Publications

Web

Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Meaningful progress on complex social issues depends in part on the entrepreneurial ideas and energy of the next generation. In recent years, we have seen a sustained increase in HBS students launching View Details

01 Jun 2009
News

Social Innovation Goes Mainstream

using capital as a source of leverage for social benefit,” he said. Acknowledging his optimism about the future, Greenblatt declared, “Young people are looking for ways to engage. Service is the new greed.”... View Details

Keywords: Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance

January 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Capitalism and Democracy in a New World

By: Bruce R. Scott, Sarah Potvin and Alison Adams

Focuses on the formulation of the Northwestern Ordinance as the core of a development strategy for capitalism and democracy in the United States. A precursor to the Constitution, the Northwestern Ordinance was based on the New England Model to achieve a broad and... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Economic Systems; Income; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; Growth and Development Strategy; Power and Influence; United States

Educators

Web

Boston-based alumni discuss income inequality, the merits of capitalism and the social contract at Business & Society “Jeffersonian” Dinner Series | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

2012
Article

Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models

By: Johanna Mair, Julie Battilana and Julian Cardenas

In this article, we use content and cluster analysis on a global sample of 200 social entrepreneurial organizations to develop a typology of social entrepreneuring models. This typology is based on four possible forms of capital that can be leveraged: social, economic,... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Organizational Structure

February 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Prime Coalition: Catalytic Capital for Climate Innovation

By: Ramana Nanda, Benjamin N. Roth and Olivia Hull

With long development timelines and high risk, new energy technologies were often left to languish in the “valley of death,” unable to raise enough funds to bring a product to market. In 2014, Sarah Kearney founded the nonprofit Prime Coalition to solve this problem.... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Mission and Purpose; Science-Based Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Energy Industry; Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States

Educators

28 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Capital Rules: The Tensions of Global Finance

What fuels a global economy? Certainly the easy flow of capital across national boundaries would seem near the top of the list. But financial globalization is not an on/off switch, notes Professor Rawi Abdelal. Different countries and... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi Abdelal

01 Mar 2013
News

Sizing Up Social Impact

nonprofit leaders today," says Associate Professor Alnoor Ebrahim, a member of the School's General Management Unit and Social Enterprise Initiative who focuses on the challenges of performance management, accountability, and governance... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Crop Production; Agriculture; Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

Aug 2012
Conference Presentation

When Does the Glue of Social Ties Dissolve: Syndication Ties and Performance Clues in Withdrawals from Venture Capital Syndicates

By: Pavel Ivanov Zhelyazkov

October 2002
Article

The Role of Social Capital and Gender in Linking Financial Suppliers and Entrepreneurial Firms: A Framework for Future Research.

By: Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Patricia G. Greene, Myra M. Hart and Elizabeth Gatewood

Keywords: Framework; Research; Gender; Capital

Web

Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Social Enterprise Initiative We educate, support, and inspire leaders across all sectors to tackle society's toughest challenges and make a difference in the world. Supporting a Dynamic Community MBA Experience Learn more about... View Details

22 Jul 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance

Keywords: by Beiting Cheng, Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

In order to garner the capital necessary to foot the bill for social change, nonprofits need to think less about traditional grants and more in terms of innovation--and so do the organizations that fund... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Article

Creating Value in the Age of Distributed Capitalism

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Capitalism is a book of many chapters—and we are beginning a new one. Every century or so, fundamental changes in the nature of consumption create new demand patterns that existing enterprises can't meet. When a majority of people want things that remain priced at a... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Economic Systems; Transformation

Read Now

June 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies

By: Joseph Pacelli, Jillian Grennan and Alexis Lefort

Fama Technologies is an online screening company that uses AI to analyze job applicants' publicly available online content for signs of risk and culture fit. The case opens with Ben Mones, founder and CEO, looking to secure funding from venture firms. He is running... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; AI and Machine Learning; Social Media; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; United States

Educators

Research Summary

Overview

By: Dutch Leonard

Professor Leonard's research focuses on understanding the role of leadership in the development of strategy and processes for execution in private sector and socially-oriented organizations, including an emphasis on innovation, uncertainty, building successful adaptive... View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Leadership; Social Business; Social Capital; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Risk Management; Crisis Management

Fall 2015
Article

Doing Well by Doing Good? Community Development Venture Capital

By: Josh Lerner and Anna Kovner

This paper examines the investments and performance of community development venture capital (CDVC). We find substantial differences between CDVC and traditional venture capital (VC) investments: CDVC investments are far more likely to be in nonmetropolitan regions and... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Venture Capital