Publications

November, 2021
Article

Self Control and Smartphone Use: An Experimental Study of Soft Commitment Devices

By: Ruru Hoong

Public discussion and discourse amongst researchers suggest that smartphone use is excessive from an individual welfare standpoint, but evidence for this remains limited. I implement a randomized intervention encouraging a subset of 629 participants to adopt soft... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Commitment; Randomized Controlled Trial; Smartphones; Addiction; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Behavior; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Well-being

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11 Apr 2017
News

Skoll Foundation Gives $1M Social Entrepreneurship Prize to a For-profit Organization

Keywords: Agriculture

28 Jul 2021

Life at HBS Chat: MBA Students in EdTech & Social Entrepreneurship

Life At HBS Chats are a unique opportunity to hear straight from current HBS students regarding their MBA experience. These current students will share their backgrounds and talk about how they have cultivated their personal and professional interests while at HBS... View Details

22 Jan 2024
News

The Upswell Forum for Social Entrepreneurs Working in Communities of Color

2012
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Shelly London and Ethics Education—'Strengthening Our Moral Compass'

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Anne Arlinghaus

Shelly London and Ethics Education — 'Strengthening Our Moral Compass' 2009 AL Fellow
Following a successful career as a Senior Vice President, Vice President, and Chief Communications Officer at two large corporate companies, Shelly London set out to promote... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Balancing Engagement and Polarization: Multi-Objective Alignment of News Content Using LLMs

By: Mengjie Cheng, Elie Ofek and Hema Yoganarasimhan

We study how media firms can use LLMs to generate news content that aligns with multiple objectives—making content more engaging while maintaining a preferred level of polarization/slant consistent with the firm’s editorial policy. Using news articles from The New York... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Models; Content Creation; Media; Polarization; Generative Ai; Direct Preference Optimization; AI and Machine Learning; News; Perspective; Digital Marketing; Policy; Media and Broadcasting Industry

SSRN

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March 22, 2024
Article

It’s Time to Give Up on Ending Social Media’s Misinformation Problem

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Jesse Shapiro

Keywords: Social Media; Lawsuits and Litigation; Information Publishing; Policy

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04 Apr 2020
News

Own A Small Business During COVID-19? This Social Venture Can Help

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

2021
Book

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business--and business family. Though "family business" may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Family and Family Relationships; Outcome or Result; Business Model; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Culture

26 Oct 2020
News

A Social Impact Roadmap; Arts Leadership in a Pandemic; Amplifying Hispanic Contributions

in partnership with HBS Alumni Programs, the HBS Business and Environment Initiative (BEI), and the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), the virtual event was held on two different dates to accommodate a... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

15 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Business of Free Software: Enterprise Incentives, Investment, and Motivation in the Open Source Community

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Gregory L. Richards; Video Game; Web Services

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Gerald C. Chertavian

I am currently teaching Social Entrepreneurship and Systems Change (SESC) as a 2nd year Elective Course. The premise of the course is that social entrepreneurs don’t just build organizations, they change systems. The course explores the frameworks, tools, mindsets,... View Details

Keywords: Social Impact; Systems Change; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Housing; Climate Change; Entrepreneurship; Food; Governance; Leadership; Measurement and Metrics; Social Enterprise; System; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America; South America

January 2020
Case

Terra Nova: A Social Business Trying to Unlock Land Rights for the Urban Poor in Brazil

By: Julie Battilana, Ruth Costas, Marissa Kimsey and Priscilla Zogbi

Brothers André and Daniel Albuquerque founded the company Terra Nova in 2001 to mediate land disputes between poor families illegally living in urban areas and the official landowners—with the aspiration to improve the lives of the poor. A business-led approach to the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Power and Influence; Social Issues; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Government Relations; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Brazil; Latin America

June 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Equator Principles, The: An Industry Approach to Managing Environmental and Social Risks

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Aldo Sesia

In June 2003, 10 leading international banks adopted new voluntary guidelines, called the Equator Principles, to promote sustainable development in project finance. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had raised issues about the lenders'... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Project Finance; Standards; Projects; Commercial Banking; Non-Governmental Organizations

December 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Instituto Dara: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty and Illness at Scale

By: Julie Battilana, Marissa Kimsey, Priscilla Zogbi and Johanna Mair

Dr. Vera Cordeiro founded the NGO Instituto Dara in 1991 to help poor families break the cycle of poverty and illness in Brazil. She and her team of employees and volunteers developed a holistic methodology to address the multidimensional sources of poverty based on... View Details

Keywords: Social Innovation; NGO; Scaling; Health; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Poverty; Health Industry; South America; Brazil

Article

Does 'Liking' Lead to Loving? The Impact of Joining a Brand's Social Network on Marketing Outcomes

By: Leslie K. John, Oliver Emrich, Sunil Gupta and Michael I. Norton

Does “liking” a brand on Facebook cause a person to view it more favorably? Or is “liking” simply a symptom of being fond of a brand? We disentangle these possibilities and find evidence for the latter: brand attitudes and purchasing are predicted by consumers’... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Marketing Effectiveness; Brand Evaluation; Peer Influence; Brands and Branding; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Media

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May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good

By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang

Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Venture; Benefit Corporation; B-Corp; Retail; Consumer Products; Apparel; Social Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Product Positioning; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

November 2013 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Endeavor: Miami Heats Up

By: William A. Sahlman, Ramana Nanda, David Lane and Lisa Mazzanti

Endeavor Global was a nonprofit that for 15 years had worked to nurture entrepreneurship in emerging markets by selecting local high-impact entrepreneurs for mentoring and aid in scaling up their businesses from committed local business leaders. In summer 2012,... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurs; Scaling; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Not For Profit; Entrepreneurial Finance; Mentoring; Business Networks; Hybrid Nonprofit Funding; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Finance; Miami