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How Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen
Social enterprise Digital ArticleThe story of how one organization envisioned a future transformed. -
Why Today’s Startups Pursue Both Ideas and Ideals
Corporate social responsibility Big IdeaPurpose can provide strategic and operational advantages. -
Philanthropy’s New Agenda: Creating Value
Corporate social responsibility Magazine ArticleSatisfied with doing good, too few foundations work strategically to do better. -
Can Technology End Poverty?
Technology and analytics Digital ArticleOnly if it is relevant and suitable to the lives of the poor. -
Social Impact Investing Will Be the New Venture Capital
Organizational Development Digital ArticleNew funding models are about to revolutionize the social sector. -
How Companies Can Champion Sustainable Development
Organizational Development Digital ArticleFocus on the problem you want to solve. -
A New Way to Scale Social Enterprise
Social enterprise Digital ArticleA new type of security, called “mission equity,” caps investor returns so the company’s financial success can help fuel its mission. -
Galvanizing Philanthropy
Change management Magazine ArticleTo strengthen their impact in the world, philanthropic investors need to rigorously define their goals, be realistic about how to achieve them, and commit to continual, systematic improvement. -
5 Strategies to Help Charities Weather the Pandemic
Global Business Digital ArticleLessons from the fundraising arm of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. -
The Era of “Move Fast and Break Things” Is Over
Venture capital Digital ArticleHere’s what that means for VCs and entrepreneurs. -
Can You Help Solve These Social Entrepreneurs’ Challenges?
Social enterprise Digital ArticleEditors’ note: A few weeks ago, HBR asked members of the Poptech Social Innovation Fellows to tell us their management challenges in running socially minded businesses. Our goal in doing so was to expose these challenges to you — the HBR.org community — with the hopes that the community could assist these challenges via conversations […] -
What Foundations Are Missing About Capacity Building
Corporate social responsibility Digital ArticleFundraising is the only capacity that multiplies the money put into it. -
Three Cases of Better Corporate Philanthropy
Organizational culture Digital ArticleThis season of giving often brings a focus on corporate philanthropy — on giving. But it’s hard to do well. If you wanted to design a corporate philanthropy program to have minimum impact, what would you do? Give out lots of grants in amounts too small to make a real difference. Back pet charities, not […] -
Disaster Relief, Inc.
Corporate social responsibility Magazine ArticleIt’s a good thing when companies pitch in after natural or other calamities. It would be a far better thing if they partnered with aid agencies to make plans before disaster struck. -
How to Woo Talent From the For-Profit World
Talent management Digital ArticleOffer star recruits the chance to keep building their skills. -
Get Ready To Be a Changemaker
Social enterprise Digital ArticleWe are on the cusp of a fundamental change — a worldwide change in the skills everyone needs to succeed, in the nature of organizations, and in how businesses must be led. The agricultural revolution set up a pattern that still exists today. A small surplus meant that only a small elite could create culture […] -
Are You Brave Enough to Work for Social Change?
Innovation Digital ArticleThe official theme of the 2010 HBS Social Enterprise Conference, held this past weekend at Harvard Business School, was “Redefining Service for the 21st Century.” But there was an unofficial, existential thread running through several of the keynote speeches — namely, finding yourself through public service. Philanthropist and businessman Raymond Chambers sat with The Economist’s […] -
Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility
Social enterprise HBR BestsellerGovernments, activists, and the media have become adept at holding companies to account for the social consequences of their activities. Myriad organizations rank companies on the performance of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), and, despite sometimes questionable methodologies, these rankings attract considerable publicity. As a result, CSR has emerged as an inescapable priority for business […] -
How Can India Unleash Its Entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleIn the course of the last three days I have spent at the 2009 India Economic Summit organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF), I have heard speeches from many politicians and policy-makers — from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning […] -
Entrepreneurs: You’re More Important Than Your Business Plan
Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleWhen it comes to social ventures, talent matters more than strategy.
