Publications

January 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

H&R Block 2006

By: Peter Tufano

Mark Ernst, the Chairman, CEO and President of H&R Block, has to decide how to respond to a competitive threat posed by a competitor's refund-lending product. Block is the largest U.S. tax preparation firm, which competes not only on its tax preparation services, but... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Taxation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competition; Financial Services Industry

19 Mar 2019
Blog Post

Leadership Fellow Ming Min Hui: Figuring Out Her Mission

strategy work, contributing to the institution’s five-year plans and analyzing business cases for new investments. “As Chief of Staff at Boston Ballet, I have a lot of indirect management,” Ming explains. “I don’t have my own team per se,... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

2023
Working Paper

How Wicked Problems Drive Business Performance: A Review of the Academic Literature

By: Caroline Adelson, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price and Marco Iansiti

Recent years have seen a rise in the number of businesses engaged in the pursuit of “purposeful” activities – that is, activities that engage with the broader community in ways that expand beyond the pursuit of shareholder value. Many of these activities involve... View Details

Keywords: Wicked Problems; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Performance

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July 2020
Article

Exploring the Effect of Environmental Orientation on Financial Decisions of Businesses at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Evidence from the Microlending Context

By: Anton Shevchenko, Xiaodan Pan and Goran Calic

Existing research has accumulated substantial evidence on the effect that an environmental orientation has on businesses' economic performance. Yet this research does not cover small businesses from bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BOP) markets. In fact, despite increasing... View Details

Keywords: Micro-lending; Environmental Sustainability; Financing and Loans; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Small Business

09 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Startup Balancing Act

a smaller and, potentially, leaner organization? 2. Would I enjoy working in an operating company rather than a professional services firm? All of this takes us back to my first day. After a mere few hours in the office, I was presenting... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

January 2009 (Revised May 2009)
Case

College Summit: Rethinking the Relationship Between Growth and Impact

By: Stacey M. Childress and Geoff Eckman Marietta

College Summit, a nonprofit organization "committed to the day when every student who can make it in college makes it to college," was faced with an important strategic decision. After growing rapidly at more than 30% a year for the last several years, founder and CEO,... View Details

Keywords: Secondary Education; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry

March 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Clara Wu Tsai and Brooklyn Loan Innovation

By: Archie L. Jones, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Henry McGee

Philanthropist Clara Wu Tsai is committed to racial equity and investing in Brooklyn-based minority business owners. In the wake of the George Floyd murder, she decides to create a new initiative called the Social Justice Fund and commit an initial $50 million over 10... View Details

Keywords: Minority-owned Businesses; Racial Equity; Entrepreneurship; Race; Values and Beliefs; Small Business; Partners and Partnerships; Social Issues; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Brooklyn

14 May 2013
Blog Post

MBAxAmerica Update: Week 6, New Orleans

we’re learning from our entrepreneurial summers. We also talked about the challenges and opportunities of building organizations with purpose—such as explaining to investors why, if you’re building a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

April 2006
Case

Medical Innovation Beyond MedStar: Mobilizing for National Impact

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Michelle Heskett

Dr. Craig Feied, director of MedStar Health's Medical Informatics programs, wanted his innovations to influence national health care. Since joining Washington Hospital Center's Emergency Department in 1995 with Dr. Mark Smith, their information system had become the... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Policy; Government and Politics; Innovation and Management; Projects; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Washington (state, US)

19 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 19

The alleged benefits of flattening flow primarily from pushing decisions downward to enhance customer and market responsiveness and to improve accountability and morale. Has... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

withdraw its demand. As the court case unfolded, Cook considered his responsibilities to the U.S. government as well as to Apple's customers, employees, and shareholders.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 17, 2009

risk-minimizing currency strategy for a global bond investor is close to a full currency hedge, with a modest long position in the U.S. dollar. There is little evidence that risk-minimizing View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

Threat: Responses to and the Consequences of Threats to Individuals' Identities Authors:Jennifer L. Petriglieri Publication:The Academy of Management Review (forthcoming)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1990 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Ad Council's AIDS Campaign (A): Advertising Strategy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Janet Montgomery

Ad Council wished to run an educational campaign aimed at preventing the spread of AIDS. They were challenged to find acceptable ways to address this very sensitive subject matter--ways that the media and the public would approve. One of the big challenges was to make... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Goals and Objectives; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Success; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Health Industry