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Nonprofit Boards: It is Time to Lift Your Gaze and See the System

by Shamal Dass, Kristy Muir, and V. Kasturi Rangan

Not every organization should attempt to solve problems at a system level, but can become more aware of systemic issues, ensuring that solutions dovetail into the macrosystem for best collective impact.

A Mass Crisis Can Overwhelm Health Care. Liberia Found a Solution.

by Rachel Layne

Liberia trains community workers to help medical professionals on the front lines of disease control, says Brian Trelstad. Could the model work elsewhere? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

A Pragmatic Alternative for Creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

by Dina Gerdeman

Many companies preach and practice corporate social responsibility, but their efforts often lack an overall strategy that dilutes their effectiveness. Professor "Kash" Rangan and colleagues offer a pragmatic solution. Closed for comment; 8 Comment(s) posted.

Why Every Company Needs a CSR Strategy and How to Build It

by Kash Rangan, Lisa A. Chase & Sohel Karim

Despite certain criticisms, more and more companies in the world practice some form of corporate social responsibility. This paper offers a pragmatic alternative framework for CSR with a view towards developing its practice in an evolutionary way. The authors' extensive experience working with CSR practitioners convinces them that exhorting companies to hone their CSR practice under a shared value framework does not reflect the reality for a majority of businesses. CSR executives oversee a variety of social initiatives that may or may not directly contribute to a company's business goals. The role of an executive is to achieve the difficult task of reconciling the various programs, quantifying their benefits, or at least sketching a logical connection to the business, and securing the support of his or her business line counterparts. This role, when performed well, would lead to the development of a CSR strategy for the company. Key concepts include: Ideally, well-managed CSR creates social and environmental value, while supporting a company's business objectives and reducing operating costs, and enhancing relationships with key stakeholders and customers. There is no one-size-fits-all CSR model. Individual companies typically engage in a variety of programs motivated by a wide range of perspectives and corporate protagonists. In current practice, the management of philanthropic initiatives happens in what the authors label as Theatre 1; supply chain and cause marketing initiatives happen in Theatre 2; and transformative ecosystem initiatives occur in Theatre 3. These different initiatives are typically managed at different management levels, and some are staff functions and others line functions, resulting in a messy state of affairs. Gaining a unified vision is a central challenge of coordinating CSR efforts in all three theatres. In addition to empowering CSR executives to practice strategic initiatives, strong leadership and support for CSR initiatives at the top levels of executive management is critical. The strategic role of a Corporate Responsibility Officer needs to be established as an independent full-time position having access to the CEO and having input to the development of the company's business strategy. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

by Carmen Nobel

A billion people in developing countries have no need for a savings account–but they do need a financial service that banks compete to provide. The new HBS case Mobile Banking for the Unbanked, written by professor Kash Rangan, is a lesson in understanding the real need of customers. Closed for comment; 27 Comment(s) posted.

The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance

by Alnoor Ebrahim & V. Kasturi Rangan

The social sector is in the midst of a search for metrics of impact. Over the past 20 years, there has been an explosion in methodologies and tools for assessing social performance and impact, but with little systematic analysis and comparison across these approaches. In this paper, HBS professors Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan provide a synthesis of the current debates and, in so doing, offer a typology and contingency framework for measuring social performance. Their contingency approach suggests that—given the varied work, aims, and capacities of social sector organizations—some organizations should be measuring long-term impacts, while others should stick to measuring shorter-term results. The researchers provide a logic for determining which kinds of measures are appropriate, as driven by the goals of the organization and its operating model. Key concepts include: With the contingency framework, organizational leaders and managers can clarify what types of results they seek to achieve, and thus for what they should be held to account. Doing so requires them to articulate a causal logic, or theory of change, that they expect will lead to long-term goals. This framework suggests that social sector organizations can increase their control over long-term societal impacts in at least two ways: by expanding their operations in order to reach a threshold population or critical mass (scale), and by offering more comprehensive services or partnering with others in order to tackle a problem (scope). It is not feasible, or even desirable, for all organizations to develop metrics at all levels on the logic chain. This contingency framework offers some general cautions about performance measurement. First, it suggests that measuring impacts makes sense under a limited set of circumstances—when an organization operates at an ecosystem level, and yet can exercise sufficient control over results to attribute impacts to its work. Second, many organizations face a double challenge of measuring performance in a variety of areas separately, while also integrating across them in order to gauge possible synergistic effects at the ecosystem level. Third, funders such as foundations, governmental departments, and international aid agencies are far better positioned than most nonprofits to measure impacts. Finally, given the diversity of actors engaged in social change, the four broad types of results in the framework should be taken as suggestive rather than as silver bullets. The very basis of the framework—contingency—suggests that there are no panaceas to results measurement in complex social contexts. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Corporate Social Responsibility in a Downturn

by Martha Lagace

Financial turmoil is not a reason to scale back on CSR programs—quite the opposite, says HBS professor V. Kasturi "Kash" Rangan. As a marketing scholar Rangan is optimistic about strategic CSR efforts that provide value in communities and society. Q&A Key concepts include: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means "activities undertaken by businesses that enhance their value in the community and society and thus benefit their reputation and brand," says Rangan. CSR should be treated as a business discipline and practiced with the same professionalism and rigor as other aspects of a firm's strategy. "For example, many of the programs that come under the umbrella of 'climate change' have the potential to benefit the environment as well as a company's bottom line," Rangan adds. Good examples are the early childhood literacy initiative of PNC, a financial services organization based in Pittsburgh, and the 10,000 Women initiative of Goldman Sachs, which facilitates a business education for underserved women. Companies should classify their CSR programs according to the ability to enhance and even transform the firm's business practices. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Coming Transformation of Social Enterprise