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One Way to Help Employees Build Emergency Savings
Corporate social responsibility Digital ArticleMost workers in the U.S. can’t afford unexpected expenses. A partnership between an asset firm and a non-profit created a system for building a cushion. -
The Paradox of Growing as a Values-Driven Company
Business and society Digital ArticleLessons from the B Corp movement about how to offer ethical alternatives at scale — without diluting your mission. -
Should Your Nonprofit Charge Its Beneficiaries?
Nonprofit organizations Magazine ArticleNominal fees can help organizations have a greater impact. -
OpenAI’s Failed Experiment in Governance
Corporate governance Digital ArticleIn mixing the for-profit and nonprofit models, OpenAI hoped for the best of both worlds. Instead, it got the worst. -
How Tony’s Chocolonely Created a Purpose-Driven (and Profitable) Supply Chain
Human rights Digital ArticleA case study of the popular Dutch chocolate company. -
Research: Why Employees Accept Lower Pay at Mission-Oriented Companies
Compensation and benefits Digital ArticleA closer look at the social pressures that dissuade job candidates from negotiating for more money. -
The Case for Investing in Digital Public Infrastructure
Business and society Digital ArticleHow businesses and governments can work together to build digital foundations that benefit everyone. -
Should Your Start-up Be For-Profit or Nonprofit?
Nonprofit organizations Magazine ArticleA guide for social entrepreneurs -
Moving the Needle on Sustainability
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleMany sustainability initiatives focus on improving the sustainability of products and operations in legacy or adjacent markets or on achieving sustainability... -
Why Sharing Economic Growth with the Community Is Good Business
Social and global issues Digital ArticleMutually beneficial partnerships can both drive profit and alleviate poverty. -
What Happens When a Company (Like Patagonia) Transfers Ownership to a Nonprofit?
Corporate governance Digital ArticleThis form of ownership may be new in the U.S., but it’s relatively common in Europe. -
How Business Coalitions Can Have a Strong Local Impact
Business and society Digital ArticleBest practices based on an analysis of more than 40 regional initiatives. -
Accounting for Climate Change
Accounting Magazine ArticleThe first rigorous approach to ESG reporting -
The Net Positive Manifesto
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleBoth practically and morally, corporate leaders can no longer sit on the sidelines of major societal shifts or treat human and planetary issues as "someone... -
How NGOs Can Help More People with DIY Solutions
Business and society Digital ArticleIn certain cases, offering unfinished products to aid recipients can lead to better results — and help make the most of limited resources. -
How Low and Middle-Income Countries Are Innovating to Combat Covid
Global Business Digital ArticleSeven lessons for innovators everywhere. -
Is a Nonprofit Job Right for You?
Social enterprise Digital ArticleIt’s going to take more than passion for a cause. -
Getting Serious About Stakeholder Capitalism
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleBusiness can't thrive in an environment of unhealthy employees, customers, and communities, an at-risk planet, and a fractured society. To transition... -
Why Today’s Startups Pursue Both Ideas and Ideals
Corporate social responsibility Big IdeaPurpose can provide strategic and operational advantages. -
Power Sharing Can Change Corporations for the Better
Global Business Big IdeaStrategies for ensuring stakeholder voices are heard and ESG goals are met.
