Publications

November 1991 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Body Shop International

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the start-up and rapid growth of a company whose founder holds strong, non-traditional beliefs about the role of the corporation and its responsibility to society. After profiling Anita Roddick as a person, the case describes the anti-mainstream approach she... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Leadership Style; Management Succession; Management Teams; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

08 Oct 2024
Video

The power of diversity

Deborah M. Winshel

Deborah Winshel is a Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit of Harvard Business School. She teaches several MBA required courses: Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD), Leadership and Corporate Accountability and the Field Immersion course (2025 in... View Details

Clubs

Wine & Cuisine Society

Lynn S. Paine

Lynn Sharp Paine is a Baker Foundation Professor and John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration, Emerita, at Harvard Business School. A member and former chair of the General Management unit, she has served in numerous leadership positions including Senior... View Details

2020
Working Paper

Nonprofit Boards: It Is time to Lift Your Gaze and See the System

By: Shamal Dass, Kristy Muir and V. Kasturi Rangan

Nonprofits the world over have faced significant crises in 2020, leaving them and their constituents in precarious positions. Responses to these crises have demonstrated incredible agility. However, they have also demonstrated that the first two levels of governance... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Health Pandemics; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; System; Framework

SSRN

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February 2019 (Revised September 2021)
Case

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

August 6, 2020
Article

Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism

By: Frank Cooper and Ranjay Gulati

Any organization can write a check or mobilize resources when confronted with a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic or a social movement such as Black Lives Matter. But corporate crisis response becomes much more meaningful when stakeholders know that the organization... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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11 Oct 2013
News

Tylenol Killings Remain Unsolved and Unforgotten After 30 Years

March 2023
Article

Giving-by-proxy Triggers Subsequent Charitable Behavior

By: Samantha Kassirer, Jillian J. Jordan and Maryam Kouchaki

How can we foster habits of charitable giving? Here, we investigate the potential power of giving-by-proxy experiences, drawing inspiration from a growing trend in marketing and corporate social responsibility contexts in which organizations make charitable... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior

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28 Jan 2015
News

The Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine and CEO Turnover

22 Dec 2010
News

Capitalism Reconstructed

November 2017
Teaching Note

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-426. Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Value Creation; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Segmentation; Business Units; Communication; Profit; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

24 Mar 2023
HBS Seminar

Geoffrey Jones, Harvard Business School

November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Civil Society or Community; Japan; Tokyo

29 Jul 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Who Is Governing Whom? Senior Managers, Governance and the Structure of Generosity in Large U.S. Firms

Keywords: by Christopher Marquis & Matthew Lee

January 2020 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Governing PG&E

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural... View Details

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Frank Jerome LaNasa and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice 2013 AL Fellow, 2014 Senior AL Fellow
Two years after the formation of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), a national affiliation of four independent Asian American civil rights groups, Paul Lee, who... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Asian; Asian Americans; Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Civil Rights; Asian Law Caucus; Asian Pacific American Legal Center; Asian American Institute; Asian American Justice Center; Immigration Issues; Immigration Reform; Affirmative Action; Coalition; Asian American Activism; Japanese; Chinese; Korean; Indian; Pakistani; Hmong; Cambodian; Laotians; Filipino; Vietnamese; Pacific Islanders; Ethnic Group; Model Minority; Anti-asian Prejudice; Pan-asian; Discrimination; Immigrants; Immigration Acts; Alien Land Laws; Sei Fujii; Naturalize; Interracial; Immigration And Nationality Act Of 1965; Refugees; War; Warfare; Vincent Chin; Bigotry; Chinatown; Boston; Social Impact; Asian American Lawyers Association; National Asian Pacific Bar Association; Asian Community Development Corporation; Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence; Southeast Asia; Mee Moua; Change Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Rights; Immigration; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Society; North and Central America

September 2010
Article

How Firms Respond to Being Rated

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

While many rating systems seek to help buyers overcome information asymmetries when making purchasing decisions, we investigate how these ratings also influence the companies being rated. We hypothesize that ratings are particularly likely to spur responses from firms... View Details

Keywords: System; Information; Decisions; Cost; Opportunities; Performance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Economics; Theory; System Shocks; Rank and Position