Publications

17 Feb 2022
Blog Post

The Fifth Year of Short Intensive Programs (SIPs) at HBS

investments, and environment of the global food supply chain, with an immersive look at the role of plant-based foods. Professor Max Bazerman, accompanied by Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, entrepreneur and director of the venture firm... View Details

21 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Altruistic Capital: Harnessing Your Employees’ Intrinsic Goodwill

she worked on Moroccan agricultural policy with a team of consultants. "I was just an intern," Ashraf says, "but as I looked around the boardroom I realized that not one of these people had ever actually talked to a farmer in Morocco. And... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part One]

Japanese government model had profound costs that were unrecognized. Protecting local industries such as the construction industry or agriculture seemed pretty innocuous, but it had huge costs that were hidden for a long time by the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

12 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

The Promise of Channel Stewardship

Most company distribution systems are designed ad-hoc when needed, and serve neither value chain partners nor end users well—just look at the frustrating new-car buying process set up by American auto makers. At the same time, says... View Details

Keywords: by V. Kasturi Rangan & Marie Bell; Consumer Products

04 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 4

second-generation product, which facilitates real-time connectivity between primary care physicians and specialists? Should American Well pursue new markets in the U.S., such as hospitals, chains of clinics, and pharmacies, or even expand... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Sep 2012
News

On a Sound Track

that is relevant in Shanghai, Panama, South Africa, Europe, or wherever. The United States is one big market. Contrast that with Europe, where we have a central office, but where there are lots of different markets that require different strategies and investments. Our... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; audio equipment; fashion; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

12 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 12, 2009

http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=809142 Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) Harvard Business School Case 109-076 Virginia Mason Medical Center (VM) hired... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Mar 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Not a Socialist

cost-cutting; in fact, cutting infrastructure, supply chain costs, and excess expenses should be done all the time, in good times and bad. This is the approach used by ExxonMobil as it has been one of the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Banking

07 Nov 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Less Becoming More?

Amazon stimulates sales by its listing of thousands of books that would otherwise be out of print, given their meager sales through traditional channels. Internet technology and supply chain efficiencies... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products

30 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Computer Security is For Managers, Too

but they will inform the process by asking questions like "How do we keep suppliers from accessing the payroll data?" Just as companies keep an eye on their equipment and supplies by conducting scheduled audits and random spot... View Details

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin & Christopher A.R. Darby

25 May 2016
Research & Ideas

How Consumers and Businesses are Reshaping Public Health

disaster that killed over 1,000 factory workers in Bangladesh in 2013 highlighted to Western consumers the challenging conditions faced by the workers who made their clothes. Consumer pressure on Western retailers worked its way back up the View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

28 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Cissy Chen (MBA 2019)

similar companies in their industry and recommended areas of expense adjustments that would be of help. I also quantified the environmental impact on the company’s supply chain with a proposal that they make... View Details

17 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 17

preemption of national banks in 2004 from local laws against predatory lending to gauge the effect of the supply of credit on the real economy. Specifically, we exploit the heterogeneity in the market share of national banks across... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Trucost: Valuing Corporate Environmental Impacts

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Trucost provided corporate environmental performance data and analysis to institutional investors and corporate managers, but after operating for a decade had yet to achieve profitability. Trucost was struggling to effectively differentiate its high quality products... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Distribution Channels; Investment; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Information; Value; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry

June 2008 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Cook Composites and Polymers Co.

By: Deishin Lee, Michael W. Toffel and Rachel Gordon

This case describes how a company improves resource efficiency and process quality in its manufacturing process by developing a waste by-product into a new product. The case describes how CCP cleans production equipment between batches using styrene, which becomes a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance Efficiency; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry

June 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative?

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States, launched a Carbon Negative campaign that would offset more greenhouse gas emissions than were released by the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Fiji