Publications

SSRN

Fall 2010
Article

Government Adoption of Sales Promotions: An Initial Appraisal

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine E. Jocz

September 2019
Supplement

Hidrovias do Brasil – Environmental, Social and Governance Initiatives

By: Boris Groysberg

Keywords: Human Resources; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Growth and Development; Leadership; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Transportation; Human Capital; Transportation Industry; Brazil

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nestle: Sustainable Agriculture Initiative

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Swiss food giant Nestle attempts to improve the performance of its suppliers of agricultural commodities to raise quality, lower costs, and contribute to sustainable development. Its initiatives focus first on coffee, cocoa, and milk. Nestle managers assert that the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy; Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

March 2015
Case

Statoil: Transparency on Payments to Governments

By: George Serafeim

The Statoil case describes the challenge of increasing transparency, in extractive industries, around host county government payments. The case describes Statoil's reasoning behind voluntarily disclosing host country government payments, and the events that led to this... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Disclosure; Disclosure Strategy; Regulation; Industry Self-regulation; Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Bribery; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Government Legislation; Cost vs Benefits; Corporate Disclosure; Mining; Mining Industry; United States

April 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Netscape's Initial Public Offering

By: W. Carl Kester and Kendall Backstrand

In August 1995, Netscape's board of directors was confronted with a decision about what price to offer the company's shares in its initial public offering (IPO). Preliminary demand for shares was high, but the company had not generated any positive earnings at the time... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Valuation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Information Technology Industry

Research Summary

Great Negotiator Study Initiative

By: James K. Sebenius

What can be legitimately be learned from closely studying great negotiators at work? Since 2000, the Program on Negotiation (PON)—an active inter-university consortium mainly comprised of numerous faculty from across... View Details

2003
Other Unpublished Work

The Cluster Initiative Greenbook

By: Örjan Sölvell, Göran Lindqvist and Christian H.M. Ketels

After Michael Porter's seminal work on clusters and competitiveness published around 1990, cluster initiatives (CIs) have become a central feature of microeconomic policy around the world. CIs add a new dimension to traditional policy areas such as industrial... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Policy; Investment; Industry Clusters; Innovation and Invention; Developing Countries and Economies; Transition; Partners and Partnerships; Science

Read Now

January 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

By: James E. Austin and Kim Slack

Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is a $74 million nonprofit social enterprise that combats poverty by helping community development organizations build affordable housing and create economic development opportunities through public-private partnerships. Poses a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Development Economics; Education; Capital; Investment Funds; Taxation; Growth and Development; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Segmentation; Service Industry

Teaching Interest

Governing for Nonprofit Excellence

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim

Nonprofit organizations require strong, innovative leadership. In this unique HBS Social Enterprise Initiative program, participants gain an in-depth look at four core nonprofit governance competencies: board leadership, strategic stewardship, performance measurement,... View Details

Web

SPNM Perspectives: Chienye Ogwo, Africa Initiative for Governance | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

November 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

By: Allen S. Grossman and Cathy Ross

Dedicated to accelerating the development of a safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccine, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) pioneered ways of addressing the inadequate incentive structures that prevented progress toward vaccines for AIDS and... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Globalized Firms and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Social Enterprise; Health Industry

July–August 2021
Article

Surfacing the Submerged State: Operational Transparency Increases Trust in and Engagement with Government

By: Ryan W. Buell, Ethan Porter and Michael I. Norton

Problem definition: As trust in government reaches historic lows, frustration with government performance approaches record highs. Academic/practical relevance: We propose that in co-productive settings like government services, peoples’ trust and... View Details

Keywords: Government Services; Behavioral Operations; Operational Transparency; Government Administration; Service Operations; Programs; Perception; Attitudes; Behavior; Trust

January 2001
Case

Merck Global Health Initiatives (A)

By: James E. Austin, Diana Barrett and James Weber

The case series focuses on Merck's drug donation program and then raises new issues facing management about what to do about HIV/AIDS in Africa given the company's development of a new therapy. Describes collaboration among many parties including the Gates Foundation,... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Private Sector; Public Sector; Alliances; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; Botswana

Teaching Interest

IFC Asia: China's Belt & Road Initiative

By: Willy C. Shih

The course objective is to provide students perspectives and insight into one of the major political and economic development programs of China – its Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy that involves infrastructure development and investments in countries spanning... View Details

Keywords: China; Globalization; Trade; Infrastructure; China; Southeast Asia; South Asia; Central Asia

21 Aug 2014
Blog Post

HBS Social Enterprise Initiative Visits NYC

A lot can be achieved through emails, phone calls, and meetings, but being in the field helps broaden perspectives. The HBS Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) did just that – when Matt Segneri, Director, and Margot Dushin, Director of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

July 2004
Supplement

World Vision International: The AIDS Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Management discusses the organizational and governance challenges of operating a global network of partner organizations. Then key managers reflect on the decision World Vision must make on the AIDS Hope Initiative--a new strategic direction that challenges many of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Core Relationships; Welfare; Value; Health Industry

January 2001
Case

Merck Global Health Initiatives (B): Botswana

By: James E. Austin, Diana Barrett and James Weber

The case series focuses on Merck's drug donation program and then raises new issues facing management about what to do about HIV/AIDS in Africa given the company's development of a new therapy. Describes collaboration among many parties including the Gates Foundation,... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Private Sector; Public Sector; Alliances; Problems and Challenges; Africa; Botswana

July–August 2013
Article

Six Ways to Sink a Growth Initiative

By: Donald L. Laurie and J. Bruce Harreld

The conventional wisdom about how best to pursue growth—launch a slew of initiatives in high-potential areas; appoint some promising young managers to lead them; locate them safely away from the established businesses—is a recipe for failure, according to the authors.... View Details

Keywords: Failure; Growth and Development Strategy