Kobalt Music Group is challenging the dominance of the Big Three record labels by harnessing technology to pay musicians more, faster, and with greater transparency. But how far can it reform an industry built on the exploitation of its talent?
Mexico’s Pixza began as a social inclusion vehicle for homeless adults through a pizza business. Its evolution demonstrates how social entrepreneurs can leverage purpose to sustain organizations through a crisis and to reengineer business models to foster greater impact.
For more than four decades, Gram Vikas has been delivering equitable water and sanitation systems to deprived villages in rural India by training and encouraging them to take ownership of their solutions.
The National Geographic Society began as a Victorian-era institution of white gentlemen explorers dedicated to understanding the globe. To better reflect the world and thrive in the 21st century, it has diversified its leadership, transformed its internal culture, and created a media juggernaut.
Stanford University’s Rural Education Action Program has established a one-of-a-kind research collaborative among Chinese, US, and European universities to improve the lot of rural Chinese families. Its success shows the potential of applying scientific methods to development and forging global partnerships for social impact.
Fair Trade-certified coffee is growing in sales, but strict certification requirements are resulting in uneven economic advantages for coffee growers and lower quality coffee for consumers.
For much of its history, Wal-Mart’s corporate management team toiled inside its “Bentonville Bubble,” narrowly focused on operational efficiency, growth, and profits. But now the world's largest retailer has widened its sights, building networks of employees, nonprofits, government agencies, and suppliers to “green” its supply chains. Here's how and why the world’s largest retailer is using a network approach to decrease its environmental footprint – and to increase its profitability.
Why Kiva chose to be a 501(c)(3), what this tax status buys the organization, and how being a nonprofit poses challenges.
Google DotOrg launched in 2004 with bold ambitions and almost $1 billion in seed funding. But the results have been less than stellar.
In August 2010 the US government closed ShoreBank, one of the country’s leading social enterprises. Why did ShoreBank fail?
