Social Enterprise
Social Enterprise
HBS pioneered the concept of “social enterprise” with the founding of its Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) in 1993. Under the early leadership of James Austin on the importance of collaborative relationships to the success of nonprofits and Allen Grossman and V. Kasturi “Kash” Rangan on new directions in nonprofit strategy, we adopted a problem-focused approach toward understanding the challenges associated with driving sustained, high-impact social change. Current research focuses on leadership of socially mission-driven organizations; the role of business leaders and corporate citizenship in driving social change; business models that address poverty; management of high-performing K-12 public school districts; and financing models for the non-profit sector.
Initiatives & Projects
The Social Enterprise Initiative, Business & Environment Initiative, and Health Care Initiative apply innovative business practices and managerial disciplines to drive sustained, high-impact social change.
Social EnterpriseBusiness & EnvironmentHealth CareRecent Publications
A Political Economy of Justice
- 2022 |
- Book |
- Faculty Research
If we can agree that our current social-political moment is tenuous and unsustainable—and indeed, that may be the only thing we can agree on right now—then how do markets, governments, and people interact in this next era of the world? A Political Economy of Justice considers the strained state of our political economy in terms of where it can go from here. The contributors to this timely and essential volume look squarely at how normative and positive questions about political economy interact with each other—and from that beginning, how to chart a way forward to a just economy. A Political Economy of Justice collects fourteen essays from prominent scholars across the social sciences, each writing in one of three lanes: the measures of a just political economy; the role of firms; and the roles of institutions and governments. The result is a wholly original and urgent new benchmark for the next stage of our democracy.
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program: 2009-2021
- March 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent
- March 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
The Future of Start-Up Chile
- March 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research
- 2022 |
- Chapter |
- Faculty Research
Nexleaf Analytics: Saving the World Using the Internet of Things
- March 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Paul Polman
- February 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Business Roundtable 2019 Statement: A New Paradigm or Business as Usual?
- February 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
OneTen: One Million Careers for Black Talent
- January 2022 (Revised April 2022) |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Bee-ing Better at Bombas
- January 2022 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research