Publications

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This Note has two parts. The first part (A) explores how U.S. private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly available... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

Research Summary

Strategic participation of social movement organizations

Social movements and related social movement organizations (SMOs) play an important role in the formation of new industries and market niches, as well as the emergence of new organizational forms. I argue that as SMOs become more sophisticated and... View Details

February 2020
Teaching Note

Ariadne Labs: Building Impactful Partnerships

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 619-017. View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Industry; Boston

14 Sep 2015
News

Helping Investors Have an Impact

getting people to cross-connect and cross-pollinate our ideas. It enables philanthropic funders, whether they are philanthropists giving money or they are institutional investors who want to actually deploy their assets via venture philanthropy or View Details

September 2020
Teaching Note

Miami's Tech Future (B): Building the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

In 2017, Miami was rated #1 among U.S. cities for startups, but about 40th for “scale-ups” – growth companies. This case shows how leaders of incubators and accelerators supported startups and a culture of entrepreneurship, but also describes some factors limiting... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; Growth; Startup; Community Impact; Community Relations; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Miami; Florida

22 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness

Keywords: by Frank Nagle

April 2006
Case

Medical Innovation Beyond MedStar: Mobilizing for National Impact

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Michelle Heskett

Dr. Craig Feied, director of MedStar Health's Medical Informatics programs, wanted his innovations to influence national health care. Since joining Washington Hospital Center's Emergency Department in 1995 with Dr. Mark Smith, their information system had become the... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Policy; Government and Politics; Innovation and Management; Projects; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Washington (state, US)

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This is the second part of a two-part note. The first part (A) explores how US private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Ariadne Labs: Building Impactful Partnerships

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

In September 2018, the executive team at Ariadne Labs (Ariadne), a Boston-based organization dedicated to improving health systems through the discovery and implementation of simple tools, faced a number of strategic decisions. Chief among them, the seven-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry; Boston

Web

Your Social Entrepreneurship checklist | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

The Social Enterprise Initiative has long supported students and alumni starting organizations with a social impact focus. Our curriculum, career support, community building,... View Details

15 Aug 2019
Blog Post

The Social Enterprise Initiative at HBS

July, HBS hosted an information session for prospective students about the level of impact these initiatives can have on the community and the world. In this post, we are sharing the discussion from the View Details

Article

The Impact of the 'Open' Workspace on Human Collaboration

By: Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban

Organizations’ pursuit of increased workplace collaboration has led managers to transform traditional office spaces into “open,” transparency-enhancing architectures with fewer walls, doors, and other spatial boundaries, yet there is scant direct empirical research on... View Details

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04 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Putting Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector

interest in developing social entrepreneurship courses, and last but not least, practitioners themselves, who are seeking to achieve mission impact as effectively, efficiently, and sustainably as possible.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 2022 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Boston Impact Initiative: Investing in Local Change

By: Emily R. McComb, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

In fall 2021, Aliana Piñeiro, impact director at Boston Impact Initiative (BII) discovered that an entrepreneur the organization was considering for an investment had failed to disclose pre-existing debt with another lender. Although the business scored highly on BII’s... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Society; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Wealth; Poverty; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts; Boston