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Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the... -
Meaningful Gigs
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In October 2020, just a year after founding their company Meaningful Gigs, founders Ronnie Kwesi Coleman and Stephanie Nachemja-Burton prepared for a... -
Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Starting as a modest 20-bed hospital, Aravind had grown into a 1,400-bed hospital complex by 1992. It had by then screened 3.65 million patients and performed... -
Second Harvest Heartland: Ending Hunger Together
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In March 2020, Second Harvest Heartland, one of six Foodbanks serving Minnesota, was caught in the COVID-19 emergency with considerably more people exposed... -
Promigas Foundation: Knowledge Management as a Focus of Corporate Social Responsibility
Management Case Study11.95View Details Corporate foundations represent a distinctive avenue for companies to channel their resources into social initiatives, often straying from their core... -
Year Up: Measuring and Scaling Impact
Management Case Study11.95View Details Year Up, a non-profit that provides training and practical work experience to low-income young people, has for years prioritized impact measurement. By... -
Fairphone 3: Commercializing Radical Sustainability
Management Case Study11.95View Details The mobile phone industry is notorious for its lack of sustainability. Fairphone started as a campaign to draw attention to 'conflict minerals' and the... -
From Farm Boy to Financier: Eiichi Shibusawa and the Creation of Modern Japan
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the career of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), a serial entrepreneur who is widely known as the "father of Japanese capitalism" and as... -
Ethos-Spirit of the Community: Trekking towards Social and Sustainable Venturing
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Ethos - Spirit of the Community (Ethos), a sustainable tourism company in Sa Pa, Vietnam, existed to support a wide variety of environmental and social... -
Accounting Outages at Plug Power? (B)
Management Case Study5.00View Details The case is set in spring 2021, immediately after Plug Power made financial restatements dating back to 2018. The case describes the restatements, which... -
BRAC in 2020
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In 2020, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, BRAC, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has some big problems to tackle. Its founder,... -
Ye Ji: A Serial Entrepreneur in China
Management Case Study11.95View Details Ye Ji had a dream: to build a unicorn enterprise. Ji, a serial entrepreneur in his forties, had the experience of setting up three businesses as an entrepreneur.... -
Monsters in the Machine? Tackling the Challenge of Responsible AI
Management Case Study11.95View Details In November of 2022, the small tech company OpenAI released ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot which quickly captured the public's imagination-becoming... -
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was founded in 1995 to bring together a variety of efforts to reduce teen pregnancy in the United States.... -
AISECT (PART A): LEADING INDIA'S SKILL DEVELOPMENT MISSION
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details The case is a narration of the 20-year journey of the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT), a social enterprise offering... -
The Kommon Goods: Creating Change Through Social Entrepreneurship
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details The online eco-lifestyle start-up The Kommon Goods, founded by Alvin Li, a young Hong Kong social consultant and entrepreneur, seeks to change consumer... -
Aftertaste Foundation: Dignified Livelihood through Art
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Aftertaste Foundation (Aftertaste) was an organization that provided livelihood support to women living in the impoverished urban areas of Mumbai, India,... -
Jai Vakeel Foundation: Addressing Disability
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Jai Vakeel, a nonprofit organization in India, serves individuals with Intellectual Disability (IQ below 70). The organization was founded by the parents... -
San Rafael: How Uncommon Stakeholder Alliances Reduced Chronic Homelessness
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In early 2016, San Rafael, California, created a new position - Director of Homeless Planning and Outreach. The goal was to solve this complex social...
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How Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen
Social enterprise Digital ArticleThe story of how one organization envisioned a future transformed. -
Why Today’s Startups Pursue Both Ideas and Ideals
Corporate social responsibility Big IdeaPurpose can provide strategic and operational advantages. -
Philanthropy’s New Agenda: Creating Value
Corporate social responsibility Magazine ArticleSatisfied with doing good, too few foundations work strategically to do better. -
Can Technology End Poverty?
Technology and analytics Digital ArticleOnly if it is relevant and suitable to the lives of the poor. -
Social Impact Investing Will Be the New Venture Capital
Organizational Development Digital ArticleNew funding models are about to revolutionize the social sector. -
Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the... -
How Companies Can Champion Sustainable Development
Organizational Development Digital ArticleFocus on the problem you want to solve. -
A New Way to Scale Social Enterprise
Social enterprise Digital ArticleA new type of security, called “mission equity,” caps investor returns so the company’s financial success can help fuel its mission. -
Galvanizing Philanthropy
Change management Magazine ArticleTo strengthen their impact in the world, philanthropic investors need to rigorously define their goals, be realistic about how to achieve them, and commit to continual, systematic improvement. -
Meaningful Gigs
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In October 2020, just a year after founding their company Meaningful Gigs, founders Ronnie Kwesi Coleman and Stephanie Nachemja-Burton prepared for a...