Publications

August 2016
Article

'Meso'-Foundations of Dynamic Capabilities: Team-Level Synthesis and Distributed Leadership as the Source of Dynamic Creativity

By: Ikujiro Nonaka, Ayano Hirose and Yusaku Takeda

This article examines the theoretical foundations of an organization's dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, and transforming—from the perspective of organizational knowledge creation. Making a distinction between the creative and adaptive aspects of dynamic... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory; Dynamic Capabilities; Middle-up-down Management; Wise Leadership; Phronesis; Multinational Enterprise; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Creativity; Organizational Structure; Knowledge

01 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Benefits of Oversharing

On Facebook and a myriad of other social media platforms, you can find out who your friends are dating, see pictures of their last vacation, and even know what they had for lunch yesterday. It is now... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

might also like many other things that may or may not be like it.” Unlike other systems that use a social graph—who you follow—as a proxy for an interest graph—what you like, TikTok’s system goes directly to an interest graph. The content... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

September 2011 (Revised August 2013)
Case

The Pepsi Refresh Project: A Thirst for Change

By: Michael I. Norton and Jill Avery

In 2010, for the first time in 23 years, PepsiCo did not invest in Superbowl advertising for its iconic brand. Instead, the company diverted this $20 million to the social media-fueled Pepsi Refresh Project: PepsiCo's innovative cause-marketing program in which... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Advertising Campaigns; Investment Return; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Cost vs Benefits; Food and Beverage Industry

Teaching Interest

Overview

Chu's teaching focuses on businesses providing goods and services to the emerging middle class and low-income sectors that constitute the market below the well-served top of the socio-economic pyramid. In developed countries such as the USA, this may be 40-50% of the... View Details

Keywords: Business At The Base Of The Pyramid; Emerging Markets; Low-income; Social Impact; Microfinance; Inclusive Finance; Impact Investing

April 2011
Case

The Sandbox: Creating a Bottom-Up Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Lynda M. Applegate, Rhea Ghosh and Amar Kumar

Discussion of new model of Social Enterprise that applies the venture capital model to social enterprise. View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Venture Capital; Business Model

July 2017
Background Note

An Overview of the NGO and Philanthropy Sectors in India

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Shashank Shah

The note provides an overview of the size and structure of India’s philanthropic sector. It describes the evolution of the sector and its size in numbers and money. It also provides brief descriptions of selected NGOs/Nonprofits in India in different categories to give... View Details

Keywords: Social Sector; Nonprofit Sector; Philanthropic Sector; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Nonprofit Organizations; India

September–October 2020
Article

Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value

By: George Serafeim

Until the mid-2010s few investors paid attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data—information about companies’ carbon footprints, labor policies, board makeup, and so forth. Today the data is widely used by investors. How can organizations create... View Details

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Article

All Eyes on Them: A Field Experiment on Citizen Oversight and Electoral Integrity

By: Natalia Garbiras-Díaz and Mateo Montenegro

Can information and communication technologies help citizens monitor their elections? We analyze a large-scale field experiment designed to answer this question in Colombia. We leveraged Facebook advertisements sent to over 4 million potential voters to encourage... View Details

Keywords: Social Influence; Electoral Behavior; Election Outcomes; Economics; Economy; Governance; Government and Politics; Social Media; Social Marketing; Society; Political Elections; Advertising

June 2017
Case

MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid

By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

February 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)

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

In 2017, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, was preparing to meet with his board of directors to discuss beginning a mission related investments (MRI) program. Walker hoped to devote $1 billion of... 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; New York (city, NY)

08 May 2020
In Practice

Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On

Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School shared advice for nonprofits facing dire financial challenges. How can donors support social impact organizations... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

18 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Commuter Hell? You Can Still Be Productive

this makes people feel happier about their jobs, according to the working paper Between Home and Work: Commuting as an Opportunity for Role Transitions. Meanwhile, doing relaxing or purely pleasurable things on the way to the office, like listening to music in the car... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

February 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Akshaya Patra: Impact at Scale

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby

Akshaya Patra, an Indian NGO, had set an ambitious goal of serving 5 million free meals daily to India's schoolchildren. Founded in 2000, Akshaya Patra had thus far opened 25 high-capacity kitchens in 10 different States to provide a midday meal to nearly 1.65 million... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; Public-private Partnership; Operational Excellence; Nonprofit Scaling; Social Impact; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Performance Effectiveness; Nonprofit Organizations; India

March–April 2020
Article

Avoid the Pitfalls of A/B Testing

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Guillaume Sait-Jacques and Martin Tingley

Online experiments measuring whether “A,” usually the current approach, is inferior to “B,” a proposed improvement, have become integral to the product-development cycle, especially at digital enterprises. But often firms make serious mistakes in conducting these... View Details

Keywords: A/B Testing; Experiment Design; Social Networks; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Measurement and Metrics; Social Media

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February 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Supplement

Omar Selim: Building a Values-Based Asset Management Firm (B)

By: George Serafeim, Rebecca Henderson and Shannon Gombos

The case describes the decision of Omar Selim to set up Arabesque as an independent organization and how he organized Arabesque to use both financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) data in order to deliver performance for its clients. View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Investing; Investment Management; ESG; Sustainability; Investment Banking; Leadership; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Leadership Style; Business Model; Asset Management; Business Startups; Social Enterprise

June 2017
Case

Guillermo Jaime—An Endeavor Entrepreneur

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

Guillermo Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a for-profit company providing affordable housing to low-income Mexicans living at the base of the pyramid (BOP). This case tells the story of Jaime and Endeavor, a nonprofit dedicated to... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico