist, Ashraf developed the idea of altruistic capital while conducting experimental field research for various global nonprofit organizations. But she believes that her findings on the subject will yield important lessons for the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What It Takes to Restore Trust in Business

well by defrauding investors." Nonprofit organizations "like our own universities, museums, churches—whose leaders should be talking about this, and talking about it more than they are, who should be providing some of the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

12 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Regulators Ease Up on Companies Generating Political Benefits

enforcement according to his measure of employment intensity, presenting his findings in the 2014 paper Government Preferences and SEC Enforcement. The data supported Heese's hypothesis. Companies in the top 25 percent of employment... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

How Businesses Can Respond to AIDS

with it within those confines." You have to allow for dynamism, for feedback loops, for lots of mid-course corrections.— John Ruggie, Kennedy School Ruggie said it's troubling when people in business, government or NGOs become overly... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

09 Sep 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching Climate Change to Skeptics

are often shaped more by the political climate than by the actual climate. "The issue has become totally intertwined with political ideology," says Richard H.K. Vietor, the Paul Whiton Chertington Professor of Business Administration at HBS, who has been studying View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2010
Working Paper

From Bench to Board: Gender Differences in University Scientists' Participation in Commercial Science

This paper examines gender differences in the participation of university life science faculty in commercial science. Based on theory and field interviews, we develop hypotheses regarding how scientists' productivity, co-authorship networks, and institutional... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Gender Characteristics; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Science-Based Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Biotechnology Industry

Read Now

24 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 24, 2017

supply chain profitability in emerging markets and understand the impact of e-intermediaries. Academic / Practical Relevance: In practice, much attention has been given to e-intermediaries, and they have often been touted as for-profit... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 4

this time. Read the paper: http://hbr.org/2011/10/the-cure-for-horrible-bosses/ar/1 Golfing Alone? Corporations, Elites and Nonprofit Growth in 100 American Communities Authors:Christopher Marquis, Gerald F. Davis, and Mary Ann Glynn... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

American Cancer Society: Access to Care

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

CEO John Seffrin decides to radically change the strategy of the American Cancer Society. The new Access to Care strategy relies on advocacy to change public policy and increase the number of Americans eligible for cancer prevention and treatment. The new strategy... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Governance Controls; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Strategy; Health Industry; United States