Socially Responsible Investing - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Generation Investment Management

By January 2020, sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management (Generation), founded in London in 2004, had grown from a shared vision among seven founders to a 90-person firm managing $27 billion in public and private equity. Throughout its history,... View Details

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September 26, 2024
Article

A Better Way to Measure Social Impact

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Constance Spitzer

All impact investors report the financial returns from their funds and investments, and many provide metrics on intended social outcomes, such as numbers of individuals served, or quality jobs created. But investors do not supply metrics about their impacts on... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Social Impact Investment; Inclusive Growth; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

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21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

you have fabulous leadership," Bannick said. "We think it's important to invest in leadership in the social sector to help those organizations to fulfill their potential." VPP's Morino... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

May 2012
Technical Note

Frameworks for Dialogue and Research about Social Impact Investing

By: Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

Social Impact Investment is a rapidly expanding field, but terminology in the field is poorly defined and imprecise. This note suggests frameworks that help to clarify important dimensions of SII projects, distinguishing and clarifying key differences in approaches to... View Details

Keywords: Development Stage Enterprises; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Instruments; Performance Measurement; Balanced Scorecard; Investment Funds; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Research; Framework; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

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October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Social Finance, Inc.

By: Shawn Cole and Fanele Mashwama

This case begins in February 2019 as Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance Inc., prepares for a board meeting that will determine the future strategy of the social enterprise. Social Finance is a non-profit in the impact investment space founded in... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

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Web

Social Responsibility and Sustainability | Working Knowledge

Frameworks for Dialogue and Research about Social Impact Investing

Social Impact Investment is a rapidly expanding field, but terminology in the field is poorly defined and imprecise. This note suggests frameworks that help to clarify important dimensions of SII projects, distinguishing and clarifying key differences in approaches... View Details

August 2022
Case

Southwick Social Ventures

By: Henry McGee, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team had found a promising potential investment in Southwick Social Ventures (SSV), a worker and management-owned trouser manufacturer. With a 100% immigrant workforce, the co-operative was focused on reviving... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Massachusetts

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April 11, 2008
Article

How Olympic Sponsors Can Be Socially Responsible

By: Mark R. Kramer

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1999
Working Paper

Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers

By: Clifford Nass and Youngme Moon

Citation

17 Aug 2011
News

Is Corporate Social Responsibility "Hypocritical Window Dressing"?

April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

The Dannon Company: Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (A)

By: Christopher Marquis, Pooja Mehta Shah, Amanda Elizabeth Tolleson and Bobbi Thomason

At the end of 2009, The Dannon Company was considering pro actively communicating its CSR efforts to consumers. With the strong connection between Dannon's production of health foods and its commitment to health and nutrition-based CSR activities, communicating these... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Nutrition; Marketing Communications; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Natural Environment; Food and Beverage Industry

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February 2007 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Esquel Group: Integrating Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility

By: F. Warren McFarlan, William C. Kirby and Tracy Manty

Focuses on the experience of China's largest shirt manufacturer in managing various aspects of government relations in China. Identifies a wide variety of social initiatives it has undertaken. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

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April 2014
Article

Corporate Social Responsibility:: A Way of Life at the Tata Group

By: Shashank Shah

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; India

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January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Michael Norris and David Allen

In September 2021, the sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management (Generation) considered whether to add Schneider Electric to the focus list of companies in which it was prepared to invest. Dedicated to promoting a sustainable world through its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Investing; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Private Equity; Public Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Institutional Investing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

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03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

do so, investment funds will need to collect new data. The good news is that over the past decades, many initiatives have contributed to developing standards to assess companies’ social performance. The... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

2013
Working Paper

Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the responsibility of business in a historical and global perspective. It shows that from the nineteenth century American, European, Japanese, Indian and other business leaders discussed the responsibilities of... View Details

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2014
Working Paper

Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization and Microfinance Institutions

By: Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis and Sunny Li Sun

We examine the heterogeneous effects of globalization on the interest rate setting by microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. We consider MFIs as a mechanism to overcome the institutional void of credit for small entrepreneurs in developing and emerging... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Microfinance Institutions; Economic Globalization; Social Globalization; Microfinance; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies

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