Publications

07 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

If you ask any given environmentalist to identify the biggest threat to the planet, you may expect to hear about man-made climate change, consumerism, or overpopulation. But if you ask Harvard Business School's Joseph B. Lassiter, he'll toss in another: single-issue... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

June 2011 (Revised February 2024)
Background Note

Carbon Footprints: Methods and Calculations

By: Michael W. Toffel, Stephanie van Sice and Kelsey Carter

Describes methods to calculate the carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions) of an organization's operations and supply chain, and a product or service. Illustrates concepts with examples of calculating the carbon footprint of organizations and products. Provides... View Details

Keywords: Measurement; Climate Change; Climate Impact; Carbon Accounting; Carbon Footprint; Carbon Emissions; Sustainability; Environmental Management; Operations; Supply Chain; Pollutants; Measurement and Metrics; Environmental Sustainability

06 Sep 2004
What Do You Think?

How Do We Prepare for a World Without Cheap Oil?

government incentives to bolster their arguments. This view was characterized by Mark Townsend Cox, who commented, "I can count almost twenty methods of creating electricity without burning something, every one of which is essentially an infinite resource that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2005
Chapter

Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States

By: David Vogel, Michael W. Toffel and Diahanna Post

The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) are federal systems in which the responsibility for environmental policy-making is divided or shared between the central government and the (member) states. The attribution of decision-making power has important policy... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Climate Change; European Union; United States

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Article

Optimizing Organic Waste to Energy Operations

By: Baris Ata, Deishin Lee and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

A waste-to-energy firm that recycles organic waste with energy recovery performs two environmentally beneficial functions: it diverts waste from landfill and it produces renewable energy. At the same time, the waste-to-energy firm serves and collects revenue from two... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Revenue; Customers; Strategy; Corporate Governance; Wastes and Waste Processing; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cost Management; Urban Scope

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September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

BP's Macondo: Spill and Response

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This case starts by reporting various factors that may have contributed to the massive Macondo oil spill, noting that BP, its partners and the government all made decisions that helped cause the accident. It then discusses the response to this spill by BP and the... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Metals and Minerals; Crisis Management; Infrastructure; Trade; Pollutants; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Government Relations; Finance; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United Kingdom; United States

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

the conditions under which P-Will would work—and not work? Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/419035-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 819-058 BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable The case focuses on an... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

Earth Day focuses the world's attention on the both the dangers and opportunities facing the planet. But sustainability and the intersection between business and the environment are issues that need to be addressed all the time, as cities grow, resources diminish, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

sustainability strategies of leading German and American firms until the 1970s. However during that decade the German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not only to contain fallout from criticism of their View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

address pollution. IVL developed an important role as knowledge producer and as an intermediary of environmental knowledge between the late 1960s and the 1980s. The proactive response of Swedish big business is shown to have been based on a belief that efficient View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

International Carbon Finance and EcoSecurities

By: Andre F. Perold, Forest L. Reinhardt and Mikell Hyman

In late 2007, EcoSecurities had to decide whether to undertake a new Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in China. EcoSecurities was an aggregator of carbon credits and also invested directly in projects that produced carbon credits. Governments and firms... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Cost Management; Investment Return; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment; Cash Flow; Valuation; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; China

November 2019
Case

Hapag-Lloyd AG:Complying with IMO 2020

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

A new environmental regulation known as IMO 2020 was creating what one industry analyst called “the biggest shakeup for the oil and shipping industries in decades.” According to the new regulation, all ocean-going ships would have to limit their sulfur emissions by... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Ship Transportation; Strategic Planning; Game Theory; Pollutants; Supply Chain; Corporate Accountability; Capital Budgeting; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governance Compliance; Shipping Industry; Transportation Industry; Germany

01 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

Two Decades Later, is the 'New Economy' Finally Here?

joined this train of thought as he commented, “A new economy has not arrived, if we define it as one that will sustain humanity on the planet for eternity ” The reasons it has not arrived are many, he continued. “(Unsustainable) global population terror weapons of mass... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

26 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Can AI Match Human Ingenuity in Creative Problem-Solving?

When ChatGPT and other large language models began entering the mainstream two years ago, it quickly became apparent the technology could excel at certain business functions, yet it was less clear how well artificial intelligence could handle more creative tasks. Sure,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology; Information; Technology

October 1992 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Allied-Signal: Managing the Hazardous Waste Liability Risk

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Edward Prewitt

Allied-Signal, Inc., one of the world's oldest chemical companies and today a diversified conglomerate, is liable for clean-up costs of old hazardous waste sites. These costs are substantial: reserves grew to nearly $500 million in 1991. Attempting to avoid further... View Details

Keywords: Wastes and Waste Processing; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Cost Management; Policy; Government Legislation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Governance Compliance; Legal Liability; Chemical Industry; United States; Europe

March 2003 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Hudson Manufacturing Company

By: Paul A. Gompers and Vanessa del Valle Broussard

Concerns the decision by Brett Keith and Owen Colligan to purchase Hudson Manufacturing, a maker of heaters and air filtration units for the military. Keith and Colligan have organized a search fund and identified Hudson as a potential buyout. The decline in the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Pollutants; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Article

Turning Waste into By-Product

By: Deishin Lee

This paper studies how a firm can create and capture value by converting a waste stream into a useful and saleable by-product (i.e., implementing by-product synergy [BPS]). We show that BPS creates an operational synergy between two products that are jointly produced.... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Innovation and Invention; Cost Management; Opportunities; Market Participation; Framework; Profit; Competition; Wastes and Waste Processing; Product; Business Processes

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November 2019
Supplement

Hapag-Lloyd AG: Complying with IMO 2020

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

A new environmental regulation known as IMO 2020 was creating what one industry analyst called “the biggest shakeup for the oil and shipping industries in decades.” According to the new regulation, all ocean-going ships would have to limit their sulfur emissions by... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Ship Transportation; Strategic Planning; Game Theory; Pollutants; Supply Chain; Corporate Accountability; Capital Budgeting; Environmental Sustainability; Shipping Industry; Transportation Industry; Germany

October 2022
Case

Single.Earth

By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney

Estonian greentech company Single.Earth is launching a nature-backed token that is linked to and funds the protection of a specific plot fo land. The first landowners had been onboarded to the company's Digital Twin, a virtual representation of the planet's natural... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Natural Resources; Pollution; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Markets; Market Timing; Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Estonia