Social Enterprise - Publications - Faculty & Research

February 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: David Weinstein and Write the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Following a successful career as a lawyer, Chief Administrative Officer of Fidelity Investments, and law school instructor, David Weinstein became a 2011 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. During his Advanced Leadership Fellowship he conceived an idea to... View Details

Keywords: Student Evaluation; Feedback; Online; Leadership; Change Management; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Education; Leadership Development; Knowledge Sharing; Performance Evaluation; Secondary Education; Middle School Education

Citation

May–June 2023
Article

Should Your Start-up Be For-profit or Nonprofit?: A Guide for Social Entrepreneurs

By: Cait Brumme and Brian Trelstad

Years ago the line between nonprofit and for-profit enterprises was clear, but that has changed. Nonprofits now offer products that compete with those of the best for-profits, and for-profits can deliver as much social value as charities. Despite the blurred... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; For-Profit Firms; Decision Choices and Conditions

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01 Mar 2014
News

Building Capacity in the Social Sector

"It's nice to seed growth like this. All I've really done is to start the plant." — Ferdinand Thun (MBA 1960) Looking back over the two-decade history of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), former... View Details

Keywords: SEI; Educational Services

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

the empirical quest to link a firm's social investments to its financial returns has preoccupied researchers. Our goal in this paper is to reorient debate and research about social initiatives by business.... View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

16 Mar 2016
Video

Testing Your Social Venture: Iterating Based on Market Feedback

03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

enterprises that help train and mentor the long-term unemployed while generating revenue from sales, among many others, I have encountered organizations that have been able to sustainably pursue social and... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

March 2023
Case

Ownership Works: Scaling a Profitable Social Mission

By: Ethan Rouen, Dennis Campbell and Andrew Robinson

Pete Stavros was on a high after his latest experiment with employee ownership. As the head of industrial investments for KKR, Stavros orchestrated the sale of CHI Overhead Doors, which turned into KKR’s best investment in more than two decades and created $360 million... View Details

Keywords: Employee Ownership; Knowledge Sharing; Nonprofit Organizations

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2007
Chapter

Microfinance: Business, Profitability, and the Creation of Social Value

By: Michael Chu

The chapter examines the development of microfinance from its NGO origins to the present stage in which it is characterized by regulated commercial institutions capable of superior financial returns. It then looks at the creation of social value under these... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Investment Return; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Perspective; Value Creation

Citation

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

that social enterprise is becoming an integral and embedded part of the marketplace and enriching the avenues for businesses to generate simultaneously commercial and social... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

25 Apr 2014
News

Harnessing for-profit strategies for social good

Fran Seegull (MBA 1998) seeks to mobilize the business world to adjust its thinking on socially mindful investing, also known as impact investing, and "use the financial capital markets and for-profit mechanisms to move the dial on the... View Details

2011
Chapter

Multinational Enterprises and Corporate Responsibility: A Matter of Justice?

By: Nien-he Hsieh

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Lawfulness

Citation

26 Jul 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Can Bombas Reach New Customers while Maintaining Its Social Mission?

Keywords: Consumer Products; Fashion

2002
Report

Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise

By: Lynn S. Paine and other contributors

Keywords: Business Ventures; Trust; Private Sector

Citation

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March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Ginzel et al v. Kolcraft Enterprises et al (A)

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Examines the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an infant who died after a portable crib collapsed. The manufacturer, Kolcraft, licensed the Playskool brand name from the co-defendant, Hasbro Industries. Raises difficult questions about what the two... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Product; Negotiation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

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March 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Sustainable Development & Socially Responsible Investing: ABB in 2000

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Several investment firms and mutual funds position themselves as providers or facilitators of opportunities for socially responsible investment. This case addresses the impact of these firms on publicly traded companies. Focuses on managers at ABB, a large... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Enterprise; Corporate Governance; Business Strategy; Capital Markets; Management Teams; Business and Community Relations; Trade; Electronics Industry; Switzerland

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Article

Las Microfinanzas: Creación simultánea de impacto social y valor comercial

By: Michael Chu

Microfinance is the best known and most successful expression of inclusive business. When the disbursement of financial services in small sizes to enterprising people in the informal sectors of the economy is capable of yielding superior commercial returns, it enables... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Economy; Investment Return; Service Operations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Poverty

Citation

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28 May 2012
Research & Ideas

A Pragmatic Alternative for Creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Thousands of large, profitable companies have all the right intentions of giving back to society—and yet a sizable number of them have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that provide little benefit to either the community or... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

August 1986 (Revised February 1991)
Supplement

Population Services International: The Social Marketing Project in Bangladesh, Video

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Population Services International, a not-for-profit agency founded to promote family planning information and to market birth control products, had an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to conduct a social marketing program using modern marketing techniques to... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Health; Advertising; Marketing; Nonprofit Organizations; Government and Politics; Agreements and Arrangements; Health Industry; Bangladesh

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23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

back to the forefront again. I think they are saying no, that’s not what leadership is about, and that’s not what I want to be. Spence: There are many examples of student efforts to promote social action and ethical behavior. The... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology