Publications

July–August 2014
Article

Sustainability in the Boardroom: Lessons from Nike's Playbook

By: Lynn S. Paine

One surprising role of Nike's corporate responsibility committee is to provide support for innovation. More and more companies recognize the importance of corporate responsibility to their long-term success—and yet the matter gets short shrift in most boardrooms,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

January 2002
Article

Cognitive and Institutional Barriers to New Forms of Cooperation on Environmental Protection

By: A. J. Hoffman, H. Riley, J. G. Troast and M. H. Bazerman

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Cooperation; Environmental Sustainability

December 2012
Article

What Drives Corporate Social Performance? The Role of Nation-level Institutions

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

Based on Whitley's "National Business Systems" (NBS) institutional framework (Whitley 1997, 1999), we theorize about and empirically investigate the impact of nation-level institutions on firms' corporate social performance (CSP). Using a sample of firms from 42... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Environmental Performance; Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Institutions; Institutional Theory; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance

November 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Background Note

Corporate Climate Targets

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

Companies that are addressing climate change by mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions often set reduction targets. This note describes several types of widely used carbon reduction targets, including carbon neutral, science based, net zero, real zero, and carbon... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Environmental Strategy; Climate Risk; Target-setting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Educators

November 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Background Note

Life Cycle Assessment: An Overview

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a holistic approach to quantifying the environmental impacts—including resources consumed and wastes produced—associated with the entire life cycle of a product, from the production or extraction of the raw materials used in its creation,... View Details

Keywords: Life-cycle; Environmental Performance; Design; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Measurement and Metrics; Standards; Accounting; Environmental Accounting

Educators

23 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Arla Foods: How Sustainable Can A Dairy Company Be?

of emissions on a farm-by-farm basis. Arla has developed a sustainability incentive model to incorporate the carbon footprint of each farmer’s milk production as a factor in their compensation. By allocating points across a variety of... View Details

Article

Making 'Green Giants': Environment Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950s–1980s

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This article examines the evolution of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. It focuses on two companies, Bayer and Henkel, that have been identified as "green giants," and traces the evolution of their... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Green Business; Regional Strategy; Pollution; Henkel; Bayer; Globalization; History; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

24 Apr 2014
News

Showing business leaders the benefits of sustainable operations

Carter Roberts (MBA 1988), CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, talks about working with business leaders to see the benefits of sustainable operations and environmental sensitivity. (Published April 2014) View Details

22 Nov 2022
News

Alumni Summit Explores Leadership for a Sustainable Future

organizing committee. “Consumers, workers, government, and financial institutions are putting increasing pressure on companies to provide more sustainable products and services. We felt it would be interesting to share how leadership is... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

2005
Chapter

Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms: Perspectives from the Business Literature

By: Forest Reinhardt

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

01 Dec 2018
News

Sustaining Business And Society For The Long Term

B-corp on a mission to further people’s passion for baking through environmentally sound practices. “Sustainability is so much bigger than just climate change. It’s about sustaining societies and even... View Details

2018
Working Paper

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of Latin America during the globalization waves between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much wealth for the region,... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Natural Environment; Outcome or Result; Business History; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Tourism Industry; Latin America

SSRN

Read Now

September 2014
Article

The New Heretics: Hybrid Organizations and the Challenges they Present to Corporate Sustainability

By: Nardia Haigh and Andrew J. Hoffman

Corporate sustainability has become mainstream; reaching into all areas of business management. Yet despite this progress, large-scale social and ecological issues continue to worsen. In this article, we examine how corporate sustainability has been enacted as a... View Details

Keywords: Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Mission and Purpose

2006
Chapter

Designing Sustainability at BMW Group: The Designworks/USA Experience

By: Kellie McElhaney, Michael W. Toffel and Natalie Hill

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Germany; United States

Read Now

17 Oct 2022
Blog Post

6 Things to Know About Sustainability at HBS

Sustainability is a core value at HBS, and we endeavor to build a healthier, more sustainable, and inclusive community. We know that environmental sustainability is of growing... View Details

June 2005
Teaching Note

The Equator Principles: An Industry Approach to Managing Environmental and Social Risks (TN)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Keywords: Risk Management; Environmental Sustainability

June 2020
Article

Real-time Data from Mobile Platforms to Evaluate Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure

By: Omar Isaac Asensio, Kevin Alvarez, Arielle Dror, Emerson Wenzel, Catharina Hollauer and Sooji Ha

By displacing gasoline and diesel fuels, electric cars and fleets reduce emissions from the transportation sector, thus offering important public health benefits. However, public confidence in the reliability of charging infrastructure remains a fundamental barrier to... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Transportation; Infrastructure; Behavior; AI and Machine Learning; Demand and Consumers

January 2023
Case

EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits

By: George Serafeim

Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Credits; Carbon Emissions; Growth; Business Analysis; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Valuation; Climate Change; Accounting; Valuation; Transition; Renewable Energy; Analysis; Product Positioning; India

Educators