social issues - Publications - Faculty & Research

29 Mar 2023
News

Giving Hope and Comfort

Jeff Feingold (MBA 1997) launched Hope and Comfort out of his Boston-area garage in 2011 to address the issue of hygiene insecurity in Massachusetts. "If you don't have basic hygiene products, it's very hard to stay clean, healthy, and confident," he explains. "No one... View Details

07 Nov 2018
News

A Market-Based Approach to Solving the World’s Water Crisis

where we've reached more than 3 1/2 million people alone. “When you look at the solutions that are being brought to bear in solving the water crisis, there are many. And we need to have many different solutions with such a complex issue... View Details

Keywords: water; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

25 Feb 2020
News

Profits and Purpose

Professor George Serafeim (left) and Professor Rebecca Henderson (right); image by John Ritter CEOs are increasingly being asked to take the lead on some of the most vexing problems of our time, from climate change and data privacy to View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

March 2018
Supplement

Improving Access at VA

By: Ryan W. Buell and Robert S. Huckman

In 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ran the largest healthcare system in the United States, with over 1,700 sites of care that served nearly 9 million veterans. One year earlier, a scandal had erupted over a cover-up of the excessive wait times veterans... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Social Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Health Industry; United States

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February 2008 (Revised May 2011)
Case

The Travails of Rubber: Goodyear or Badyear?

By: Tom Nicholas and Andrew Ferguson

Explores the reason why Charles Goodyear, inventor of rubber vulcanization, was unable to profit from his discovery despite securing international property rights over his invention through a patent in 1844. Considers the utility of patents as an incentive for... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Motivation and Incentives; Commercialization

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Profile

Roniesha Copeland

legend, Magic Johnson. “He talked about his urban development enterprise,” Roniesha says. “He partnered with businesses that put storefronts in neighborhoods they previously didn’t think would be profitable. His talk gave me a window into the role the private sector... View Details

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

of the board, or at least appointing a lead director, is so important. We all need to feel accountable to a higher authority. Contrary to the Business Roundtable's assertion that a lead director is needed only when issues of CEO... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

08 Jan 2016
News

Investing in Sustainability

Photos by Benoit Cortet Nicholas Tiller (MBA 1998) grew up Springfield, Ohio, a farming community where 4-H was founded, and many of his classmates were in FFA, the Future Farmers of America. Yet Tiller’s education in agriculture and energy—and the ways in which the... View Details

Keywords: April White; Agriculture

27 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

A Politician's Investment Portfolio Might Tip Off Corruption Potential

up similar red flags for financial risk taking, which could trigger greater surveillance. For investment brokers and advisors, certain transactions raise a red flag, but personal character traits do not. Some social psychologists tend to... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

01 Jun 1998
News

How the Ron Brown Award Was Born

establish and administer the award. "The President hoped that such an award would elevate and honor issues of leadership in citizenship as the Baldrige awards have done for leadership in quality," Cavanagh says. Conference Board president... View Details

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

Issue Focus: Leadership To keep pace with a fast-changing global business environment, “You’ve got to institutionalize the process of reinvention,” says William Fung. Photo courtesy Li & Fung Ltd. Issue... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade

June 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

Jasmine Crowe founded Goodr to redirect food waste to people in need. Now a profitable enterprise, she’s searching for Series A funding and encountering pushback. Scaling and contract concerns are also at the forefront of her mind, but so are her values. Feeding... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investor Demand; Food; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Race; Opportunities; Contracts; Mission and Purpose; Financing and Loans

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October 1999
Case

Royal Dutch/Shell in Transition (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine

This case describes the decisions made by Shell in response to the situation presented in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Governance; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Public Opinion; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Transformation; Energy Industry

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Reimagining Capitalism: Business and Big Problems - Course Catalog

in addressing big social and environmental challenges. Students will examine: The forces that are leading Capitalism to evolve to address these challenges, How to overcome impediments that hamper businesses’ efforts to profitably address... View Details

04 Aug 2003
What Do You Think?

Are We Facing an Attitude Shortage?

trick is to make sure your employees are happy." Taking issue with this, Zbigniew Becker suggested, "Educational programs do have a crucial role to play in installing/strengthening in future managers the conviction that attitude... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Jan 2021
News

Holding Business to Account

before the model Aiyer envisioned would be christened “impact investing,” she launched Walden Capital Management in 1994 to pursue these dual goals of financial return and social change on behalf her clients. Following Walden’s... View Details

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What It Takes to Restore Trust in Business

raised the issue of restitution for investors who had been defrauded and subjected to misrepresentations. "We have apparently decided that the issues of restitution ... should primarily be left to the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

17 Apr 2013
Research Event

Conference Challenges Gender Conventions

Cuddy. "We've come a long way. Our current 900-plus first-year students are 40 percent women—our highest percentage ever," said Ely. "And our student body is far more diverse now than it was 50 years ago, not just in gender but in race, ethnicity, View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

October 1997
Case

Roslin Institute, The

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

Dr. Ian Willmut and the Roslin Institute have developed a revolutionary new technology--cloning. Now they are faced with some tough choices concerning going forward. How should they balance commercialization opportunities with societal concerns? View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Independent Innovation and Invention; Social Issues; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry

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