Publications

11 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 11

account is one that frames the purpose of the for-profit corporation in terms of its function in allowing members of society to meet their wants and needs by coordinating labor and capital in the production of goods and services. August... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 2008

By: Allen S. Grossman, Thomas J. Steenburgh, Lauren Susan Mehler and Matthew Benjamin Oppenheimer

As with many national non-profits, Planned Parenthood is organized as 100 separate 501(c)3 organizations. What is the best structure for Planned Parenthood to fulfill its mission? View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations

Find at Harvard

13 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 13

Publications August 2013 Harvard Business Review From Purpose to Impact: Figure Out Your Passion and Put It to Work By: Craig, Nick, and Scott Snook Abstract—We offer opinions on leadership. A need is seen for executives to have a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

NerveWire, Inc.

By: Nitin Nohria and Anthony Mayo

NerveWire, a management consulting and systems integration provider based in Newton, MA, was closing in on its second anniversary. In the beginning days of NerveWire, the major challenge was recruiting--finding the right people who embodied its values and business... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Behavior; Internet; Newton

July 2020
Case

Sesame Workshop (C): Mission Critical Responses to Global and National Crises

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Beginning in March 2020, Sesame Workshop navigated a global pandemic and racial justice crisis, which caused unemployment, business shutdowns, school closures, and remote work. The CEO and team responded with new partnership using its assets and reinforcing its... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Social Issues; Crisis Management; Global Range; Mission and Purpose; Education; Education Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

2015
Chapter

How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Matthew Bird, Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Raffaelli

How do strategic leaders create change-adept organizations? Based on qualitative field research, this chapter argues that well-defined institutionalized purpose, values, and principles act as an organizational guidance system that integrates and strengthens the... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Field Research; Intrinsic Motivation; Organizational Identity; Ecosystem; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Motivation and Incentives; Research; Management Systems; Change

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August 2022
Supplement

Broadway Angels (2022)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In late June of 2022, Sonja Perkins, co-founder of Broadway Angels, contemplated the group’s future. She and her co-founders, Jennifer Fonstad, and Magdalena Yesil, started the group to gather together the most successful and powerful women in venture capital and... View Details

Keywords: Gender Equity; Impact; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Mission and Purpose; Groups and Teams; Financial Services Industry

28 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World

says Badaracco. "If you don't appear to be making good on those commitments, a lot of your key assets will go out the door." That necessarily means that some constituencies such as the environment or other causes traditionally associated with corporate View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

15 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 15, 2017

bankrupt the company. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53093 2017 The Moral Responsibility of Firms Corporate Moral Agency, Positive Duties, and Purpose By: Hsieh, Nien-hê Abstract—A long-standing question... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Bright Ideas: The Creative Power of Groups

and execute truly creative solutions. Perhaps the traditional image of the creative genius working alone to create great breakthroughs is not so accurate after all. To shatter conventional wisdom about group creativity is one purpose of... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

18 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Penn State Lesson: Today’s Cover-Up was Yesterday’s Opportunity

responsibility, their integrity and purpose in leading, and accepting themselves as imperfect human beings striving to do their best to help their organizations. An integral part of their development is gaining the self-confidence to... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Education

March 2007 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Aurolab: Bringing First-World Technology to the Third-World Blind

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Aurolab is the in-house producer of IOLs (required in cataract surgery) for the Aravind Eye Care System, a group of charity hospitals with the largest volume of eye surgery in the world. Aurolab's manufacturing capability and capacity had long exceeded the requirements... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Production; Mission and Purpose; Performance Capacity; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Strategy; India

March 1997 (Revised July 1998)
Case

SOS-Kinderdorf International: Caring for Orphaned Children

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

SOS-Kinderdorf, founded in 1949, has grown rapidly into one of the largest orphanages in the world with children's villages, kindergartens, schools, youth facilities, and other complementary programs in 130 countries. This case describes the evolution of the... View Details

Keywords: Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Mission and Purpose; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; India; Norway; United States