Publications

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August 2007 (Revised June 2008)
Case

The Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE

Shane Immelman, founding CEO of Lapdesk (South Africa), is facing several acute problems: a conflict between his director of marketing and his director of field operations; a dramatic increase in prices by a key supplier; and a major strategic alliance that does not... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; For-Profit Firms; Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Education Industry; South Africa

06 Jun 2014
News

Twitter’s in Trouble. Here’s How It Can Avoid Becoming the Next AOL

March 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

HelloSelf: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On January 6, 2019, HelloSelf, a London-based “BrainTech” company, founded a year earlier by Charles Wells, soft launched. The proposition was simply to help its members “Be your Best Self.” The company provided its registered members with access to a clinical... View Details

30 Mar 2018
News

Alibaba founders bet on US subscription clothing pioneer

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Aligning Collective Production with Demand: Evidence from Wikipedia

Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pricing to inform producers about consumer demand. This can lead to the over- or under-production of certain goods and services. In this paper, I propose a social mechanism... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry

SSRN

September 2023
Article

Stock Price Reactions to ESG News: The Role of ESG Ratings and Disagreement

By: George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

We investigate whether ESG ratings predict future ESG news and the associated market reactions. We find that the consensus rating predicts future news, but its predictive ability diminishes for firms with large disagreement between raters. Relation between news and... View Details

SSRN

Find at Harvard

May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

March 2007 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur, Leader, and Philanthropist

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Anne Dwojeski, William Grundy, Erica Helms and Katherine Miller

Madam C. J. Walker, who has been credited as the first self-made African-American woman millionaire, created a hair-care empire after years spent as a laundress in St. Louis, Missouri. Decades before the Civil Rights movement, her company gave employment to thousands... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business History; Race; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Saint Louis

2021
Working Paper

The Project on Impact Investments' Impact Investment Database

By: M. Diane Burton, Shawn Cole, Abhishek Dev, Christina Jarymowycz, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Fanele Mashwama, Yue (Cynthia) Xu and T. Robert Zochowski

Impact investing has grown significantly over the past 15 years. From a niche investing segment with only $25 billion AUM in 2013 (WEF 2013), it experienced double-digit growth and developed into a market with an estimated $502 billion AUM (Mudaliapar and Dithrich... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis

SSRN

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October 2019 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Nehemiah Mfg. Co.: Providing a Second Chance

By: Michael Chu, Brian Trelstad and John Masko

In 2009, Dan Meyer and Richard Palmer, two veterans of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, founded Nehemiah Manufacturing to build FMCG brands while providing jobs to Cincinnati, Ohio’s beleaguered urban core. Two years later, the pair made their first... View Details

Keywords: Fast Moving Consumer Goods; Social Entrepreneurship; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employment; Human Capital; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Social Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Prejudice and Bias; City; Urban Scope; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio; United States

April 2011 (Revised January 2024)
Case

The Greek Crisis: Tragedy or Opportunity?

By: Dante Roscini, Jonathan Schlefer and Konstantinos Dimitriou

After its 2009-2010 fiscal crisis shook the euro, could the Greek government stabilize debt, avoid default, and stay on the euro? This case looks at the Greek social and political road to fiscal crisis; the economics of that crisis and efforts to recover from it; the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Financial Condition; Central Banking; Financial Markets; International Finance; Policy; Conflict Management; Cooperation; Public Administration Industry; Greece

February 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Grove International Partners

By: Robert F. Higgins, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suzanne Petrela

Grove International Partners, one of the world's largest international real estate private equity funds, is actively seeking new investment opportunities in the seniors housing industry. The firm has identified two potential opportunities--one located in Japan and one... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Investment; Opportunities; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry; Japan; United Kingdom

29 Apr 2013
News

The fragrance series – Part 3

22 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 22

seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit, and there is a desire... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

this market at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) must look beyond just selling products—they must find ways to create social and economic value, according to the editors of a new volume, Business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Rowan Clarke

Rowan Clarke is a PhD candidate at Harvard Business School in the Strategy Unit. He researches entrepreneurship and technology/AI for economic development and social impact. His work assists small business entrepreneurs, and high-growth technology... View Details

Keywords: energy; financial services; green technology; retail financial services; microfinance; management consulting; high technology

October 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Dove: Evolution of a Brand

By: John A. Deighton

Examines the evolution of Dove from functional brand to a brand with a point of view after Unilever designated it as a masterbrand, and expanded its portfolio to cover entries into a number of sectors beyond the original bath soap category. The development causes the... View Details

Keywords: History; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

February 1998 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Meadowlands

By: Arthur I Segel and William J. Poorvu

In February 1998, developers Ted Leonard and Charlie Sexton are attempting to acquire and develop a large multifamily site in Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. They are attempting to win financing and government approvals to develop a new kind of product for the... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Maryland

May 2021 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Colombia: An Economic Premium to Peace?

By: Richard Vietor

Colombia, once the fastest growing country in Latin America, continues to struggle with productivity. Both labor productivity and total factor productivity have been low for the past decade, despite economic growth of 4.7% annually. Many factors contribute, which... View Details