Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcasts
  • About Us
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Cold Call Podcast
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      Nonprofit Boards: It is Time to Lift Your Gaze and See the System
      14 Dec 2020Working Paper Summaries

      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.
      LinkedIn
      Email

      Author Abstract

      Nonprofits the world over have faced significant crises in 2020, leaving them and their constituents in precarious positions. Responses to these crises have demonstrated incredible agility. However, they have also demonstrated that the first two levels of governance (level 1: fiduciary responsibility and level 2: organizational performance) are not sufficient in reimagining a new normal. The pandemic and the social justice movements remind us that nonprofit boards need to lift their gaze beyond level 2, and strive for systems impact. We call it level 3 governance. We’ve seen incredible agility by nonprofits throughout these crises; and systems thinking has long been understood to be a sound way to consider and address complex social problems. Thus, the timing is ripe to bring the two together, and nonprofit boards must take the leadership in doing so. Applying systems thinking at the board level has not been normal practice. This paper provides a framework for how boards might do so and, in turn, govern beyond their organization and meet the social purpose for which their organizations exist.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: November 2020
      • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper 21-058
      • Faculty Unit(s): Marketing
        Trending
          • 19 Jan 2021
          • In Practice

          Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

          • 29 Oct 2020
          • Research & Ideas

          The COVID Gender Gap: Why Fewer Women Are Dying

          • 13 Jul 2020
          • Research & Ideas

          Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

          • 18 Jan 2021
          • Book

          How Thinking Like a Startup Helps Governments Solve More Problems

          • 25 Feb 2019
          • Research & Ideas

          How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

      V. Kasturi Rangan
      V. Kasturi Rangan
      Baker Foundation Professor, Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing, Emeritus
      Contact
      Send an email
      → More Articles
      Find Related Articles
      • Crisis Management
      • Governing and Advisory Boards
      • Nonprofit Organizations

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter

      Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
      ǁ
      Campus Map
      Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
      Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
      Soldiers Field
      Boston, MA 02163
      Email: Editor-in-Chief
      →Map & Directions
      →More Contact Information
      • Make a Gift
      • Site Map
      • Jobs
      • Harvard University
      • Trademarks
      • Policies
      • Digital Accessibility
      Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College