Publications

July 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Mary Kay Inc.: Enriching Women's Lives while Embracing Change

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Julia Kelley

In December 2020, Mary Kay Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Sheryl Adkins-Green considered several strategic dilemmas. Founded in 1963 by Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay was a direct sales company whose Independent Beauty Consultants purchased its beauty and cosmetics products at... View Details

November 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations

By: George Serafeim

In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the financial crisis, Indahl was convinced the financial system was producing negative externalities and that the current... View Details

22 Feb 2022
News

Breaking News

part of what’s driving consolidation across the country,” Hansen Shapiro observes. The National Trust used a leveraged buyout to acquire the titles, which will continue with their mission under a new public benefit corporation that is... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; illustration by Dana Smith; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

Facebook’s vision and mission statement.” Brendan Coffey led the way in proposing that “FB needs a much more active strategy to place the user in a position of control with respect to how their data is used.” Bhanu Ramenani suggested one... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Information Technology

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

University. HMC has managed the Harvard endowment portfolio since 1974. Its mission is to ensure the University has the financial resources to confidently maintain and expand its leadership in education and research for future... View Details

April 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

The Mahindra Group: Leading with Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

India headquartered Mahindra Group is a multibillion-dollar federation of companies operating across the globe. It is ahead of its time in articulating its purpose and mapping its values, something it had first done at inception and then refreshed yet again as ‘Rise’... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Family Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Revenue; Auto Industry; Financial Services Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; India; Mumbai; South Korea; Italy; United States

Web

Frequently Asked Questions | HBS Online

resources), free career and academic webinars, a Harvard Gmail account, and education tax credit and loan deferments. Does HBS Online restrict enrollment for citizens/residents of countries in geopolitical conflict with the United States or its allies? Harvard Business... View Details

July 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Clair

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Marcos Quirno

Clair was founded with a simple mission: to expedite America’s workers access to their hard-earned wages. In the headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup had successfully raised a seed round of $4.5 million, and within two years the earned wage access (EWA)... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Ewa; Lending; Technology; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Enterprise; Business Strategy; Business Model; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Profit; Financial Services Industry; United States

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Lawsuits and Litigation; Crisis Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Design; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Crime and Corruption; Business Organization; Business Model; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Governance Compliance; Policy; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Laws and Statutes; Legal Liability; Business or Company Management; Risk Management; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Failure; Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Salesforce Management; Public Opinion; Banking Industry; North and Central America

June 2017 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Sales Misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Dennis W. Campbell, Susanna Gallani and Amram Migdal

Set in early 2017, this case examines widespread sales misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank. Wells Fargo's governance and controls are described in the lead up to the September 2016 announcement that Wells Fargo had settled with regulators for $185 million in... View Details

Web

Course History - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Resources Resources Video Courses Data Events & Presentations Frameworks News Publications Courses Course History Course History In keeping with the mission of Harvard Business School—to educate leaders who make a difference in... View Details

18 Sep 2019
Op-Ed

WeWork—The IPO That Shouldn’t?

mission “to elevate the world’s consciousness” and his personal objective of “We are here to change the world; nothing less interests me.” Indeed, WeWork’s prospectus reads like a Marianne Williamson self-help book. The market should... View Details

Keywords: by Nori Gerardo Lietz; Financial Services; Real Estate

21 Nov 2022
Blog Post

HBS Student Club Spotlight: Sustainability Club

In this blog, hear from 2022-23 Sustainability Club co-presidents: Angela Son, Erin O’ Malley & Meghavi Talati (all MBA 2023). What are the mission and activities of your club? The Sustainability Club is a place where all students,... View Details

Web

John H. McArthur | About

programs, many of which had been developed in the previous five years. The Creation of Harvard Business Publishing McArthur believed publishing was vitally important to the School’s mission and for disseminating HBS research more broadly.... View Details

Research Summary

Hybrid organizing

By: Julie Battilana

While historically the commercial and social sectors have evolved on fairly separate tracks, over the last 30 years we have witnessed a blurring of the boundaries between these two sectors. In an effort to account for this transition, Professor Battilana’s second... View Details

2018
Chapter

New Prospects for Organizational Democracy?: How the Joint Pursuit of Social and Financial Goals Challenges Traditional Organizational Designs

By: Julie Battilana, Michael Fuerstein and Michael Lee

For an extended period during the first half of the 20th century, industrial democracy was a vibrant movement, with ideological and organizational ties to a thriving unionism. In 2015, however, things look different. While there are instances of democracy in the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Social Enterprise; Values and Beliefs; Integration; Theory

Find at Harvard

12 Feb 2021
News

How Dunkin’ Donuts Took Over the World

for. And that’s when the trouble began. Basically I changed the mission of the business from being a focused coffee and donut shop company to becoming a franchise business. Feeling that a 60-time multiple was extraordinarily intoxicating,... View Details

Keywords: brands; leadership; management; strategy; operations; career; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

December 2022 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution

By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney

At the end of 2019, Ignacio Galán, the Chairman and CEO of the world's third largest utility, Iberdrola, reflected on his almost 20 years at the company. He managed a portfolio of three very different businesses, each with their own specific opportunities and... View Details

October 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Nelson Mandela: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the rise of Nelson Mandela from his tribal home in South Africa to president of the country. Rejecting expectations that he would be a tribal leader, Mandela instead dedicates his life to fighting Apartheid. After peaceful approaches fail, he joins... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Power and Influence; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Success; South Africa