Publications

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Good News, Not Blues, For the Inner City

City Advantage In 1994, Porter founded the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a non-profit program to study and catalyze inner city business development. He and the group in ICIC define inner cities as urban areas with high poverty... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

each year. One group of students successfully lobbied faculty to create a field-based course on poverty and inequality. Members of one graduating class crafted and signed an MBA Oath with a professional code of ethics. Another class... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

March 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Oprah!

By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean

Oprah Winfrey believed in sharing the experiences that shaped her development and enabled her to become the wealthiest women in the entertainment industry and first African American billionaire. Traces her childhood and entertainment career, drawing connections in... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Wealth; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Biography; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Article

Power to the People

By: Eric D. Werker

Every nongovernmental organization has a mission statement. For example, CARE, one of the world's largest and best-funded NGOs, explains its mission as serving "individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Food; Service Operations; Inflation and Deflation; Experience and Expertise; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Knowledge; Poverty; Agribusiness; Diversity; Non-Governmental Organizations; Innovation and Invention; India

Find at Harvard

March 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Blue Meridian Partners (A): Scaling for Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

In 2018, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in a bold move transferred all its assets to a fund pooled with other General Partners and Limited Partners, called Blue Meridian Partners, to focus substantial long range investments in a few carefully chosen nonprofits.The... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Scaling; COVID-19 Pandemic; Social Justice; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Venture Capital; Business Model; Social Issues; Poverty; Values and Beliefs; Decisions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Investment Portfolio

June 2023
Teaching Note

Connecting Students in Chattanooga (A) and (B)

By: Jan W. Rivkin

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 722-449 and 722-451. As this case opens, it is the spring of 2020 in Chattanooga. COVID-19 has hit, public schools have closed their buildings, remote learning has begun, and more than 28,000 schoolkids lack the high-quality Internet... View Details

Keywords: K-12 Education; Pandemic; COVID-19; Accessibility; Education; Urban Development; Wealth and Poverty; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Education Industry; Tennessee

05 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 5

the most likely to oppose its increase. Similarly, in the General Social Survey, those above poverty but below median income support redistribution significantly less than their background characteristics would predict. Publisher's link: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Do We Tax?

Medicare were initiated, they kicked in at an age when work had become difficult for most people. They were intended, in fact, to prevent poverty among the elderly. These days, 65 doesn't seem nearly so old. Productive work at that age is... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Legal Services

06 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 6, 2007

strategic planning. Also, the organization is committed to helping as many people out of poverty as quickly as possible, but donations and repayments are not enough to fuel rapid growth; other financial tools are needed. Explores the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Moonfare and the Democratization of Private Equity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

Founded in 2016, Moonfare headquartered in Europe, was a pioneer in the “democratization” of private equity investments. Historically, private equity was accessible only to institutional investors like pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and large family... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Customers; Wealth; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Financial Services Industry; Europe

November 1998 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Deere & Company: Sustaining Value

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Marlowe Dayley

The question facing Deere & Co. is whether or not to adopt some of the organizational technologies of private equity investors (decentralized equity holdings, use of leverage to control the disposition of cash flows, the externalization of the capital budgeting... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cash Flow; Private Equity; Wealth; Adoption; Manufacturing Industry

July 2021
Case

Kevin D. Johnson: To Be a Venture Capitalist or an Operator?

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In May of 2021, Kevin D. Johnson had just graduated from a rigorous Executive MBA program, and he quickly needed to decide on his next career move. Johnson was the founder and CEO of a successful media company, Johnson Media Inc., but his career goals had shifted while... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Goals and Objectives; Race; Wealth; Decisions; Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; United States

18 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Beyond Heroic Entrepreneurs

there are people who are literally trying to solve global issues like poverty and water scarcity, but social entrepreneurship also includes people trying to start a community garden." This is literally the case for Bethel Erickson-Bruce,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 1992
Case

Malaysia (A)

By: Bruce R. Scott

Riots in 1969 bring martial law and a new, more firmly Malay government which sets out to promote redistribution of opportunity, income, and wealth by race-based quotas. Dr. Mahatherl, a Malay nationalist says Malays have a non-competitive alliance which must be forced... View Details

Keywords: Wealth and Poverty; Change Management; Race; Conflict and Resolution; Power and Influence; Malaysia

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/518038-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 419-048 Associação Saúde Criança: Trying to Break the Cycle of Poverty and Illness at Scale Dr. Vera Cordeiro founded the NGO Associação Saúde Criança in... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2011
Working Paper

'Last-place Aversion': Evidence and Redistributive Implications

By: Ilyana Kuziemko, Ryan W. Buell, Taly Reich and Michael I. Norton

Why do low-income individuals often oppose redistribution? We hypothesize that an aversion to being in "last place" undercuts support for redistribution, with low-income individuals punishing those slightly below themselves to keep someone "beneath" them. In laboratory... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Surveys; Wealth and Poverty; Behavior; Income; Research; Rank and Position; Attitudes; Personal Characteristics; Economics