Social Enterprise Initiative - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2009
Case

Marks and Spencer: Plan A

By: David E. Bell, Nitin Sanghavi and Laura Winig

Marks & Spencer initiated a comprehensive approach to sustainability (reduction of waste, carbon emissions, fair trade) called Plan A. Does it offer a competitive advantage? View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

12 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Should business play a role in supporting public institutions, and perhaps addressing the world's social challenges? When Harvard Professor Rebecca Henderson asked her colleagues and business executives that question over the last few... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Consequences of Financial Innovation: A Counterfactual Research Agenda

Keywords: by Josh Lerner & Peter Tufano

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys: A Power Couple

By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta

Set in 2018, this case follows married couple and music industry titans Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys as they consider how best to use their platforms to achieve their goals. Since achieving professional success in the music industry early in their lives, Swizz and Keys... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Goals and Objectives; Power and Influence; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Fine Arts Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

November 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

AOL Time Warner Foundation

Focuses on B. Keith Fulton, vice president of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, who is analyzing the results of a new partnership between the foundation and the National Council on Aging. Fulton is considering ways to build upon the partnership's initial success. View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Communications Industry; Public Administration Industry; Publishing Industry

Citation

Find at Harvard

October 2016
Case

Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit?

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

Sunil Nagaraj, Triangulate's founder had spent a few years trying to launch a dating application that matched users based on their behavior on social media. Based on input from advisors, the company changed its focus from a B2B site to a B2C dating site with a unique... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Pivot; Two Sided Markets; Business Model; Business Exit or Shutdown; Product Launch; Venture Capital; Failure; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; United States; North America

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Vikram S. Gandhi is the Gerald P. Kaminsky Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the General Management Unit. He has developed and teaches two new courses in the Elective Curriculum of the MBA Program. The first is a finance and investing course, Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: financial services

Program

Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management

organizations, or consulting firms Program fees are subsidized by Harvard Business School and its Social Enterprise Initiative. Limited, additional need-based scholarship funding may be available. Visit the... View Details

02 Mar 2016
News

Entrepreneurship to improve the world for everyone

Robert S. Kaplan

Robert S. Kaplan is Senior Fellow and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS faculty in 1984 after spending 16 years on the faculty of the business school at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he... View Details

Keywords: health care; nonprofit industry

November 2010
Supplement

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Details and evaluates results in Esquel's 2002 initiative to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

Citation

Purchase

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

new organizational approach to venture capital through mechanisms that deeply reflected New England's financial investment culture. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/search/813002-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 313-086 Hillary Clinton & Partners: Leading... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Feb 2017
Blog Post

Alumni: Where Are They Now? Featuring: Anddria Varnado (Clack-Rogers)

and cross-brand initiatives across Williams-Sonoma’s iconic eight-brand portfolio. I joined WSI after a few years in management consulting, where I managed projects across my firm’s retail and technology portfolios, and pre-MBA roles in... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

August 2014
Article

The Varied Work of Challenger Movements: Identifying Challenger Roles in the U.S. Environmental Movement

By: Stephanie Bertels, Andrew J. Hoffman and Rich Dejordy

Organizations within challenger movements often exhibit differences in what they do, with whom they interact, and how they understand or present themselves. This article attempts to understand what underlies such heterogeneity in challenger movements. Adopting a mixed... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Environmental Management; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks

Citation

Find at Harvard

Purchase

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

look at the "softer" components of risk management, including a comparison of two different, equally effective risk officer styles and roles. Social Strategies That Work Author:Mikołaj Jan Piskorski Publication:Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

Person Page

Non-academic Talks and Lectures

Harvard Business School Entrepreneurship Conference, March 3, 2005
Panelist on International... View Details

02 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?

Over the past decade, socially-focused websites have attracted hundreds of millions of users and changed the social fabric in fundamental ways. The likes of eHarmony and Match.com enable us meet new people. Platforms including Facebook,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

03 Apr 2017
What Do You Think?

How About Investing in Human Infrastructure?

revenue-producing capacity of the worker from $60,000 (a rough figure for the hospitality industry) to $110,000 (a similarly rough figure for “health care and social assistance”). A $30,000 investment in human infrastructure, based on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Construction

March 2016 (Revised September 2021)
Case

South Africa: A Fractured Rainbow?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Twenty years after the end of Apartheid, South Africa's democracy persists, albeit with problems. A tripartite coalition — the African National Congress, the labor unions, and the Communist Party — still controls the political system but with diminishing economic... View Details