social issues - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 2009
News

Social Enterprise Visionary

John Whitehead Played a Key Role in Developing the HBS Initiative AUSTIN, WHITEHEAD, AND RANGAN: Social enterprise pioneers. In the early 1990s, legendary Wall Street executive and former deputy secretary of state John Whitehead (MBA... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance

News

Ice Bucket Challenge Issued to Buffett, Gates: Will They Do It?

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

Earth Day focuses the world's attention on the both the dangers and opportunities facing the planet. But sustainability and the intersection between business and the environment are issues that need to be addressed all the time, as cities grow, resources diminish, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

14 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Understanding Users of Social Networks

If the ongoing social networking revolution has you scratching your head and asking, "Why do people spend time on this?" and "How can my company benefit from the social network... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising; Publishing

Research Summary

Strategic participation of social movement organizations

Social movements and related social movement organizations (SMOs) play an important role in the formation of new industries and market niches, as well as the emergence of new organizational forms. I argue that as SMOs become more sophisticated and... View Details

July 2015
Article

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations: Analysts' Perceptions and Shifting Institutional Logics

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

We explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings on sell-side analysts' assessments of firms' future financial performance. We suggest that when analysts perceive CSR as an agency cost, due to the prevalence of an agency logic, they produce... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Analysts; Investment Recommendations; Sustainability; Institutional Logics; Environment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Corporate Governance; United States

23 Oct 2019
News

Exploring Big Issues at the Intersection of Business and Society

and mastery of business. “However, they often don’t get to tackle some of the big issues that intersect business and society and that don’t fit neatly into a single course,” says Robert Huckman the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of... View Details

Keywords: Educational Innovation

15 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

The Coming Transformation of Social Enterprise

changes in that time frame. The new cadre of donors, the new family foundations, the folks who are involved in venture philanthropy, the new generation of entrepreneurs, and business leaders engaged in corporate social responsibility... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson

04 Dec 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Pathways to Materiality: How Sustainability Issues Become Financially Material to Corporations and Their Investors

Keywords: by Jean Rogers and George Serafeim

Web

Your Social Entrepreneurship checklist | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

The Social Enterprise Initiative has long supported students and alumni starting organizations with a social impact focus. Our curriculum, career support, community building, and funding supports students in... View Details

14 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact

what that spending achieved. Yet there has been little agreement on a set of hard-and-fast metrics to measure social performance. How should a nonprofit manager respond when a significant donor asks for proof of his or her contribution's... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

04 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Putting Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector

health care. But the truth is that many of these efforts, despite best intentions, have not solved the issues they target, says Harvard Business School professor Jane Wei-Skillern. "Traditional approaches are still falling short,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 Aug 2014
Blog Post

HBS Social Enterprise Initiative Visits NYC

A lot can be achieved through emails, phone calls, and meetings, but being in the field helps broaden perspectives. The HBS Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) did just that – when Matt Segneri, Director, and Margot Dushin, Director of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

01 Jun 2009
News

Social Innovation Goes Mainstream

Ten years ago, social enterprise pioneer Linda Rottenberg wasn’t taken seriously when she pitched established foundations to fund her upstart organization, Endeavor, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting high-impact entrepreneurs in... View Details

Keywords: Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance

November 2014 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Fresno's Social Impact Bond for Asthma

By: John A. Quelch

The case desccribes a social impact bond (SIB) to fund home-based remediation programs designed to reduce asthma attacks among Fresno residents (especially children) and thereby save on health care costs (ambulance callouts, emergency room visits etc.). The case... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Social Issues; Investment Return; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; California

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Driving Social Change | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Driving Social Change Background I’ve always been interested in public sector issues and what we call “institutional change,” especially change that breaks with the accepted norms. I studied the English... View Details

01 Sep 2010
News

Social Entrepreneurship Fellows Named

’08/MPA ’09). Both have been named HBS Social Entrepreneurship Fellows for 2010 and awarded $25,000 grants to advance their enterprises. Brehm, along with his wife, Faith, is cofounder of the online venture AbilityTrip... View Details

Keywords: Awards; disability; gay rights; Accommodation; Hospitality

01 Mar 2013
News

Sizing Up Social Impact

nonprofit leaders today," says Associate Professor Alnoor Ebrahim, a member of the School's General Management Unit and Social Enterprise Initiative who focuses on the challenges of performance management, accountability, and governance... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Crop Production; Agriculture; Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

August 2003 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Multinational Corporations in Apartheid-era South Africa: The Issue of Reparations

By: Geoffrey Jones and Cate Reavis

Considers the lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of apartheid against multinationals who operated in South Africa prior to 1994. Reviews the debates about divestment from and sanctions against South Africa from the 1950s. Includes case studies of companies that... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Multinational Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business and Government Relations; Prejudice and Bias; South Africa

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