Publications
Publications
- 2023
- HBS Working Paper Series
How Wicked Problems Drive Business Performance: A Review of the Academic Literature
By: Caroline Adelson, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price and Marco Iansiti
Abstract
Recent years have seen a rise in the number of businesses engaged in the pursuit of “purposeful” activities – that is, activities that engage with the broader community in ways that expand beyond the pursuit of shareholder value. Many of these activities involve engagement with complex social challenges that are often described as “wicked problems” (e.g., economic inequality, environmental sustainability, food security). While many businesses are engaging with purposeful activity and/or wicked problems, knowledge on the business effects of wicked problem engagement remains fragmented. The goal of this paper is to collate and summarize the existing literature to provide a more complete view of what we know and what we do not know about the business impact of wicked problem engagement. We aim to lay the foundation for further research into the relationship between wicked problem engagement and firm performance.
Keywords
Citation
Adelson, Caroline, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price, and Marco Iansiti. "How Wicked Problems Drive Business Performance: A Review of the Academic Literature." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-064, April 2023.