Publications

01 Mar 2004
Lessons from the Classroom

Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science

In a recent case study, professor Alan MacCormack and research associate Jay Wynn swung for the moon—Mars, actually. After two high-profile missions to Mars failed in 2000, MacCormack wanted to understand... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2009
Teaching Note

Public Purpose and Private Property (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Laura Alfaro and Lakshmi Iyer

Teaching Note for [709027] and [709029]. View Details

Keywords: Property; Government and Politics

April 2025
Supplement

Columbia's Final Mission (B)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Richard M. Bohmer and Michael A. Roberto

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details. View Details

01 Mar 2013
News

A Mission in Motion

Since its beginnings 20 years ago, the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative has been a focal point for applying innovative business practices to drive sustainable, high-impact social change. Conceived by John Whitehead (MBA 1947), the SEI was founded at HBS View Details

Keywords: summary

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Dove and Real Beauty: Building a Brand with Purpose

By: Mark R. Kramer, Myriam Sidibe and Gunjan Veda

Unilever subsidiary Dove soap became a "brand with a purpose" and created shared value when the company decided to launch a Campaign for Real Beauty to combat the artificial media-driven stereotype of female beauty that causes appearance anxiety in women and girls... View Details

Keywords: Stereotype; Body Image; Female; Self-Esteem; Brands and Branding; Mission and Purpose; Advertising Campaigns; Gender; Resource Allocation

17 Oct 2011
News

How ‘Hybrid’ Nonprofits Can Stay on Mission

April 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

The Mahindra Group: Leading with Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

India headquartered Mahindra Group is a multibillion-dollar federation of companies operating across the globe. It is ahead of its time in articulating its purpose and mapping its values, something it had first done at inception and then refreshed yet again as ‘Rise’... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Family Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Revenue; Auto Industry; Financial Services Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; India; Mumbai; South Korea; Italy; United States

01 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

What to Do When Your Organization Has Dueling Missions

$3.94 billion in sales from its more than 3,000 retail stores and its online auction site. Even so, Goodwill’s core mission is to provide job training and placement to people... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

15 Apr 2022
News

Funding His Purpose

to increased need and companies were eager to contribute to the effort, SITAWI’s nonprofit organization mobilized nine times as much capital as it had the previous year and doubled the size of its workforce.... View Details

June 2010 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino: Improving Performance with a New Vision and Mission

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gabriele Piccoli

Atlantis Paradise Island adopted a new vision and mission to provide its guests and employees an enhanced brand experience. The dilemma Atlantis faced was how to integrate the new vision and mission into all the brand touch points in order to improve customer... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Satisfaction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Employee Relationship Management; Brands and Branding; Service Delivery; Mission and Purpose; Performance Improvement; Accommodations Industry

Program

Growing as a Purposeful Leader

leader able to deal with increasing demands and complex challenges Lead in an era in which the mission of leaders has broadened considerably Change the way you think about your company View Details

Comment

Public Purpose and Accountability in the Indian State

By: Akshay Mangla

Keywords: Accountability; India; Corporate Accountability; Public Sector; India

Read Now

May 2014
Article

From Purpose to Impact: Figure Out Your Passion and Put It to Work

By: Nick Craig and Scott Snook

We offer opinions on leadership. A need is seen for executives to have a strong belief in the purpose of their lives as individuals and within an organization to be effective leaders and to accomplish their personal goals. Executives are urged to examine their lives to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership

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Read Now

10 Mar 2015
News

How Social Enterprises Can Protect Mission and Deliver Profit

14 Oct 2014
News

A man on a mission

“If I’m doing anything to change the world,” says retired NASA administrator Julian Earls (PMD 37, 1979), “it is using any power and influence I have to lift up other people.” He has done that by helping others to further their potential... View Details

June 2023
Article

Can Purpose Foster Stakeholder Trust in Corporations

By: Ranjay Gulati and Franz Wohlgezogen

As part of institutional changes toward more responsible capitalism, firms increasingly articulate a purpose beyond simply profit as a central tenet of their governance. Management scholarship has noted the potential advantages of such purpose-focus for stakeholder... View Details

Keywords: Stakeholder Management; Moral Identity; Mission and Purpose; Trust; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations

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2022
Book

Purpose + Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World

By: George Serafeim

The roadmap and best practices to reap the enormous value that can emerge when your business prioritizes social and environmental goals—such as climate change, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability—right alongside the pursuit of profit.

We not only... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Profitability; Business And Society; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Value Creation; Organizational Change and Adaptation