Absolute Return for Kids

Herman B. Leonard; Marc J. Epstein; Melissa  Tritter

Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2008 (Revised December 2009)

Absolute Return for Kids

by Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

Abstract

Absolute Return for Kids [ARK] is a charity with strong financial support-what are the constraints on its growth and impact? ARK seeks to transform the lives of children who are victims of abuse, disability, illness, and poverty. As one of the 50 largest fundraising charities in the United Kingdom, the organization's trustees wrestle with how to meet the needs of this vast and most vulnerable population through program expansion and delivery in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. How can the organization replicate its existing successful programs faster, both within and existing new countries? How can it best identify new areas into which ARK should expand over the near term and further down the road-and recognize the ones that would overstretch ARK's organizational capacity and risk failing to maintain the highest quality of delivery?

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Capacity; Quality; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; South Africa; Europe; United Kingdom;

Format: Print

21 pages

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Citation:

Leonard, Herman B., Marc J. Epstein, and Melissa Tritter. "Absolute Return for Kids." Harvard Business School Case 309-036, August 2008. (Revised December 2009.)

Book | 2020

Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead

Joseph L. Bower, Dutch Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

Who should take the lead in fixing market capitalism? Business—not government alone. The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Pandemics, income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism, the misuse of social media, and cyberattacks—these are just a few of the threats to continuing prosperity that we see dominating the headlines every day. How can capitalism be sustained? And who should spearhead the effort? Critics turn to government. In their groundbreaking book, Capitalism at Risk, Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that while robust governments must play a role, leadership by business is essential. For enterprising companies—whether large multinationals, established regional players, or small startups—the current threats to market capitalism present important opportunities. In this updated and expanded edition of Capitalism at Risk, Bower, Leonard, and Paine set forth a renewed and more urgent call to action. With three additional chapters and a new preface, the authors explain how the eleven original disruptors of the global market system clash with the digital age, and they provide lessons on how to take action. Presenting examples of companies already making a difference, Bower, Leonard, and Paine show how business must serve both as innovator and activist—developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels. Filled with rich insights, this new edition of Capitalism at Risk presents a compelling and constructive vision for the future of market capitalism.

Keywords: Capitalism; business and society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Policy; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy;

Citation:

Bower, Joseph L., Dutch Leonard, and Lynn S. Paine. Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead. Updated and expanded ed. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2020. View Details

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All organizations practice some form of risk management to identify and assess routine risks in their operations, supply chains, strategy, and external environment. These risk management policies, however, fail in the presence of novelty. Novel risks arise from unforeseen events, from complex combinations of apparently routine events, and from apparently familiar events occurring at unprecedented scale and speed. Mobilizing routine risk management to novel events will be ineffective, and, more seriously, delude management into thinking that risks have been mitigated when they may already have escalated to serious consequences. Based on best practices from the private and public sector, the paper describes structures and processes to identify and respond to novel risks. A critical incident management team makes assessments and develops options in the event’s uncertain and volatile environment. The team’s decision-making process has to be rapid, improvisational, iterative, and humble since not every action taken will work as intended.

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