by Roger Thompson

A new generation of business leaders and philanthropists is experimenting with hybrid forms of social enterprises while demanding more transparency and accountability from the organizations they are funding. Harvard Business School professor Kash Rangan discusses what he sees as a sector on the brink of transformation. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Key concepts include: Social enterprise as an entity is primarily in the business of creating social value, regardless of whether it's for-profit or nonprofit. Venture philanthropy has to come of age and reorient itself by defining what measures of social return it is looking for. Nonprofits creating for-profit enterprises could pose an unnecessary distraction. There may be some consolidation of nonprofits at the top, but the sector will be more vibrant with many new players and actors helping to facilitate the transformation. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Colloquium: The Future of Social Enterprise

The field of social enterprise is undergoing a "confluence of forces" that is reshaping the way nonprofits and other organizations fund and measure their work. A new working paper born of a recent Harvard Business School colloquium on the future of social enterprise explores possible scenarios. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Future of Social Enterprise

by V. Kasturi Rangan, Herman B. Leonard & Susan McDonald

This paper considers the confluence of forces that is shaping the field of social enterprise, changing the way that funders, practitioners, scholars, and organizations measure performance. The authors trace a growing pool of potential funding sources to solve social problems, much of it stemming from an intergenerational transfer of wealth and new wealth from financial and high-tech entrepreneurs. They further examine how these organizations can best access the untapped resources by demonstrating mission performance, and then propose three potential scenarios, outlined below, for how this sector might evolve. Key concepts include: Consolidation: In this scenario of sector evolution, funding will keep growing in a gradual, linear fashion, and organizations will compete for resources by demonstrating performance, with a focus on efficiency. The sector will consolidate. Entrepreneurial: In a more optimistic future, existing and new enterprises will apply strategies to achieve and demonstrate performance, improving efficiency and effectiveness and attracting new funding sources. Expressive: Rather than focusing exclusively on performance, funders and organizations may view their investment as an expressive civic activity. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Business of Global Poverty

by Garry Emmons

Nearly half of the planet's population subsists on $2 a day or less. What role should business play as the world confronts what may be the most explosive socioeconomic challenge of the new century? Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Business and the Global Poor

by Sean Silverthorne

Companies have more or less ignored 80 percent of the world's population—the global poor. The new book Business Solutions for the Global Poor, created from research and a conference at Harvard Business School, shows how both business and societal interests can be served at the base of the economic pyramid. A Q&A with co-editor V. Kasturi Rangan. Key concepts include: The goals of poverty reduction and economic profit begin to align to the degree that these ventures empower the poor, either by improving their quality of life, providing them with productivity tools and services, or by creating jobs. The productive capacity of the poor can be leveraged in creating products and services. To succeed in low-income markets, companies must strengthen their bottom-up market intelligence; utilize local leaders and community agents to bring people together; and educate investors that bringing BOP initiatives to scale and sustainability may happen more slowly than the time frames dictated by traditional corporate targets. Companies must strike a delicate balance, keeping in mind both their legal obligations to return profits to their investors as well as their social responsibilities. Companies cannot afford to treat their social license callously. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

by Sean Silverthorne

Too often channel strategies develop at the last minute--when a product is ready to go to market. But this haphazard approach leaves a lot of efficiencies and synergies by the wayside, says V. Kasturi Rangan. Enter the concept of the "channel steward." Key concepts include: Distribution strategies are often supplier-conceived methods to get a product to market, but these strategies fail to capitalize fully on channel partners or customers. A "channel steward" is a player in the chain who is best positioned to look out for the interests of all involved and devise a win-win strategy. Distribution strategy needs the attention of high-level executives—not just a product manager. Think of the Internet as a complementary go-to-market tool, not a total solution. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Promise of Channel Stewardship

by V. Kasturi Rangan & Marie Bell

For many companies, distribution channels serve neither customers nor channel partners well. In a new book, Harvard Business School professor V. Kasturi Rangan outlines the concept of channel stewardship. An excerpt from Transforming Your Go-to-Market Strategy. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

How an Order Views Your Company

by Sarah Jane Johnston

HBS Professors Benson Shapiro and Kash Rangan bring us up to date on their pioneering research that helped ignite today’s intense focus on the customer. The key? Know your order cycle management. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

by Julia Hanna

India is overcoming tradition and poverty to create opportunities for retailers ready to take a chance on a new playing field. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

It’s Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

by Manda Salls

Moving from theory to practice: Former HBS professor Jeff Bradach shares practical advice on how nonprofits can improve their strategy and produce measurable results for their cause and donors. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Building a Better Buyer-Seller Relationship

by Martha Lagace

How do you turn short-term transactions into long-term relationships? Harvard Business School professor Narakesari Narayandas finds answers in mature industrial markets. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Challenge of the Multi-site Nonprofit

by Sean Silverthorne

Multi-site nonprofit organizations shouldn’t be run like companies that make money, say HBS professors Allen Grossman and V. Kasturi Rangan. The key for nonprofit managers is to embrace a balance between affiliation and autonomy. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

by Peter K. Jacobs

Executives talk a good game about managing customer relationships. But then why do many companies persist in money-losing arrangements? Time to become proactive, says Harvard Business School professor Narakesari Narayandas. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.