Publications

18 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Embracing Activism for Social Change

with Andrea Smith, director of Workforce Training & Program Development at DWIHN. Her role as senior advisor in the Detroit Mayor’s office is Mendu’s first experience in municipal government, but she has long embraced activism for View Details

29 May 1997
Lecture

Responsibility in an Age of Interdependence." Seminar leader. "Executive Workshop

By: Lynn S. Paine

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; System

01 Dec 2013
News

Alumni News | Bookshelf: A Manager's Responsibility in the 21st Century

It's easy to think that the 2010 disaster at the BP drilling platform Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico was the result of a chain of cascading events beyond the control of anyone to stop. But as the authors of Avoiding Corporate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; oil spill; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

September 2014
Article

The New Heretics: Hybrid Organizations and the Challenges they Present to Corporate Sustainability

By: Nardia Haigh and Andrew J. Hoffman

Corporate sustainability has become mainstream; reaching into all areas of business management. Yet despite this progress, large-scale social and ecological issues continue to worsen. In this article, we examine how corporate sustainability has been enacted as a... View Details

Keywords: Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Mission and Purpose

Fast Answer

Transforming Education Through Social Entrepreneurship

screening capability for socially responsible funds and fund managers Background information on social problems/issues including those in education International Encyclopedia of the View Details

29 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability

Keywords: by George Serafeim

February 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)

By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski

In 2017, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, was preparing to meet with his board of directors to discuss beginning a mission related investments (MRI) program. Walker hoped to devote $1 billion of... View Details

Keywords: Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States; New York (city, NY)

Educators

June 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Mercy Corps: Global Social Entrepreneurship (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Daniel F. Curran

Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps International, built his organization by following the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: "Be smart enough to hire good people and have sense enough to get out of their way." For eight years, Keny-Guyer helped Mercy Corps grow in size and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Government and Politics; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Organizational Structure; Opportunities; Afghanistan; Iraq

Educators

September 2012
Other Article

An Interview with Michael Porter: Social Entrepreneurship and the Transformation of Capitalism

By: Michaela Driver and Michael E. Porter

In this interview Michael Porter explores social entrepreneurship in the context of a larger transformation of capitalism. He suggests that social entrepreneurship is an important transitional vehicle toward the creation of shared value and a capitalist system in which... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Economic Systems; Social Entrepreneurship; Transformation

May–June 2014
Article

Paradigm-Changing vs. Paradigm-Deepening Innovation: How Firm Scope Influences Firm Technological Response to Shocks

By: Gautam Ahuja, Curba Morris Lampert and Vivek Tandon

We examine the direction of firms' research efforts as they respond to the shock of a sharp increase in the price of a key input. In terms of direction, firms can respond to this shock with paradigm-changing investments that develop technologies to use substitute... View Details

Keywords: Technological Change; Innovation; Evolutionary Approaches; Shocks; Technological Innovation; System Shocks; Corporate Strategy

10 Jan 2017
News

The Risk And Opportunity For America's Corporate Pension Plans

June 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Responding to the crisis in chemicals in the early 1980's, Allied Chemical (U.S.) and ICI (U.K.) appoint new chairmen to revitalize each company's strategy, culture, and organization. Hennessy, an outsider with a background in managing conglomerates, has strong ideas... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy

Web

Case Studies - Social Impact Collaboratory

Courses & Case Studies Case Studies Middlebury College: Energy2028 (320029) by Brian Trelstad , Michael Norris and John McKinley APRIL 2020 (REVISED MAY 2021) Not all social change happens with new organizations. Middlebury College is one... View Details

2024
Working Paper

What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?

By: Shawn Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

In recent years, impact investors – private investors who seek to generate simultaneously financial and social returns – have attracted intense interest and controversy. We analyze a novel, comprehensive data set of impact and traditional investors to assess how the... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment Decisions; Public Goods; Impact Investment; Investment; Private Equity; Venture Capital

SSRN

Read Now

Article

The Future of Economic, Business, and Social History

By: G. Jones, Marco H.D. van Leeuwen and Stephen Broadberry

Three leading scholars in the fields of business, economic, and social history review the current state of these disciplines and reflect on their future trajectory. Geoffrey Jones reviews the development of business history since its birth at the Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Business History; History; Asia; Africa; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America

December 1996
Background Note

Environmental Behavior And Corporate Reputation

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

2012
Article

Do Voters Demand Responsive Governments? Evidence from Indian Disaster Relief

By: Shawn Cole, Andrew Healy and Eric Werker

Using rainfall, public relief, and election data from India, we examine how governments respond to adverse shocks and how voters react to these responses. The data show that voters punish the incumbent party for weather events beyond its control. However, fewer voters... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; System Shocks; Natural Disasters; Policy; Motivation and Incentives; Public Opinion; India

Read Now

September 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

Rana Plaza: Workplace Safety in Bangladesh (B)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In the aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse, a group of international retailers and labor unions partnered to create a proposal for more stringent inspections and enforcement of safety standards in Bangladesh garment factories. The proposal was met by... View Details

Keywords: Retail Trade; Corporate Social Responsibility; Apparel; Bangladesh; Worker Safety; Government And Business; International Business; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Bangladesh