Publications

18 Aug 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courageous Leader Triggers a Moral Revolt of CEOs Against Trump

CEOs are public figures, with responsibility to uphold their company’s mission and values. When these values are violated, even by someone as powerful as the president of the United States, they are obliged... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

Career Coach

Kartik Sahni

Kartik is a joint degree student at HBS & HKS. He has extensive experience in impact investing, venture capital, public policy and non-profit/philanthropy sectors. He has worked in general management (as Chief of Staff of a $400mn... View Details

December 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Collaboration Wars: Slack vs. Microsoft Teams

By: David B. Yoffie, Kriti Gupta, Mehek Punatar, Poonam Sacheti and Poorvi Vijay

In 2021, Slack was acquired by Salesforce. While widely viewed as the best corporate collaboration and messaging software, Slack was being challenged by Microsoft, which was giving away its competitive product, Microsoft Teams, for free with a subscription to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Acquisition; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competition; Expansion; Technology Industry

27 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Driving India's EV Future: Insights from Ather Scooter and Exponent Energy

determination to build an EV ecosystem that accelerates India's path to decarbonization is remarkable. We left with a deeper respect for their founders and teams, who continue to push boundaries and work... View Details

June 2005 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Narayana Hrudayalaya Heart Hospital: Cardiac Care for the Poor (A)

By: Tarun Khanna, V. Kasturi Rangan and Merlina Manocaran

Describes the mission, vision, and strategy of a team of entrepreneurs headed by a charismatic heart surgeon who founded a heart hospital in Bangalore, India. The purpose of the hospital was to offer health care for the masses. This tertiary care hospital performed... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Goals and Objectives; Social Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Social Enterprise; Welfare; Health Industry; Service Industry; Bangalore

Video

Business in Society Courses | HBS Online

2016
Book

Finding Purpose: Environmental Stewardship as a Personal Calling

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Both thoughtful and thought-provoking, Finding Purpose aims to challenge our understanding of how humanity interacts with planet Earth, and our role within this. This book is an invitation: would you like to participate in one of the most important projects of... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Ethics; Society; Mission and Purpose; Natural Environment

Find at Harvard

February 2022
Case

Business Roundtable 2019 Statement: A New Paradigm or Business as Usual?

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Amram Migdal

This note focuses on the antecedents of, reactions to, and clarifications about The Business Roundtable’s August 19, 2019, “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The note includes background information on corporate governance as practiced in the United States in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Business History; Mission and Purpose; Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

11 Jun 2022
News

Deep Purpose: The Key To A Better World

September 2023
Teaching Note

Fighting the Battle of the Bulge—Evaluating Do Good/Do Well Innovations in Morbid Obesity Treatment

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 304-009. The case is part of the first module of the Innovating in Health Care course. Its purpose is to demonstrate how to evaluate the “do good” and do well” potential of a health care innovation. View Details

Keywords: Innovation In Healthcare Delivery; Innovation; Obesity; Digital Health; Weight Loss; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Management; Business Model; Medical Specialties; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry

06 Nov 2017
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Women’s Association

The mission of the WSA is to connect, empower, and celebrate the next generation of women leaders and we do so by engaging the HBS community in the continued pursuit of gender... View Details

02 Feb 2007
What Do You Think?

Is There Too Little “Know Why” In Business?

"holy grail" as opposed to goals (often merely financial), missions or visions, or even a set of values. As Mourkogiannis puts it, "Let others play with 'strategy' and 'tactics' View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga

On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Prejudice and Bias; Crisis Management; Employees; Training

04 May 2021
News

Hubert Joly on Coffee in the Clouds

Clubs

Government & Public Policy Club

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

25 Apr 2014
Video

Harvard Business School - Making A Difference

March 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Sarah Mehta

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

September 2024
Module Note

Governance for Non-Profit Social Enterprises

By: Brian Trelstad, Gerald Chertavian and Alexis Lefort

An overview of the various roles a non-profit board of directors plays, including the board’s principal responsibilities and how those evolve as organizations grow and scale. Looks closely at the overall role in setting the mission of the organization; supervising and... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; United States