Publications

July–August 2013
Article

Building Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; City

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November 1998 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Deere & Company: Sustaining Value

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Marlowe Dayley

The question facing Deere & Co. is whether or not to adopt some of the organizational technologies of private equity investors (decentralized equity holdings, use of leverage to control the disposition of cash flows, the externalization of the capital budgeting... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cash Flow; Private Equity; Wealth; Adoption; Manufacturing Industry

2022
Chapter

Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research

By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre

Though workers face a series of critical challenges in contemporary work organizations, they are often overlooked in conversations about sustainable business. In this chapter, we argue that prioritizing the rights and well-being of workers is a core dimension of... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Employees; Well-being; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Structure; Social Issues

15 Sep 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 interest to our student... View Details

March 2015
Case

Sustainable Palm Oil and Self-Regulation

By: Rebecca Henderson and Amram Migdal

This case is designed to be used with HBS Note: Industry Self-Regulation: Sustaining the Commons in the 21st Century, HBS No. 315-074. View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance

December 2021
Case

Bunge: Building a Sustainable Future?

By: Forest Reinhardt, David E. Bell, Pedro Levindo and Ruth Costas

Bunge, one of the world’s leading agribusiness traders and processors, strives to comply with its commitment to having a deforestation-free value chain by 2025 while it considers potential new business growth areas. After a complex turnaround, which involved one of the... View Details

Keywords: Deforestation; Value Chain; Agribusiness; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2003
Case

Sustainable Marketing Leadership

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Leadership; Marketing

09 Apr 2014
News

Progress on sustainability

Building Sustainable Cities

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details

Oct 05 2018
Tout

Tata Hall Sustainability

January 2012 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Dow Chemical: Innovating for Sustainability

Dow Chemical is one of the few major American industrial corporations that was founded in the late 19th century that is still in existence. From its origins producing bromine out of the brine underneath Midland, Michigan, the company has evolved from a diversified... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry

Spring 2018
Article

The Next Phase of Business Sustainability

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Trends; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Disclosure

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08 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Who Is the Chief Sustainability Officer?

Since the start of the 2000s, a high-level corporate position has evolved that is still something of a mystery. As companies have engaged in more efforts around sustainability, environmental and otherwise, the "chief sustainability... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

19 Jun 2018
Research Event

Has Environmental Sustainability Lost its Relevance?

iPhoto For businesses and other organizations seeking to overcome roadblocks to sustainability over the last few decades, much can be learned from the debates I heard at the recent Harvard Business School conference, Understanding and... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones; Energy

August 2015
Supplement

Sustainability at IKEA Group: Video Supplement

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Michael W. Toffel

This video contains Q&A with IKEA Group's Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard and IKEA Group's Industrial Strategy Manager Per Berggren, the two primary case protagonists. They respond to student questions after the case was taught at an executive education class... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry