Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(5,271)
- Faculty Publications (939)
- January 2025
- Case
Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan
By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan
The Teach For Taiwan (TFT) case follows founder Anting Liu as she considers how to scale the nonprofit’s talent strategy after a decade of impact in rural education. TFT recruits high-potential young professionals into a 2-year teaching fellowship, aiming to address... View Details
- November 2024
- Background Note
Social Enterprise in the MENA Region
By: Brian Trelstad and Ahmed Dahawy
This research note provides an overview of the socio-economic landscape of social enterprise in the Middle East and North Africa. It highlights the diversity of players in the region including social enterprise organizations (in their many forms) and supporting... View Details
Keywords: MENA; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Diasporas; Social Entrepreneurship; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Geographic Scope; Health Care and Treatment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Demographics; Health Industry; Service Industry; Tourism Industry; Egypt; Morocco; North Africa; Tunisia; Jordan; Lebanon; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Middle East
- November 2024
- Background Note
Nonprofit Governance: Some Basics
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
This background note discusses basics about the prevalence, purpose, and unique legal, governance and regulatory dynamics of nonprofits and their boards of directors. The note describes both similarities and differences between for-profit and non-profit governance,... View Details
- November 2024
- Supplement
Clara Wu Tsai and Brooklyn Loan Innovation (B)
By: Archie Jones, Mathieu Davis, Mourya Mamidala and Max Hancock
This (B) case provides an update on “Clara Wu Tsai and Brooklyn Loan Innovation (A)” View Details
- October 2024
- Module Note
Purpose of the Firm
By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau
Purpose of the Firm (PoF) is a short module designed to explore how, and under what circumstances, business leaders can harness the power of capitalism and markets to “make a difference in the world”—that is, to address a significant societal problem as a commercial... View Details
- October 2024
- Case
Estímulo: Blended Finance in Brazil
By: Vikram S. Gandhi, James Barnett, Maxim Pike Harrell and Marina Osborn
In December 2022, Estímulo—a Brazilian impact investment fund supporting small businesses—found itself at a crossroads. The fund was established in 2020 to provide emergency relief through accessible credit and financial education. When low default rates from borrowers... View Details
- October 2024
- Article
Racial Disparities in the Paycheck Protection Program
By: Sergey Chernenko and David Scharfstein
Using a large sample of Florida restaurants, we document significant racial disparities in borrowing through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and investigate the causes of these disparities. Black-owned restaurants are 25% less likely to receive PPP loans.... View Details
- September 2024
- Case
Open Door Legal: Universal Legal Access
By: Brian Trelstad, Taylor Greenthal and Sarah Mehta
This case is about Open Door Legal (ODL), a San Francisco-based civil legal aid nonprofit. CEO Adrian Tirtanadi founded the organization in 2012 with a mission to achieve universal access to legal representation for all city residents. By 2024, ODL had opened four... View Details
- September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
- Case
Ming Min Hui at Boston Ballet
By: Edward H. Chang, David Allen and Annelena Lobb
This case asks how Ming Min Hui, the newly appointed executive director of Boston Ballet, should ensure that the company stays true to its art form yet relevant to its times. Hui stood out among ballet leaders as a young, Asian American woman with a Harvard Business... View Details
- September 2024
- Module Note
Governance for Non-Profit Social Enterprises
By: Brian Trelstad, Gerald Chertavian and Alexis Lefort
An overview of the various roles a non-profit board of directors plays, including the board’s principal responsibilities and how those evolve as organizations grow and scale. Looks closely at the overall role in setting the mission of the organization; supervising and... View Details
- August 2024 (Revised February 2025)
- Case
Novo Nordisk Foundation
By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau
In 2024, Novo Nordisk A/S was one of the most profitable firms in the world, thanks largely to just two GLP-1-based drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Unusually, this incredibly profitable firm was controlled not by individual private shareholders, but by a non-profit... View Details
Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Diabetes; Obesity; Foundation; Non-profit Management; Profit; Corporate Governance; Business or Company Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Expansion; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Nonprofit Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Denmark; Europe
- August 2024
- Case
Pioneering Pain Management: CWC Alliance Combats the Opioid Epidemic
By: Susanna Gallani, Karen L. Sedatole and Sarah Mehta
Set in March 2024, this case is about CWC Alliance (CWC), a nonprofit working to prevent opioid addiction in the U.S. Founder Cammie Wolf Rice launched CWC in 2018 after her son, Christopher Wolf, died of a heroin overdose. Wolf’s dependence on opioids stemmed from a... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
“If You’re Not There… You’re Not There”: How Art Market Platforms Induce Status Anxiety to Coerce Participation
By: James Riley and Ezra Zuckerman Sivan
This paper, an 18-month ethnographic investigation of international art fairs (IAFs), shows how market platforms can have a coercive effect, inducing sellers (i.e., art galleries) to participate despite ambivalence over their value and anxiety over the process by which... View Details
- July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
- Case
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy
By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan
Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details
Keywords: Philanthropy; Philanthropic Sector; Performance Evaluations; Social Network; Collaboration; Foundation; Due Diligence; Humanitarianism; Humanitarian Assistance; Grants; Expertise; HNW Products And Services; Donations; Impact; Advisor; Advice; Consulting; Funding; Consulting Services; Family Business; Cost vs Benefits; Developing Countries and Economies; Private Sector; Spending; Mission and Purpose; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance Evaluation; Nonprofit Organizations; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Consulting Industry; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); United States
- July 2024
- Case
Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO
By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc
In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Interpersonal Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Investment Banking; Stock Options; Financial Markets; Initial Public Offering; Institutional Investing; Price Bubble; Digital Platforms; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Agreements and Arrangements; Going Public; Ownership Stake; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Rank and Position; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities; Happiness; Reputation; Status and Position; Well-being; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Canada
- 2024
- Chapter
Broadening Ownership for a Responsible Digital Revolution
By: Nien-hê Hsieh
The chapter explores how broadening ownership of business enterprises provides a response to three concerns raised by the digital revolution. The first is the potential for widespread job displacement and unemployment due to automation. The second relates to the harms... View Details
Keywords: Digital; Industrial Policy; Work; Ownership; Technology Adoption; Job Cuts and Outsourcing
- 2024
- Chapter
Corporations as the Central Institutions of Society
Mark Twain observed that, “Prediction is very difficult—particularly when it involves the future,” and he was right. One way to reduce the risk of becoming an infamous forecaster—like the experts who told us the Internet would quickly collapse, that Apple would never... View Details
- May 14, 2024
- Article
One Way to Help Employees Build Emergency Savings
By: Timothy Flacke and Peter Tufano
Intentional cooperation between two organizations — BlackRock, a major asset management firm, and national non-profit, Commonwealth — created the conditions for the nation’s largest payroll processor, multiple U.S. employers, retirement record keepers, and others to... View Details
- May 2024 (Revised June 2024)
- Case
Together for Sustainability
This case documents the origin and development of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a chemical industry initiative dedicated to raising sustainability standards throughout the industry’s supply chains. In 2011, six Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) from some of the... View Details
- May 2024 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
Market by Met Council: Revolutionizing Food Pantries in the Digital Age
By: Elisabeth Paulson and Michael W. Toffel
In fall 2023, the Food Program of Met Council—America’s largest Jewish charity dedicated to fighting poverty—completed the rollout of the newest version of its digital pantry platform to twelve food pantries in the Met Council food pantry network. The digital... View Details