Publications

Web

Measuring Success in Impact Investing | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Measuring Success in Impact Investing Multiple Alumni Topics Business for Social Impact Impact Investing More View Details

17 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet

consumers. Social networks and the easy connections they facilitate are transforming social life and have helped to elect a President. They also... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising; Publishing

2015
Working Paper

The Impact of Funds: An Evaluation of CDC 2004-12

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, Steve Dew and Dong Ik Lee

CDC was founded in 1948 as part of the U.K. government's efforts to develop the economic resources of Britain's remaining colonies. Since then, CDC has pursued a series of strategies to "do good without losing money," as its original mission was phrased. Its approach... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Great Britain

November 1999 (Revised July 2001)
Case

New Profit Inc.: Governing the Nonprofit Enterprise

By: Robert S. Kaplan

New Profit, Inc. (NPI) is an innovative venture philanthropy fund. Founded by social entrepreneur Venessa Kirsch, NPI intends to raise large donations from individuals who wish to invest in nonprofit enterprises that could have a significant social impact and the... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Nonprofit Organizations; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Service Industry

Educators

01 Mar 2013
News

Two Decades of Social Progress

The Social Enterprise Initiative began in 1993 with a pioneering mission: develop new insights and innovative approaches to contribute to the well-being of society. Driven by... View Details

1995
Chapter

The Role of Dominant Identity and Experience in Organizational Work on Diversity

By: R. J. Ely

Keywords: Working Conditions; Identity; Experience and Expertise; Diversity

March 2020
Case

The Working Circle: Wolves, Ranchers, and Karin Vardaman's Pursuit of the ‘Radical Middle’

By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga

Karin Vardaman, a lifelong conservationist now committed to protecting wolves in the American West, finds herself unexpectedly allied with the one of the species' most fervent opponents: cattle ranchers. View Details

Keywords: Non-profit; Conservation Intervention; Agriculture; Environment; Social Impact; Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Alliances

Educators

29 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Firsthand Experience and the Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration

Keywords: by Mark Mortensen & Tsedal Neeley

2017
Mimeo

Science for Society: Science and Technology Based Social Entrepreneurship

By: Tarun Khanna, Shashank Shah and Kundan Madireddy

This publication is an outcome of the team's research, engagement and interactions with over 25 science and technology-based social enterprises in India. It provides details on the research process, insightful outcomes and innovative impact.
Throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Science-Based Business; Information Technology; Business and Community Relations; India

2022
Article

The Ordinary Concept of a Meaningful Life: The Role of Subjective and Objective Factors in Third-Person Attributions of Meaning

By: Michael Prinzing, Julian De Freitas and Barbara L. Fredrickson

The desire for a meaningful life is ubiquitous, yet the ordinary concept of a meaningful life is poorly understood. Across six experiments (total N = 2,539), we investigated whether third-person attributions of meaning depend on the psychological states an agent... View Details

Keywords: Experimental Philosophy; Folk Theories; Meaning In Life; Moral Psychology; Positive Psychology; Moral Sensibility; Satisfaction

2023
Working Paper

Virtual Water Coolers: A Field Experiment on the Role of Virtual Interactions on Organizational Newcomer Performance

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Jacqueline N. Lane and Iavor Bojinov

Designing management practices to better onboard organizational newcomers working remotely is a key priority for firms. We report results from a randomized field experiment conducted at a large global firm that estimates the performance effects of different types of... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Virtual Water Coolers; Social Interactions; Careers; Field Experiment; Employees; Interpersonal Communication; Internet and the Web; Performance; Personal Development and Career

SSRN

2013
Book

Constructing Green: The Social Structures of Sustainability

By: Rebecca Henn and Andrew J. Hoffman

Buildings are the nation's greatest energy consumers. Forty percent of all our energy is used for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering machines and devices in buildings. And despite decades of investment in green construction technologies, residential and... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Green Building; Transition; Social Issues

1 Sep 1975
Conference Presentation

The Impact of Hierarchial Structures on the Work Behavior of Women and Men

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Behavior; Gender; Organizational Structure

August 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Whole Foods: Balancing Social Mission and Growth

By: Christopher Marquis, Marya Besharov and Bobbi Thomason

In 2009, Whole Foods stands at a crossroads. Their incredible growth over the past 25 years has vaulted them into the ranks of the largest US supermarkets and they have arguably led to the widespread acceptance of natural and organic foods in the United States. Yet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Educators

Article

Loss Aversion, Diminishing Sensitivity, and the Role of Experience in Repeated Decisions

Three experiments are presented that explore the assertion that loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity drive the effect of experience on choice behavior. The experiments are focused on repeated choice tasks where decision makers choose repeatedly between... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mathematical Methods; Loss

01 Aug 2017
News

Finding Purpose in Profit

businesses that consider impacts on all of their stakeholders, not just shareholders.” Coupounas, who often refers to her B Lab role simply as that View Details

September 2023
Article

Stock Price Reactions to ESG News: The Role of ESG Ratings and Disagreement

By: George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

We investigate whether ESG ratings predict future ESG news and the associated market reactions. We find that the consensus rating predicts future news, but its predictive ability diminishes for firms with large disagreement between raters. Relation between news and... View Details

SSRN

May 2018
Article

Incentives for Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Reputations

By: Christine L. Exley

Do monetary incentives encourage volunteering? Or, do they introduce concerns about appearing greedy and crowd out the motivation to volunteer? Since the importance of such image concerns is normally unobserved, the answer is theoretically unclear, and corresponding... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Image Motivation; Volunteer; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Gender; Reputations; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Perception; Reputation