Publications

September 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Explore, Inc.

By: Allen S. Grossman, James E. Austin, Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Documents the creation of a national before and after-school day care program aimed at bridging the gap between school and parents' work schedules. This high-growth, for-profit social enterprise organization operated in what was historically the domain of nonprofit or... View Details

Keywords: Microeconomics; Growth and Development; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Mission and Purpose; Performance Expectations; Quality; Social Enterprise; Travel Industry

22 Apr 2020
News

The Curious Case of the Coronavirus Commercial

07 Nov 2016
News

The CEO as Activist

16 Jun 2021
News

Why Purpose Is an Underused Concept, According to This Harvard Business School Professor

January 2024
Case

ECOALF: Fashion for the Future

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Diego Aparicio, Carlota Moniz and María José Satrústegui

ECOALF, a Spanish fashion brand and sustainability pioneer, aimed to tackle the industry's challenges of excessive consumption and production. The brand's mission was to create timeless apparel exclusively from recycled and eco-responsible materials, matching the... View Details

June 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems

By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, Gina Lucarelli, leader of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs, prepared for a meeting with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The two planned to discuss the future of the Accelerator Labs, a network of social innovation labs located... View Details

Keywords: Change; Disruption; Transformation; Change Management; Education; Learning; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Local Range; Geopolitical Units; Country; Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Information Technology; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Psychology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Society; Social Issues; Welfare; Strategy; Cooperation; Adaptation; Public Administration Industry; North and Central America

November 2006
Case

The Pine Street Initiative at Goldman Sachs

By: Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook and David Lane

Almost five years had passed since Goldman Sachs launched its innovative leadership development initiative called Pine Street. Focused primarily on developing Goldman's most senior managers, Pine Street had evolved significantly since its inception in November of 1999.... View Details

Keywords: Executive Education; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Development; Business Education; Financial Services Industry

24 Aug 2020
Blog Post

My Journey to Joining the first MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Cohort

couldn’t have hand crafted a more perfect program. Its mission is to cultivate leaders who can assess potential therapeutic value, create sustainable business models, and understand the ethical implications of novel therapeutics or... View Details

08 Feb 2022
Cold Call Podcast

What’s Next for Nigerian Production Studio EbonyLife Media?

Keywords: Re: Andy Wu; Media & Broadcasting

July 24, 2019
Editorial

How to Make Even the Most Mundane Tasks More Motivating

By: Jaewon Yoon, A.V. Whillans and Ed O'Brien

People want purposeful work, and managers know it. That’s why companies try to inspire employees with mission statements about the impact their work can have. Ikea tells employees they’re “creating a better everyday life”; Microsoft says they’re “empowering every... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Perspective

Derek van Bever is a Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit of Harvard Business School. He teaches courses in both years of the MBA program (“Leadership and Corporate Accountability” in the first-year required curriculum and “Building and Sustaining a... View Details

21 Jul 2008
News

HBS Institutional Memory Web Site Adds New Feature

November 2018
Case

David Hysong and SHEPHERD Therapeutics

By: Ananth Raman, John Masko and Aldo Sesia

In 2016, David Hysong, at age 27, found out he had a rare, incurable cancer. Rather than wait around to die, Hysong, a recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School, decided to launch a biotechnology company called Shepherd Therapeutics to development treatments for his... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Therapeutics; Drugs; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Product Development; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges

March 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector

By: William C. Kirby and Erica M. Zendell

Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; China; Business And Government Relations; Business And Poverty; Business And Society; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Emerging Market; NGO; Education; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Emerging Markets; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; China

August 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

TNT Limited's Logistics Services in Asia (A): The Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Meredith Hellicar's mission as general manager of corporate development is to make TNT Ltd. one of the biggest and most diverse transport and logistic companies in the world, with approximately $5 billion in turnover in 1993, a leading provider of logistics services in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Distribution; Logistics; Mission and Purpose; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Diversification; Transportation Industry; Asia; China; Indonesia; Thailand

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry