Publications

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

12 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Solving COVID'S Mental Health Crisis

get an annual budget from the provincial government but philanthropy still plays an important role in funding new programs and research and augmenting services.” The Foundation, which is one of Canada’s largest charities, provided $48.5... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence; Health

October 2024
Case

Reed Group and Succession in a Family Business: An Impossible Job to Fill?

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Tonia Labruyere

James Reed had taken over Reed Group, the recruitment and career services company his father had founded and built, in 1994. He was now reflecting on succession planning and other challenges that lay ahead: with no obvious choice among his family members, he needed to... View Details

Keywords: Charity; Succession Planning; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Management Succession; Mission and Purpose; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family and Family Relationships; Recruitment; AI and Machine Learning; Employment Industry; United Kingdom; London

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

Economic Leaders, Simon & Schuster, 2008 Abstract Bill Gates is more than the world's most successful capitalist; he's also the world's biggest philanthropist. Gates has approached philanthropy the same way he revolutionized computer... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

The Spiritual Lives of Leaders - Course Catalog

Faith Shapes Boardroom Debate Faith as An Enabler and Disabler Linking Spirituality, Health and Leadership Poetic Justice: Islam and Business III. Moving Beyond – Locating Purpose in the World Moral Growth as a Business Leader Spiritual View Details

December 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

After a "first career" in business, HBS graduate Christopher Crane becomes CEO of a worldwide microfinance network. The organization's twin challenges are: 1) developing metrics to give it an accurate picture of its situation and impacts, and 2) generating rapid... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Measurement and Metrics; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Model; Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry

Web

Supplemental Financial Information | Annual Report 2024

and 2023. Gifts & Endowment Philanthropy remains a vital source of revenue to support the faculty’s ambitious research agenda, advance the School’s strategic priorities, and fund annual operations. In fiscal 2024, revenue from the three... View Details

February 2022
Case

Paul Polman

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and Susie Ma

Over his 40-year career, Paul Polman had led some of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, making his biggest mark as CEO of Unilever—a multi-national corporation that produced everything from soap to soup. Polman was also well-regarded as a leader in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Personal Development and Career; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

04 Sep 2019
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for September 2019

co-founder of the investment firm Blackstone, has written an empowering, entertaining, and informative guide for anyone striving for greater personal impact. From deal making to investing, leadership to entrepreneurship, philanthropy to... View Details

May 2025
Case

IQanat: Empowering Rural Youth in Kazakhstan

By: Boris Groysberg and Maxim Pike Harrell

In June 2025, IQanat CEO Aliya Salikova considered scaling opportunities for the foundation, which provided educational opportunities for children from rural regions of Kazakhstan. Established by Kazakhstani businessman and philanthropist Aidyn Rakhimbayev, IQanat... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Rural Scope; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Equality and Inequality; Education Industry; Central Asia; Kazakhstan

January 2013 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Pittsburgh

By: Eric Werker, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy and Andrew Knauer

The case narrates the development of Pittsburgh from the 1940s to 2012. It analyzes the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s, the city's subsequent decline, and the city's later re-emergence as a hub for higher education, the tech sector, and the... View Details

December 2016
Case

Public Mission, Private Funding: The University of California, Berkeley

By: William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

UC Berkley, long known as one of the leading public universities in both the U.S. and the world, has seen turbulent times recently. While student enrollment and costs have increased steadily in recent years, the school, which has been fiercely proud of its public... View Details

10 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 10

Fink had asked Global Head of HR Jeff Smith to outline to the GEC the firm's Diversity and Inclusion efforts, benchmarking its progress against eight practices associated with building more inclusive cultures. At the July 2014 off-site, Smith and Kara Helander, Global... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

Philanthropy in U.S. Communities Authors:Tilcsik, András, and Christopher Marquis Abstract This article focuses on geographic communities as fields in which human-made and natural events occasionally disrupt the lives of organizations. We... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

The Geography of Corporate Giving

level provides important lessons for executives, policymakers, and the groups who benefit. But such knowledge also suggests more work to be done in order to learn how global business trends, such as industry consolidation and globalization, might influence local View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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