Publications

27 Oct 2015
News

The Role of Business in Collective Impact

March 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Case

New Schools for New Orleans 2008

Founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a catalyst for the transformation of the public education system in New Orleans, President Sarah Usdin and CEO Matt Candler must adapt their strategy to respond to a continuously shifting local context. By 2008, conditions on... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Situation or Environment; Adaptation; Value Creation; Education Industry; New Orleans

December 2006 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Wireless Generation

Reflecting on an innovative joint venture that his company executed with a public school district in 2004, the CEO of Wireless Generation, a five-year-old, privately held educational technology company, is contemplating the company's product development strategy in... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Education; Government Legislation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry

March 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector

By: William C. Kirby and Erica M. Zendell

Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; China; Business And Government Relations; Business And Poverty; Business And Society; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Emerging Market; NGO; Education; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Emerging Markets; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; China

08 Jun 2017
News

Harvard Business School Announces Social Enterprise Loan Repayment Assistance Program

August 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein Brings Accountability to NYC DOE: Day 2

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Joel Klein took over the NYC Department of Education in 2002 and radically transformed the strategy and organization remarkably with improvements in performance. Day 2 focuses on Klein as a strategist, organization builder and driver of performance. Supplementary... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Education; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry

August 2024
Case

Ashesi University: The Journey from Vision to Reality

By: Ranjay Gulati and Caroline de Lacvivier

In 1997, Patrick Awuah had a dream: to bring liberal arts education to Ghana. Amid the country’s declining economy and pervasive corruption problems, Awuah saw education as an opportunity to reverse its fortunes by investing in the next generation of African leaders.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Development; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Private Ownership; Education Industry; Ghana

August 2000
Case

Project ACHIEVE - January 2000

By: H. Kent Bowen and Elizabeth Kind

Education services target public schools to assist the school with technology and services that will improve their communication with students, parents, and the community. There is also the goal of increasing scores of measured learning. How does a small company do... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Delivery; Learning; Interactive Communication; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Consistency; Business and Community Relations; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Education Industry

23 Jun 2022
News

This State Will Hire You—No College Degree Required

October 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Background Note

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Trends in China K-12

By: John J-H Kim, Haibo Zhao and Shu Lin

This note provides a brief survey of the major entrepreneurial and innovation trends in China’s K-12 education landscape, using trends in public policy as background, but focusing on opportunities available for the private market. The note first provides a brief... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Education; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Education Industry; China

June 2013 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Ensina!

By: John J-H Kim, Alejandra Meraz Velasco and Christine An

In 2011, a group of passionate social entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro, with the support and encouragement of several prominent philanthropists and members of government, launch Ensina!, seizing Brazil's unprecedented economic growth and national commitment to... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Teaching; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry; Brazil

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 29 Oct 2014
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Transforming America's Schools: How Business Leaders Can Help

The time has come for Americas business leaders to reconsider how they work with educators to support public schools. Trends are converging to create fresh opportunities, greater need, and a unique moment for business involvement. In this session, Jan Rivkin will... View Details

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Oklahoma VISION Project

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Susan Saltrick

Describes the two-year-old pilot phase of a public/private initiative in Oklahoma called the Virtual Internet School in Oklahoma Network (VISION) project. VISION was a first-of-its-kind, standards-based, vendor-neutral technology infrastructure developed to enable... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Internet and the Web; Performance Evaluation; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Service Delivery; Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Education; Education Industry; Education Industry; Oklahoma; Western United States

Find at Harvard

Ryan W. Buell is a Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches View Details

Keywords: banking; e-commerce industry; fast food; financial services; high technology; hotels ＆ motels; insurance industry; restaurant; retailing; service industry; transportation

Michael I. Parzen

Michael Parzen is a Senior Lecturer in the Technology and Operations Management unit at Harvard Business School. He is an applied statistician with extensive experience in data science education and currently teaches Applied Business Analytics as an MBA elective... View Details

December 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Gates Foundation and Small High Schools, The

By: Stig Leschly

Covers the evolution of the Gates Foundation's multibillion dollar effort to influence reform in the U.S. public education system since 1999, particularly the foundation's recent decision to invest heavily in the breakup of existing urban high schools and the creation... View Details

Keywords: Secondary Education; Urban Development; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Education Industry