Publications

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September 2016
Article

The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions

By: Ioannis Ioannou, Shelley Xin Li and George Serafeim

Targets are an integral component of management control systems and play a significant role in achieving desirable performance outcomes. We focus on a key environmental performance objective—reduction of carbon emissions—as a setting in which to examine how target... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Target-setting; Management Accounting; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Control Systems; Sustainable Development; Environment; Goals and Objectives; Climate Change; Management Systems; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

May 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Shell's Balancing Act: Resource Allocation and the Green Transition

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In mid-2023, amid pressure from climate change activists, shareholder activists, and confronting enormous uncertainty about the future demand for and price of fossil fuels, new Shell CEO Wael Sawan (Harvard MBA 2003) announced a change in strategy for the U.K. oil... View Details

Keywords: Portfolio Analysis; Climate; Oil; Oil And Gas; Oil Companies; Renewables; Petroleum; Investor Demand; Investors; Corporate Strategy; Resource Allocation; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

January 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Project Titan at Northrop Grumman

By: C. Fritz Foley and Kevin Sharer

In March of 2011, Northrop Grumman divested shipbuilding assets through the spin-off of Huntington Ingalls Industries. This case reviews many of the key questions faced by Northrop's CEO, CFO, and top management team during this process, including questions concerning... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Reorganization; Spin Off; Asset Sales; Managing Portfolios Of Businesses; Managing Change; Diversification; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

March 2018
Teaching Note

Project Titan at Northrop Grumman

By: C. Fritz Foley, Lauren G. Pickle, David Lane and F. Katelynn Boland

Teaching Note for HBS No. 215-001. In March of 2011, Northrop Grumman divested shipbuilding assets through the spin-off of Huntington Ingalls Industries. This case reviews many of the key questions faced by Northrop's CEO, CFO, and top management team during this... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Reorganization; Spin Off; Asset Sales; Managing Portfolios Of Businesses; Managing Change; Diversification; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

May 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Colgate-Palmolive Company: Marketing Anti-Cavity Toothpaste

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In October 2013, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the world's leading oral care company, was about to launch its new Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection™ plus Sugar Acid Neutralizer™ toothpaste in Brazil. Oral care category accounted for 46 percent of Colgate's $17.4 billion... View Details

Keywords: New Product Management; Consumer Segmentation; Global Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility; Healthcare; Sustainability; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Marketing; Segmentation; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Brazil; United States

May 1990 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Ingvar Kamprad and IKEA

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Traces the development of a Swedish furniture retailer under the leadership of an innovative and unconventional entrepreneur whose approaches redefine the nature and structure of the industry. Traces IKEA's growth from a tiny mail order business to the world's largest... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Succession; Distribution; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Value; Retail Industry

10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

According to Danaher, the DBS engine “drives the company through a never-ending cycle of change and improvement: exceptional people develop outstanding plans and execute them... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

and the normative orientation of medical professionals. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54600 Summer 2018 California Management Review CSR Needs CPR: Corporate View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 4, 2018
Article

Continuous Development Will Change Organizations as Much as Agile Did

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Samuel Clemens

It's not just for tech companies and startups. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Ventures; Corporate Entrepreneurship

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27 Nov 2023
Blog Post

Creating Emerging Markets Sustainability Series - Opportunities for Green Entrepreneurship in the Face of Policy Inaction

project has gathered compelling interviews with business leaders in some of the world’s most climate vulnerable countries such as Nigeria, which contends with the desertification of forests, life-threatening flooding, and coastal erosion.... View Details

Article

Making Small Farms More Sustainable—and Profitable

By: Lino Dias, Robert S. Kaplan and Harmanpreet Singh

Smallholder farms provide a large proportion of food supply in developing economies, but 40% of these farmers live on less than U.S.$2/day and their deforestation produces environmental degradation. With a rapidly growing global population, it is imperative to improve... View Details

Keywords: Small Farms; Sustainable Agriculture; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Environmental Sustainability

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Third Quarter 2018
Article

Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey

By: Amir Amel-Zadeh and George Serafeim

Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from mainstream (i.e., not SRI funds) investment organizations, we provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Sustainability; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Metrics; Standard Setting; Accounting Standards; Finance; Investment; Information; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

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08 May 2015
News

An alternative view of the role of the corporation in society

Do corporations do well by doing good? Or do firms that engage in environmental and social initiatives destroy shareholder wealth? George Serafeim, the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business... View Details

03 Jan 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Financing the Response to Climate Change: The Pricing and Ownership of US Green Bonds

Keywords: by Malcolm Baker, Daniel Bergstresser, George Serafeim, and Jeffrey Wurgler

July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

July 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Technical Note

The Future of Mobility: Economic, Environmental, and Social Implications

By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg

This technical note explores how advancements in technology are fundamentally transforming how consumers interact with mobility. Transformation is being driven by three independent trends: the emergence of affordable electric vehicles, the development of autonomous... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Automobile Manufacturing; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Mobility; Inequality; Electric Vehicles; Ride-sharing; Ambidexterity; Transformation; Disruption; Change; Technological Innovation; Transportation; Equality and Inequality; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Distribution Industry

24 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

The 'Amazon Effect' Is Changing Online Price Competition—and the Fed Needs to Pay Attention

according to Alberto Cavallo, the Edgerley Family Associate Professor at Harvard Business School. Cavallo, who bases his findings on a decade’s worth of pricing data, sees two notable changes with large multichannel retailers: faster... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Retail

December 2011 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Aviva Investors

By: George Serafeim

The Aviva Investors case describes the challenge of integrating sustainability considerations into the strategy and business practices of companies and into the decision making process of the investment community. Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Investment Management; Shareholder Activism; Disclosure; Stock Exchanges; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Sustainability Reporting; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Social Impact; Activism; Investment; Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; United Kingdom