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How Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen
Social enterprise Digital ArticleThe story of how one organization envisioned a future transformed. -
How Nonprofit Leaders Can Keep Their Organizations Afloat
Organizational Development Digital ArticleFive steps they can take today. -
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. -
Should Your Start-up Be For-Profit or Nonprofit?
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleYears ago the line between nonprofit and for-profit enterprises was clear, but that has changed. Nonprofits now offer products that compete with those... -
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 […] -
How to Woo Talent From the For-Profit World
Talent management Digital ArticleOffer star recruits the chance to keep building their skills. -
A Call for Innovation in Job Creation
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleThe Gulf oil spill looks like it might be capped. U.S. financial regulation is underway, plugging holes of another kind, which won't allow sub-prime mortgage... -
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 […] -
A Decade In, It's Time to Supercharge the Giving Pledge
Organizational Development Digital ArticleBillionaires pledging half of their net worth to charity was a good start. -
A New Vision for Retirement: Productive and Meaningful
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleInstead of retiring, baby boomers can fill the talent gap in social enterprises. -
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. -
The Betterness Manifesto
Economics Digital ArticleNote: this post has been expanded to an HBR Single, Betterness: Economics for Humans. Get it from any book e-tailer or download it here. So you want to build a better 21st century. But how? That’s what many of you have been asking me on Twitter and elsewhere. We can feel it, I suspect, most […] -
Big Data Means More Than Big Profits
Social enterprise Digital ArticleIt can make a big difference, too. -
Cultivating the Gold-Collar Worker
Developing employees Magazine ArticleTo address the dire need for skilled technology workers, American business must recognize a different color of collar.
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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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Dealing with a Changing Environment: Fundacion Peruana para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details At a time, in the early 1980s, when Peru is wracked by leftist terrorism and hampered by weak central government, the Foundation for the Protection of... -
The END Fund (B)
Management Case Study5.00View Details Founded in 2012, the END fund focused on eliminating five Neglected Tropical Diseases that accounted for 80% of the tropical diseases affecting nearly... -
Akooda: Charging Toward Operational Intelligence
Management Case Study11.95View Details The Akooda case describes the challenges confronting founder and CEO Yuval Gonczarowski (MBA '17) in 2022 as he attempts to boost sales. Launched in November... -
Arist: Learning Bit by Bit
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Arist was a Boston, Massachusetts-based startup with a text message learning platform. It was founded by three undergraduate students and raised more... -
Cost Plus Drugs
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In September 2022, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company CEO Alex Oshmyansky considered the future of the company. Cost Plus Drugs was a retailer for more... -
Greenpeace
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Nearly all environmental organizations have a similar aim: to stop the degradation of the natural environment. However, the strategies which environmental... -
Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023
Management Case Study11.95View Details Chile, often considered among Latin America´s greatest economic success stories, suffered a shocking wave of protests in October 2019, as its citizens... -
Procter & Gamble: Children's Safe Drinking Water (A)
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details In 1995, Procter & Gamble (P&G) scientists began researching methods of water treatment for use in communities facing water crises. P&G, one of the world's... -
No Longer Left on the Shelf: How Savour! Made Yet-to-be-Sold F&B Products an Attractive Proposition
Management Case Study11.95View Details Singapore-based tech social enterprise Savour! seeks to make procurement smoother and more productive by linking up suppliers like merchants with less... -
The Freedom Fund (B)
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details The Freedom Fund (B) case describes the management's plan of how to use the windfall of $35 million granted by philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. The case... -
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... -
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... -
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.... -
Micro Housing Finance Corporation
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the evolution of MHFC, a player in the Indian informal housing sector. As a new entrant offering micro home loans to the financially... -
LifeBank Nigeria
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The aspiration of addressing maternal deaths in Nigeria, which were mostly caused by blood shortages, led Temie Giwa-Tubosun to found LifeBank in 2015.... -
Anti-Racist Leadership: How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Conscious World
30.00View Details Building anti-racist companies by design creates great places to work for all. Business leaders ready to take a bold stance to make the world better for... -
Teach Plus: Mobilizing a New Generation of Teacher Leaders
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This case profiles the evolution of Teach Plus, a non-profit organization founded on the premise that in order for public schools to continuously improve... -
Janet Ames (D)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details The final case in the series of Janet Ames looks at the challenges of managing a nonprofit and what to do in the instance of suspected fraud. -
Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive: Fashion for All
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In Fall 2017, Tommy Hilfiger launched Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive, a line of adaptive and inclusive fashion apparel intended to make dressing easier. Now,...
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How Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen
Social enterprise Digital ArticleThe story of how one organization envisioned a future transformed. -
Dealing with a Changing Environment: Fundacion Peruana para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details At a time, in the early 1980s, when Peru is wracked by leftist terrorism and hampered by weak central government, the Foundation for the Protection of... -
The END Fund (B)
Management Case Study5.00View Details Founded in 2012, the END fund focused on eliminating five Neglected Tropical Diseases that accounted for 80% of the tropical diseases affecting nearly... -
How Nonprofit Leaders Can Keep Their Organizations Afloat
Organizational Development Digital ArticleFive steps they can take today. -
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. -
Akooda: Charging Toward Operational Intelligence
Management Case Study11.95View Details The Akooda case describes the challenges confronting founder and CEO Yuval Gonczarowski (MBA '17) in 2022 as he attempts to boost sales. Launched in November... -
Arist: Learning Bit by Bit
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Arist was a Boston, Massachusetts-based startup with a text message learning platform. It was founded by three undergraduate students and raised more... -
Should Your Start-up Be For-Profit or Nonprofit?
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleYears ago the line between nonprofit and for-profit enterprises was clear, but that has changed. Nonprofits now offer products that compete with those... -
The Era of “Move Fast and Break Things” Is Over
Venture capital Digital ArticleHere’s what that means for VCs and entrepreneurs.