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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,008)
- People (3)
- News (321)
- Research (1,365)
- Events (2)
- Multimedia (8)
- Faculty Publications (682)
- Forthcoming
- Article
Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets
By: Khrystyna Bochkay, Jeffrey Hales and George Serafeim
In this paper, we examine how the development of voluntary sustainability standards has affected the nature of information covered in conference calls. Using industry-specific dictionaries of sustainability terms contained in the disclosure standards developed by the... View Details
Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Standards; ESG; ESG Disclosure; Accounting; Corporate Disclosure; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; United States
Bochkay, Khrystyna, Jeffrey Hales, and George Serafeim. "Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets." Review of Accounting Studies (forthcoming).
- January–February 2018
- Article
The New CEO Activists
By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
Though corporations have been lobbying the government and making campaign donations for a long time now, in recent years a dramatic new trend has emerged in U.S. politics: CEOs are taking very public stands on thorny political issues that have nothing to do with their... View Details
Keywords: Government Policy; Rights; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Sustainability; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Social Issues; Communication Intention and Meaning; United States
Chatterji, Aaron K., and Michael W. Toffel. "The New CEO Activists." Harvard Business Review 96, no. 1 (January–February 2018): 78–89. (Winner of the 2019 HBR Warren Bennis Prize as best 2018 HBR article on leadership. Featured in the HBR Ideacast podcast and an HBR Webinar.)
- Article
Impact-Weighted Financial Accounts: A Paradigm Shift
By: Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim
The last decade has seen an exponential increase in corporate sustainability activities and efforts by investors to use these activities in their portfolio formation, valuation, and stewardship activities. This paper explains the need for a uniform strategy to measure... View Details
Keywords: Impact-Weighted Accounts; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Measurement and Metrics; Standards
Rouen, Ethan, and George Serafeim. "Impact-Weighted Financial Accounts: A Paradigm Shift." CESifo Forum 22, no. 3 (May 2021): 20–25.
- April 2024 (Revised October 2024)
- Case
New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Michael Norris
In 2023, Colorado-based craft brewery New Belgium Brewing was considering how best to meet its emissions reduction targets. After decades of growth, the beermaker had grown to become one of the largest craft brewers in the U.S., and was purchased in 2019 by Japanese... View Details
Keywords: Beer; Carbon Accounting; Carbon Credits; Operation Management; Renewable Energy; Supply Chain; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Colorado
Toffel, Michael W., Kenneth P. Pucker, and Michael Norris. "New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change." Harvard Business School Case 624-069, April 2024. (Revised October 2024.)
- July 2012
- Supplement
Generation Investment Management, Video
By: Sandra J. Sucher
Examines the Investment process of Generation Investment Management, a "sustainable" investing firm established in 2004 by David Blood and U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Places students in the position of David Lowish, director of global industrials, who must decide... View Details
Keywords: Leadership And Managing People; Accountability; Investment Management; Social Issues; Investment; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Development Economics; Natural Environment; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry
Sucher, Sandra J. "Generation Investment Management, Video." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 612-704, July 2012.
- Article
What Is Your Status Portfolio? Higher Status Variance across Groups Increases Interpersonal Helping but Decreases Intrapersonal Well-being
By: Catarina R. Fernandes, Siyu Yu, Taeya M. Howell, Alison Wood Brooks, Gavin J. Kilduff and Nathan C. Pettit
Individuals belong to multiple groups across various domains of life, which in aggregate constitute a portfolio of potentially distinct levels of experienced status. We propose a two-factor model for assessing the effects of an individual’s status portfolio, based on... View Details
Keywords: Status; Social Hierarchies; Helping; Perspective Taking; Anxiety; Status and Position; Groups and Teams; Perspective; Well-being
Fernandes, Catarina R., Siyu Yu, Taeya M. Howell, Alison Wood Brooks, Gavin J. Kilduff, and Nathan C. Pettit. "What Is Your Status Portfolio? Higher Status Variance across Groups Increases Interpersonal Helping but Decreases Intrapersonal Well-being." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 165 (July 2021): 56–75.
- May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
- Case
Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan
Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details
Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India
Bartlett, Christopher A. "Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan." Harvard Business School Case 914-417, May 2014. (Revised March 2017.)
- 01 Sep 2023
- News
3-Minute Briefing: Frances Haugen: (MBA 2011)
systems-based, not dependent on one person. That was a beautiful and liberating thing to hear. A big part of my advocacy is cultivating an ecosystem of accountability around social media safety. The goal of... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research
By: George Serafeim
A long-standing ideology in business education has been that a corporation is run for the sole interest of its shareholders. I present an alternative view where increasing concentration of economic activity and power in the world's largest corporations, the Global... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Governance; Environment; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Research; Sustainability Targets; Corporate Performance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Serafeim, George. "The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-110, May 2014.
- 2022
- Article
Which Corporate ESG News Does the Market React To?
By: George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon
Using a dataset that classifies firm-level ESG news as positive and negative, we examine how stock prices react to different types of ESG news. We analyze 111,020 firm-day observations for 3,126 companies and find that prices react only to issues identified as... View Details
Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; Social Capital; Environment; Sustainability; CSR; Stock Price; Stock Market Expectations; Materiality; Market Reaction; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Social Issues; Performance; News
Serafeim, George, and Aaron Yoon. "Which Corporate ESG News Does the Market React To?" Financial Analysts Journal 78, no. 1 (2022): 59–78.
