About the Institute
About the Institute
Mission
Even though the traditional model of shareholder capitalism has had a remarkable history of delivering jobs, products, wealth, and innovation to societies across the globe, interest in new models of stakeholder capitalism is surging - yet without a common understanding of what such capitalism might entail, and for whom and what it would be responsible.
The Institute for Study of Business in Global Society (BiGS) is being established to provide a research-based platform to address these issues. By integrating and amplifying work already underway and catalyzing new streams of inquiry, BiGS aims to direct the tools and resources of Harvard Business School directly towards the critical areas where business and society overlap and occasionally collide, and to provide business leaders with new ways of thinking about how they and their organizations can help to address some of society's most urgent challenges.
Vision
BiGS' work is inter-disciplinary and its purview wide. It involves faculty from across Harvard University and deploys a diverse array of methodologies - including historical analyses, behavioral economics, case-based research, and big data - to explore how capitalism is functioning today, and how the power of business can be harnessed to make it work better. Crucially, the goal of BiGS and its faculty is to tie research to practice, developing insights, tools, and metrics that managers can use to guide their decisions and leadership goals.
As BiGS grows, it will inevitably evolve, shifting in response to the ever-changing landscape of issues confronting the intersection of business and society. During its initial phase, the Institute will focus on several key areas in partnership with a related Initiative and others around the School:
- Climate change and sustainability
- Economic inclusion
- Social diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+, and ability
Leadership

Barbara DeLollis

Sarah Gazzaniga

Drew Keller

Debora L. Spar
Senior Associate Dean for Business in Global Society
Leadership Donors
Founders
Woods Staton
Partners
Richard W. Edelman, MBA 1978
High Meadows Foundation
Anonymous
Members
Sanjiv Bajaj, MBA 1997, Niraj Bajaj, MBA 1982, and the Bajaj Family
Andrew J. Bernstein, MBA 1990, and Jacqueline S. Shoback, MBA 1993
Nancy Donohue, MBA 1992, and Diane Elam
Denise M. Dupré and Mark E. Nunnelly, MBA 1984
Bradley C. Fauvre, MBA 1992, and Lelani (Oca) Fauvre, MBA 1992
Arun Gupta, MBA 1995, and Anjali Gupta
Jinfeng Huang, MBA 2012, and Lei Sun
Mitchell L. Truwit, MBA 1997
Anonymous