Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • July 2021
  • Teaching Plan
  • HBS Case Collection

Aligning Mission and Margin at Southern Bancorp

By: Rebecca Henderson, Brian Trelstad and Eren Kuzucu
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:10
ShareBar

Abstract

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 321-099. In October 2020, after spending almost a decade to turnaround Southern Bancorp, an Arkansan bank founded with the mission to provide financial services to rural, underserved communities, CEO Darrin Williams is wondering how Southern Bancorp should continue to grow. Since taking the helm of the bank, Williams has worked with his team to revamp the bank’s finances, provide liquidity to its investors, raise new capital, and prove that the bank’s operations (dubbed “the margin”) reinforced its mission to provide financial services to underserved communities. Williams has several questions to consider in preparing Southern Bancorp’s next phase of growth: Should he continue Southern Bancorp’s efforts to grow in preparation for a traditional public offering? Or should he take advantage of the increasing public and private capital dedicated to racial equity to deepen the bank’s mission and become a central player in the effort to close the racial wealth gap? Would listing Southern Bancorp in public markets disrupt the delicate balance between the mission and the margin? Was Southern Bancorp attractive enough to receive the dedicated capital flooding to close the racial wealth gap?

Keywords

Racial Wealth Gap; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Going Public; Investment Return; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Arkansas

Citation

Henderson, Rebecca, Brian Trelstad, and Eren Kuzucu. "Aligning Mission and Margin at Southern Bancorp." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 322-018, July 2021.
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Rebecca M. Henderson

General Management
→More Publications

Brian L. Trelstad

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • September 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Measuring and Managing Social Impact

    By: Brian Trelstad
    • September 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

    By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-he Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney
    • September 2023
    • Faculty Research

    FoodCloud: Tackling Food Insecurity and Climate Change in One Bite

    By: Brian Trelstad and Emer Moloney
More from the Authors
  • Measuring and Managing Social Impact By: Brian Trelstad
  • Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder' By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-he Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney
  • FoodCloud: Tackling Food Insecurity and Climate Change in One Bite By: Brian Trelstad and Emer Moloney
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College