- March 2015 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Shanghai: GDP Apostasy
By: George Serafeim
Balancing economic growth alongside environmental sustainability and social inclusion was becoming increasingly important in China. The case describes Shanghai's decision to abandon growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as its primary metric of measuring success.... View Details
Keywords: China; Gdp; Measurement; Measurement Problems; Accountability; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Strategy Execution; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Map; Macroeconomics; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Corporate Governance; Shanghai
Serafeim, George, Rebecca Henderson, and David Freiberg. "Shanghai: GDP Apostasy." Harvard Business School Case 115-042, March 2015. (Revised February 2017.)
- 2019
- Chapter
The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting
By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
A key aspect of the governance process inside organizations and markets is the measurement and disclosure of important metrics and information. In this chapter, we examine the effect of sustainability disclosure regulations on firms’ disclosure practices and... View Details
Keywords: Mandatory Disclosure; Mandatory Reporting; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Impact; Valuation; China; South Africa; Europe; Asia; Regulation; Corporate Disclosure; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Governance; China; Denmark; Malaysia; South Africa
Ioannou, Ioannis, and George Serafeim. "The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting." In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility: Psychological and Organizational Perspectives, edited by Abagail McWilliams, Deborah E. Rupp, Donald S. Siegel, Günter K. Stahl, and David A. Waldman, 452–489. Oxford University Press, 2019.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Corporate Culture Homogeneity and Top Executive Incentive Design: Evidence from CEO Compensation Contracts
By: Dennis Campbell, Ruidi Shang and Zhifang Zhang
We examine how corporate cultures characterized by high degrees of homogeneity in the underlying values and beliefs of organizational members are related to the design of CEO incentive compensation contracts. We argue that culture homogeneity within firms lowers... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Culture; Compensation Design; Accounting; Management Control; Incentive Systems; Organizational Culture; Job Design and Levels; Governance; Executive Compensation; Motivation and Incentives
Campbell, Dennis, Ruidi Shang, and Zhifang Zhang. "Corporate Culture Homogeneity and Top Executive Incentive Design: Evidence from CEO Compensation Contracts." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-054, February 2024.
- Article
Performance Effects of Setting a High Reference Point for Peer‐Performance Comparison
By: Henry Eyring and V.G. Narayanan
We conduct a field experiment, based on a registered report accepted by the Journal of Accounting Research, to test performance effects of setting a high reference point for peer‐performance comparison. Relative to providing the median as a reference point for... View Details
Keywords: Relative Performance Evaluation; Reference Points; Social Comparison; Field Experiment; Performance; Performance Evaluation; Education
Eyring, Henry, and V.G. Narayanan. "Performance Effects of Setting a High Reference Point for Peer‐Performance Comparison." Journal of Accounting Research 56, no. 2 (May 2018): 581–615.
- 2016
- Working Paper
Shareholder Activism on Sustainability Issues
By: Jody Grewal, George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon
Shareholder activism on sustainability issues has become increasingly prevalent over the years, with the number of proposals filed doubling from 1999 to 2013. We use recent innovations in accounting standard setting to classify 2,665 shareholder proposals that address... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Activism; Activist Investors; Activist Shareholder; Corporate Social Responsibility; Environment; Corporate Performance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Investment Activism
Grewal, Jody, George Serafeim, and Aaron Yoon. "Shareholder Activism on Sustainability Issues." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-003, July 2016.
- March 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?
By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Youssef Abdel Aal
The case follows Ziad Abi Chaker, founder and CEO of Cedar Environmental, as he weighs options for how to grow the company in the face of growing economic and political instability in Lebanon in 2019.
Founded after the Lebanese civil war, Cedar... View Details
Founded after the Lebanese civil war, Cedar... View Details
Keywords: Waste Management; Recycling; Corruption; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Business And Government; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Pollution; Entrepreneurship; Business and Government Relations; Crime and Corruption; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Corporate Accountability; Green Technology Industry; Middle East; Lebanon
Hsieh, Nien-hê, and Youssef Abdel Aal. "Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?" Harvard Business School Case 321-114, March 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- 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
Serafeim, George, Robert G. Eccles, and Kyle Armbrester. "Aviva Investors." Harvard Business School Case 112-047, December 2011. (Revised May 2015.)
- 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
Quelch, John A., and Margaret L. Rodriguez. "Colgate-Palmolive Company: Marketing Anti-Cavity Toothpaste." Harvard Business School Case 515-050, May 2015. (Revised May 2017.)
- December 2012 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
Developing the Materiality Matrix at Telefónica
By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Asun Cano-Escoriaza
Telefónica, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world and headquartered in Spain, has been issuing a corporate sustainability report since 2002. In its 2011 Sustainability report, the company included a "materiality matrix," and was one of only five... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainable Strategy; CSR; Corporate Social Responsibility; Communication Technology; Environmental Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Telecommunications Industry; Spain
Eccles, Robert G., George Serafeim, and Asun Cano-Escoriaza. "Developing the Materiality Matrix at Telefónica." Harvard Business School Case 413-088, December 2012. (Revised October 2013.)
- 2021
- Working Paper
Corporate Environmental Impact: Measurement, Data and Information
By: David Freiberg, DG Park, George Serafeim and T. Robert Zochowski
As an organization’s environmental impact has become a central societal consideration, thereby affecting industry and organizational competitiveness, interest in measuring and analyzing environmental impact has increased. We develop a methodology to derive comparable... View Details
Keywords: Environment; Impact; Measurement; Environmental Ratings; Corporate Valuation; Financial Materiality; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Environmental Strategy; Impact-Weighted Accounts; IWAI; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Measurement and Metrics; Valuation
Freiberg, David, DG Park, George Serafeim, and T. Robert Zochowski. "Corporate Environmental Impact: Measurement, Data and Information." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-098, March 2020. (Revised February 2021.)