Publications

05 Jun 2020
Blog Post

Developing Black Talent for Leadership

For too long companies and governments in the U.S. have under-funded and under-resourced the anti-racist organizations leveling the playing field for the black communities we stand in solidarity with today. 100+ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like... View Details

November 2012
Article

The Organization of Firms Across Countries

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

We argue that social capital as proxied by trust increases aggregate productivity by affecting the organization of firms. To do this we collect new data on the decentralization of investment, hiring, production, and sales decisions from Corporate Headquarters to local... View Details

Keywords: Decentralization; Social Capital; Theory Of The Firm; Firm Objectives, Organization, And Behavior; Business Economics; Management Of Technological Innovation And R＆D; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Diffusion Processes; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Trust; Technology Adoption; Multinational Firms and Management

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19 Jun 2012
News

A Brief History of Doing Well by Doing Good

01 Sep 2017
News

Read All About It: Journalism Can Be Profitable

from a civic perspective, but I don’t think it is their responsibility as companies to fix it. (Thinkstock/Getty Images) (Thinkstock/Getty Images) The WeChat social media platform in China is investing... View Details

Keywords: April White; New York Times; newspapers; Google; Wirecutter; social media; Facebook; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

February 2022
Case

Paul Polman

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and Susie Ma

Over his 40-year career, Paul Polman had led some of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, making his biggest mark as CEO of Unilever—a multi-national corporation that produced everything from soap to soup. Polman was also well-regarded as a leader in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Personal Development and Career; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

May 2010
Supplement

Clayton Industries, Inc.: Peter Arnell, Country Manager for Italy, Spreadsheet for Instructors (Brief Case)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Benjamin H. Barlow

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; International Business; Subsidiaries; Project Management; Multinational Corporations; Implementing Strategy; Leadership; Business Subsidiaries; Behavior; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Organizations; Labor Unions; Organizational Culture; Product Development

July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Timberland: Commerce and Justice

By: James E. Austin, Herman B. Leonard and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he pursued a strategy in which commerce and justice were "inextricably linked." Community involvement, environmental management, and global labor standards became not addenda to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Opportunities; Alignment; Business Strategy; Value

27 Feb 2014
HBS Seminar

Rakesh Khurana, Harvard Business School

2010
Book

One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles and Michael Krzus

"One Report" refers to an emerging trend in business taking place throughout the world where companies are going beyond separate reports for financial and nonfinancial (e.g., corporate social responsibility or sustainability) results and integrating both into a single... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Reports; Strategy

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February 2010
Case

Burt's Bees: Balancing Growth and Sustainability (Multimedia)

By: Christopher Marquis

The case examines sustainability initiatives at Burt's Bees, with video segments that detail the company's history, leadership, and implementation of ambitious 2020 sustainability goals. The company traces its roots to 1984, when Roxanne Quinby and Burt Schavitz teamed... View Details

Keywords: Balance and Stability; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Business or Company Management; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Mergers and Acquisitions; Social Enterprise; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Ethics

Charles C.Y. Wang is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and an associate editor of Management Science and Journal of Accounting Research,... View Details

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

04 Jun 2012
News

What is 'Creating Shared Value'?

June 1997
Background Note

The Normative Foundations of Business

What is the appropriate role for business to play in a capitalist society? In analyzing responses to this question, this note distinguishes two separate dimensions. The first involves the distinctive objective of business as a social institution, considers the pros and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Economic Systems

2020
Book

Business, Ethics and Institutions: The Evolution of Turkish Capitalism in Global Perspectives

By: Asli M. Colpan and Geoffrey Jones

This book is the first systematic scholarly study on the business history of Turkey and its predecessor the Ottoman Empire from the nineteenth century until the present. It places the distinctive characteristics of capitalism in Turkey within a global and comparative... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Corruption; Business History; Ethics; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; Middle East; Central Asia; Turkey

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April 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Governing Sustainability in a Shifting Context (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2025, boards of directors had to rethink corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts amid rapidly-shifting social, legal, regulatory, and economic forces. While just a few years earlier, calls to address racial justice and climate change reached into... View Details