Publications

October 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

NYC311

By: Constantine E. Kontokosta, Mitchell Weiss, Christine Snively and Sarah Gulick

Joe Morrisroe, executive director for NYC311, had some gut instincts but no definitive answer to the question he was just asked by one of the mayor’s deputies: “Are some communities being underserved by 311? How do we know we are hearing from the right people?” Founded... View Details

October 2015
Case

Bigbelly

By: Mitch Weiss and Christine Snively

To accelerate Bigbelly's sales growth and its "smart cities" positioning, its CEO planned to shift his company from equipment sales to a subscription service. Jack Kutner hoped to re-position Bigbelly's solar-powered trash compacting stations beyond trash and recycling... View Details

March 2016
Teaching Plan

Emaar: The Center of Tomorrow, Today

By: Sid Yog, Esel Cekin and Marc Homsy

Starting in 1997, Mohammad Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar, has been largely associated with Dubai's most renowned real estate projects: the world's tallest building, largest mall and biggest fountain show. Emaar's pioneering success attracted a large number of private... View Details

Keywords: Middle East; United Arab Emirates; Egypt; Dubai; Real Estate; Finance; Emaar; Public Real Estate Company; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Financial Condition; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Dubai

2014
Discussion Paper

The Promise of Microfinance and Women's Empowerment: What Does the Evidence Say?

By: Dina D. Pomeranz

The microfinance revolution has transformed access to financial services for low-income populations worldwide. As a result, it has become one of the most talked-about innovations in global development in recent decades. However, its expansion has not been without... View Details

Read Now

January 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case

New Urban Mechanics

By: Mitchell Weiss

Funding to scale Citizens Connect, Boston's 311 app, is both a blessing and a burden and tests two public entrepreneurs. In 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics with a grant to scale Citizens Connect across the... View Details

December 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

U.S. Digital Service

By: Mitchell Weiss, Nick Sinai and Michael Norris

Mikey Dickerson and Haley Van Dyck found themselves far from home and far from certain about where to take the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) next. In the summer of 2015, they had landed in London to meet with Mike Bracken, director of the United Kingdom’s Government... View Details

Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship; Haley Van Dyck; Mikey Dickerson; United States Digital Service; Digital Services; Innovation Teams; Scaling Innovation; 18F; Presidential Innovation Fellows; Government Digital Service; Mike Bracken; Innovation Fellowships; Entrepreneurship; Government Administration; Innovation and Management; United States; United Kingdom

18 Jan 2021
Book

How Thinking Like a Startup Helps Governments Solve More Problems

As we work on challenging public problems, embracing the entrepreneurial spirit can help in developing solutions, says Harvard Business School Professor Mitchell Weiss in a new book, We the Possibility: Harnessing View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Apr 2023
News

Step Change

across the e-commerce, health care, transportation, edtech, and fintech sectors. Ayman Ismail, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and founding director of the American University in Cairo's (AUC) Venture Lab, pegs the earliest... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

01 Dec 2019
News

In My Humble Opinion: Taking Attendance

HBS, where Jones took an entrepreneurship in public education elective with Stacey Childress (MBA 2000), who now heads NewSchools Venture Fund. Childress urged her to enter the field, but Jones, intent on... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; public education; leadership; charter schools; career paths; work-life balance; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services

March 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector

By: William C. Kirby and Erica M. Zendell

Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; China; Business And Government Relations; Business And Poverty; Business And Society; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Emerging Market; NGO; Education; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Emerging Markets; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; China

01 Mar 2023
News

Step Change

care, transportation, edtech, and fintech sectors. Ayman Ismail, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and founding director of the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Venture Lab, pegs the earliest movements of Egypt’s venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Abdelrahman Gabr – Koree; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

21 Oct 2021
News

5 Minutes With ... Mitchell Weiss of Harvard Business School

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

book) is accelerating that trend. “There are substantial public health impacts in wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and the aftermath of flooding,” notes Macomber, who teaches the MBA electives Business Opportunities in Climate Adaptation and... View Details

Keywords: Kathleen Fu, Deborah Blagg, Julia Hanna, and Maureen Harmon; illustrations by; energy; environment; sustainability; entrepreneurship; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM EDT, 18 May 2021
Virtual Programming

Books@Baker: Mitchell Weiss

Is government too big, too slow, and too mired in bureaucracy to tackle climate change, crumbling infrastructure, and other tough social problems? Join HBS professor Mitchell Weiss as he talks about these and other ideas from his new book, We the Possibility:... View Details

10 Apr 2013
Keynote Speech

Disrupting the Status Quo: From Economic Growth to Social Progress

By: Michael E. Porter

Filmed April 10, 2013, Opening Plenary of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship 2013 in Oxford, UK. Professor Michael E Porter of Harvard Business School publicly announces the creation of the Social Progress Imperative and previews its first public product,... View Details

Keywords: Social Progress Index; Social Entrepreneurship

April 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Background Note

Note on Healthcare in Ghana

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

This note provides an overview of the healthcare system in Ghana. It discusses the public and private sector as well as traditional medical practice. It also discusses the country’s pharmaceutical industry. It is recommended as a companion to Professor Regina... View Details

Keywords: Africa; Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Telehealth; Health Equity; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Ghana

2008
Book

Social Entrepreneurship: A Modern Approach to Social Value Creation

By: Arthur C. Brooks

This text brings together the established pedagogy of entrepreneurship with cutting edge nonprofit and public management tools.
Measuring social value, earned income, donations and government income, entrepreneurial fundraising and marketing, and social... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Management