Publications

October 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Women's World Banking: Catalytic Change Through Networks

By: James E. Austin and Susan Hamerling

Describes the evolution of Women's World Banking, an international microfinance nonprofit promoting financial access for poor women. Explores the organization's development of different types of networks to achieve its mission. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; History; Networks; Microfinance; Nonprofit Organizations; Gender; Growth and Development Strategy

12 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

‘Hybrid’ Organizations a Difficult Bet for Entrepreneurs

Consider two organizations with the same noble purpose: to solve the problem of poor eyesight in developing countries. The first, the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, follows a traditional nonprofit model, soliciting donations... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Spring 2014
Article

What Impact? A Framework for Measuring the Scale & Scope of Social Performance

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Organizations with social missions, such as nonprofits and social enterprises, are under growing pressure to demonstrate their impacts on pressing societal problems such as global poverty. This article draws on several cases to build a performance assessment framework... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Performance Evaluation

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Read Now

25 Apr 2014
Video

Tom Kempner - Making A Difference

April 2002 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Cisco Systems and its Community Fellowship Program (A)

By: Diana Barrett and Sheila McCarthy

Focuses on the introduction, implementation, and initial evaluation of Cisco Systems Community Fellowship Program. This program provided Cisco employees affected by the layoff the option of working with a nonprofit organization for one year. Instead of a severance... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Compensation and Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

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29 Aug 2022
News

Harvard Business School Announces 2022 Goldsmith Fellows

July 1998 (Revised October 1999)
Case

IPODERAC

By: James E. Austin, Wendy Bermudez and Gustavo Escobar

This 32-year-old nonprofit organization has dedicated itself to the care and social development of abandoned street children in Mexico. Examines the organization's efforts to achieve financial sustainability, particularly through earned income activities on its farm.... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Management; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Balance and Stability; Service Industry; Mexico

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Willa Seldon at Tides Center (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Willa Seldon, an African-American woman with 16 years of for-profit experience, was hired as executive director of Tides Center, a nonprofit in San Francisco, CA. Tides Center was a fiscal sponsor dedicated to supporting individuals and groups working toward social... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Nonprofit Organizations; Transition; Change Management; Leadership Style; Performance; Customer Satisfaction; San Francisco

Anjali... View Details

In Search of the Hybrid Ideal

This article examines the rise of hybrid organizations that combine aspects of nonprofits and for-profits and the challenges hybrids face as they attempt to integrate traditionally separate organizational models.

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25 Apr 2014
Video

Venkatesh Iyer - Making A Difference

June 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

ACCION International

By: John A. Quelch

ACCION International is a major nonprofit player in microfinance. Reviews the organization's history and evolution, details current activities and relationships within its network, and assesses the organization's challenges moving forward. View Details

Keywords: Networks; Nonprofit Organizations; Microfinance

April 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ramona Hilgenkamp

Mounting financial losses and increasing public scrutiny present many challenges to the board of directors of a large nonprofit health insurer. This case series presents chronologically the increasing problems of the company. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Financial Condition; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Insurance Industry