Publications

13 Apr 2022
News

Ranjay Gulati (Harvard Business School) - Finding a Deeper Purpose

November 2024
Case

Meghna Modi at Revlon India: Leading with a Bold Purpose

By: Aiyesha Dey, Sarah Mehta and Sarah Sasso

This case is about Meghna Modi, the head of struggling cosmetics company Revlon India, as she tries to both turn the company around and implement her personal purpose at work. Influenced by her own life struggles, Modi feels compelled to empower her frontline... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business or Company Management; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Power and Influence; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia; India; Delhi

04 Jan 2019
News

Beyond the bottom line: should business put purpose before profit?

05 May 2021
News

How Do You Embed a Sense of Purpose Into a Company?

August 20, 2019
Other Article

An Encouraging Step to Reorient Corporate Purpose

By: Peter Tufano

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Business Education

Read Now

Guest Column

What Is the Purpose of Business?

By: Rakesh Khurana and Herbert Gintis

Keywords: Business Ventures

February 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Supplement

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (B)

By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

November 2023
Case

Tata Group in 2021: Pursuing Profits through Purpose

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Vidhya Muthuram

October 8, 2021: Tata Sons won a bid to acquire India’s national carrier Air India, marking the airline's return to its original owners after 68 long years. The winning bid of $2.4 billion gave Tata Sons full ownership of the airline and its coveted network of 6,200... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Emerging Markets; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; India

October 16, 2023
Article

How a Defined Purpose Drove Unilever’s Turnaround

By: Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

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22 Jan 2018
Blog Post

HBS Peek: Finding a Sense of Purpose

enriching the way I think and act on a daily basis. Moving forward, I know I will always carry with me the purpose to create, the purpose to motivate, View Details

November 2015 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Mission Impossible? Yummy77 Delivers Groceries within the Hour

By: Benjamin Edelman

Yummy77 considers alternative operational models to reduce cost, improve speed, and increase appeal. Can one of these approaches succeed where others have failed? View Details

Keywords: Grocery Delivery; Operations; Platforms; Logistics; Distribution; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

22 Feb 2017
News

What Mark Zuckerberg Understands About Corporate Purpose

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Unifying Divisions: Joro's Mission to Preserve the Planet

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

The case focuses on the initial startup team and Founders’ agreements. In March 2018, Sanchali Pal proposed renegotiating the informal founders’ agreement and equity split she and her co-founders had drafted the previous spring. They had been working together for over... View Details

Keywords: Founders' Agreements; Business Startups; Climate Change; Agreements and Arrangements; Conflict Management

06 Apr 2011
News

Harvard helps retired leaders find new purpose

25 May 2018
News

An Urgent Mission to Speed Progress Against Cancer

19 Jan 2022
News

Supercritical’s Mission to Help Tech Reach Net Zero

Keywords: Net zero

27 May 2020
News

Why the SpaceX manned mission is critical to the private space race

August 2009
Case

Life Stories of Recent MBAs: Leadership Purpose

By: Nitin Nohria, Matthew D. Breitfelder and Daisy A Wademan Dowling

Keywords: Business Education; Leadership