The growth of new business models that both turn a profit and do good gives those who are entering the professional world a new choice.

College graduates, for example, no longer have to choose between a career path of making profits and one of doing good. They can choose to do both.

I attended the recent Social Enterprise Conference at Harvard University to meet with young entrepreneurs who have started hybrid ventures that combine business principles with social good. I was particularly struck by the young social entrepreneurs who were a part of a keynote panel.

All of them have created interesting ventures that seek to address problems they’ve encountered in their efforts to make a difference. And their stories offer an interesting look at how and why some people are turning their passion for changing the world into for-profit ventures.

The panel’s moderator was Daniel…

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Two organizations have recently set out to use technology to help people adopt healthier habits.

While one is a nonprofit and the other a company, both are blending charity and business to develop creative ways to inspire people to change the way they live.

Choose You: American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society’s Choose You effort uses online tools to urge “women to put their own health first in the fight against cancer.” Individuals are invited to choose personal goals for one of five categories: Eat right, get active, quit smoking, get regular checkups, and protect your skin.

Choose You challenges each participant to set an eight-week goal. Anyone who falls short can make a commitment to donate money to the American Cancer Society.

The participant chooses a friend or family member to serve as “referee” and help keep her accountable. And to help provide support…

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Children dressed in school uniforms sit in rows listening to one of their classmates sing a song while snacks are passed around. Two years ago, before a devastating earthquake struck the island, they were in a different location in a building that has since been demolished on a nearby plot of land here in Léogâne, Haiti.

Now these youngsters and their families are getting another chance with the help of an innovative antipoverty effort that combines business tactics with social goals.

Such new approaches are much needed in Haiti. Even before a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country in 2010, it faced profound structural issues: ineffective government, widespread poverty, and little educational opportunity.

Only half the children in Haiti actually start school, and just 1 percent complete their education through the secondary level. One of the biggest obstacles is…

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Online and mobile technologies have made it easier for people to champion their favorite causes and connect with others who share their passions.

Typically spontaneous in nature, “creative swarms” as they are often called, are collaborative efforts to shine a light on important issues and invite people who don’t necessarily known one another to work together to solve problems.

Edward Boches, chief innovation officer at the advertising agency Mullen, this week offered an explanation of this phenomenon:

The Swarm is my new term for the digital echo chamber we live in. It’s an acronym for the Social Wave Amplified by Repetitive Media. We see it all the time. … Swarms emerge out of nowhere, create instant social buzz, a flood of content in the stream, then disappear as quickly as they arrived.

Creative swarms can lead to novel solutions for charities since the participants bring …

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“The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility,” by Aneel Karnani, associate professor of strategy at the University of Michigan, appeared this week in a special supplement of  The Wall Street Journal, produced in collaboration with MIT Sloan Management Review. 

In the article, Dr. Karnani argues that corporations that focus on social responsibility will “delay or discourage more effective measures to enhance social welfare” and characterizes these efforts as a tax on shareholders.

With all due respect to Dr. Karnani, the argument he put forth is wrong. Moreover, his essay has exposed the futility of an ideological debate pitting the free market against the common good as if they were wholly separate entities.  

This is not a hypothetical conversation. The world is full of real problems that threaten the corporate sector.

We face unconventional threats and irregular enemies, and we…

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I have an absurd question: What’s so revolutionary about doing good?

I don’t mean enlisting someone else do good. I’m talking about you changing your behavior and getting directly involved in solving problems.  And, by “you,” I mean individuals, corporations, charities, and government alike.

Somewhere along the way, we accepted the idea that individuals are incapable of meeting our own personal and community needs. Instead, we have allowed ourselves to become disconnected from the people around us and dependent on distant abstract entities to solve our problems for us.

In a misguided search for meaning and purpose, we have sought to define ourselves by the brands we consume—corporate, charitable, political, and religious.

Instead of rolling up our sleeves to help those in need and changing our personal behavior, we have found it easier to wear a ribbon or a wristband, buy a product that…

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