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The Timberland Co., a manufacturer and retailer of footwear, outdoor apparel, and accessories, committed itself to instituting and communicating a core set of values to its employees, stockholders, and consumers. The system of beliefs emphasized community service. Central to this commitment was an alliance with the national youth community service organization City Year. Over the years, Timberland and City Year developed a close alliance that both sides contended constituted "a new paradigm" for the interaction between a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization. This case discusses Timberland's commitments to beliefs and service in light of disappointing financial results for the company and subsequent layoffs during the 1995 fiscal year. Introduces the idea of a corporate strategy for community involvement, allowing the instructor to raise questions about the choice of activities and partners, the breadth of projects and the source of motivation for such a strategy. Also allows discussion of the role of beliefs and of community service in the context of a company that has pioneered a distinct approach to these concepts.

Traces the Cleveland community's efforts to move the city from economic, social, and political crisis in the late 1970s into revitalization and progress in the 1980s and 1990s. Special attention is given to the role of business leaders and the public-private partnership. This case covers the 1978-88 period of responding to the crisis and focuses particularly on the formation of Cleveland Tomorrow, a CEO-only group focused on community development.

Traces the Cleveland community's efforts to move the city from economic, social, and political crisis in the late 1970s into revitalization and progress in the 1980s and 1990s. Special attention is given to the role of business leaders and the public-private partnership. This case covers the 1989-96 period and initiatives in housing, education, and physical development.

Traces the Cleveland community's efforts to move the city from economic, social, and political crisis in the late 1970s into revitalization and progress in the 1980s and 1990s. Special attention is given to the role of business leaders and the public-private partnership. This case delineates challenges facing the community as it moves into the 21st Century.

Supplements the (A) case.

Broadly defines the concept of market failure and explores options for responding to it. It pays particular attention to the role of business leaders in addressing market deficiencies.

With the boundaries between philanthropy and commerce blurring, this note briefly gives nonprofit managers and social entrepreneurs a framework (the Social Enterprise Spectrum) for thinking creatively about structural options in the social sector.

We entrust nonprofit and governmental organizations with society's most important functions--educating our minds, uplifting our souls, and protecting our health and safety. Lately, however, the public's faith in these institutions has been seriously undermined by revelations of wrongdoing and mismanagement. Can anything be done to restore the public's confidence? Regina Herzlinger argues forcefully that the answer lies in accountability. She points out that nonprofits and governments lack the mechanisms that compel accountability in the business world. Thus they require regulatory oversight to help them accomplish their social missions effectively, efficiently, and responsibly.

In April 1995, Greenpeace boarded a Shell oil platform named Brent Spar in the North Sea to protest its scheduled disposal in the Atlantic. This action took the operator Shell Expro (a joint venture between Shell and Esso) totally by surprise, as this was the first protest of any kind that Shell management had encountered. Describes the circumstances why Shell wants the Brent Spar platform's disposal in the deep sea and why Greenpeace rejects these plans.

The protest of Greenpeace against the deep sea disposal of the Brent Spar led to a major consumer boycott against Shell. Within weeks, Shell suffered a significant loss of market share in Central Europe and faced protests from the highest political leaders across Europe. Despite all this, Shell continues to tow the platform to its planned disposal site in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, strong fights are taking place at sea between Shell and Greenpeace.

The board of directors of the Shell/Royal Dutch Corp. decided to discontinue the Brent Spar sea disposal. Nevertheless, the scientific debate about Shell's plans and Greenpeace's protests isn't over yet.

Presents several conceptions of corporate purpose and responsibility as articulated by a variety of groups and individuals during the period 1970-95. Included are materials from the Business Roundtable, the American Law Institute, the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturers (U.K.), the U.S. Catholic Bishops, and excerpts from the writings of economist Milton Friedman and lawyer Christopher Stone. A brief introduction provides historical background on the corporate responsibility debate.

A large entertainment company, extensively criticized for producing violent, offensive, and anti-social material, is considering whether to sell its material to a semi-illegal operation that is beaming satellite TV into Turkey. The opportunity raises many questions about cultural sensitivities and the concept of American cultural imperialism around the globe, especially in the traditional Muslim Middle East. The young executive responsible for the deal wonders if his company will be perceived as a "Western vulture."

Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating to tender offers and the supervision of employees.

Provides an introduction to the key concepts and questions individuals encounter in a diverse workplace. These concepts and questions are organized around three critical interactions and experiences in any individual's career: entry into an organization or work group; performance development; and interpersonal conflict. Relevant research noted.

Consists of several vignettes and discussion points around issues of conflict in the workplace. Issues presented are differences of race, gender, nationality, culture, religion; access to power, training, advancement; tolerance of style of management, language, politics; implications of involvement in these issues.

Dr. Glenn Lopez, the founder and general director of GuateSalud, faces cash flow problems and some crucial choices about how to expand his innovative health maintenance organization for agricultural workers in rural Guatemala. The case describes Lopez's six-year struggle to establish GuateSalud and the organization's effort to combine business principles with a social mission. Also provides background on the tense political environment surrounding the delivery of health care, coffee growing, and the banana industry in Guatemala--factors Dr. Lopez must take into consideration as he weighs his options.

Examines some of the habitual ways of thinking that are applied to so-called "diversity" questions to reveal the commonalities and limitations of these models--the way they can reinforce unexamined assumptions and destructuve emotional reactions--and to suggest an alternative way of framing such questions that opens the possibility for creativity and new learning.

Presents results from a study of how young managers define ethical issues, think about these issues, and resolve them. Several patterns emerge from this study. First, in many cases, young managers received explicit instructions from their middle-manager bosses or felt strong organizational pressures to do things that they believed were sleazy, unethical, or sometimes illegal. Second, corporate ethics programs--codes of conduct, mission statements, hot lines, and so forth--proved to be of little help to these young managers. Third, many of them believed that their companies' executives were out-of-touch on ethical issues, either because they were too busy or because they sought to avoid responsibility. Fourth, the young managers resolved the dilemmas they faced largely on the basis of personal reflection and individual values, not through reliance on corporate credos, company loyalty, the exhortations and examples of senior executives, or philosophical principles or religious reflection. Ironically, however, while the interviewees typically described their experiences as difficult or even traumatic, many believed they had learned important lessons about themselves and their work.

This case focuses on an organization established to fight for the housing rights of people living in "informal settlements" in apartheid-era South Africa. In the wake of democratization, the group finds itself under increasing pressure from residents of townships, which it had represented to begin to offer a range of social services for residents in addition to housing advocacy. Its president, Mandla Ndlovu, must now decide whether and how to change the range of services, which the organization offers. This case was developed by the Public and Development Management Program of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. HKS Case Number 1291.0