Publications

11 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 11

Publications August 2013 American Journal of Managed Care The Impact of Electronic Health Record Use on Physician Productivity By:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2016 (Revised June 2016)
Supplement

The Maggi Noodle Safety Crisis in India (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna and Radhika Kak

The local government in Delhi has ordered a ban on Nestlé's flagship product in India—Maggi Noodles, citing excessive lead content per government lab tests. Nestlé disputes the government tests, noting that internal and third-party tests show the product to be safe.... View Details

Keywords: Multinationals; Globalization; Regulation; Customer Relations; Business And Government; Safety; Leadership; Food; Multinational Firms and Management; Governance Compliance; Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Government Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Delhi

06 Jan 2012
Op-Ed

Where Green Corporate Ratings Fail

Environmental Protection Agency, illustrating the widespread belief that environmentally conscious corporations should respond to climate change by striving to yield net-zero carbon emissions. But just a few... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler; Information; Publishing

January 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Organic Growth at Wal-Mart

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Troy Smith

In 2005, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability. View Details

Keywords: Food; Growth and Development Strategy; Product; Business Processes; Environmental Sustainability; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States

2024
Working Paper

Human-Computer Interactions in Demand Forecasting and Labor Scheduling Decisions

By: Caleb Kwon, Ananth Raman and Jorge Tamayo

We investigate whether corporate officers should grant managers discretion to override AI-driven demand forecasts and labor scheduling tools. Analyzing five years of administrative data from a large grocery retailer using such an AI tool, encompassing over 500 stores,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Forecasting and Prediction; Working Conditions; Performance Productivity

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Research Summary

Overview

My research is at the intersection of organizational strategy, global sustainability governance, and social change. It explores the diffusion of sustainability standards to non-traditional sectors (e.g. jewelry, cannabis, plastics, pets) and the relationship between... View Details

November 2008
Case

Syngenta International AG: Tropical Sugar Beet

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Alwin R. Kopse

Syngenta has developed a new sugar beet crop especially useful to tropical climates that enable double cropping to take place and provide both food and energy from the soil. Thus both the governments of Colombia and India are enthused about the new technological... View Details

Keywords: Food; Government and Politics; Technological Innovation; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Research and Development; Environmental Sustainability; Technology Adoption; India; Colombia

January 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Dirigo International

By: Christopher M. Gordon and Chad M. Carr

Dirigo International is proposing a major expansion of their life sciences research and manufacturing facilities in the heart of a major city and middle to lower income residential neighborhood. The company and city government are seeking a development solution in the... View Details

Keywords: Production; Property; Expansion; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; Outcome or Result; Biotechnology Industry

19 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

LEED-ing by Example

In the debate over whether to increase or decrease the stringency of environmental regulations, the possibility that government agencies might use purchasing to stimulate market demand for "green" View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

11 Jan 2016
Blog Post

Meet the Business and Environment Initiative

BEI organizes conferences, seminars, and symposia that increase the visibility of environmental problems and their solutions among students, alumni, and the broader business community. What are the... View Details

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details

09 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Could Clean Hydrogen Become Affordable at Scale by 2030?

Hydrogen is poised to move from the sidelines of global clean energy as the industry learns to produce it more efficiently and at lower cost, according to newly published research led by Gunther Glenk, a climate fellow with Harvard Business School's Institute for the... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Green Technology

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

10 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

The Transparency Revolution in Corporate Reporting

inclusive capitalism. Below, he describes how such standardized reporting could empower both companies and investors, and how it could revolutionize business practices in the future. Christian Camerota: What prompted you to study the View Details

Keywords: Re: George Serafeim

June 2016
Article

Technology Choice and Capacity Portfolios under Emissions Regulation

By: David Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer and Luk N. Van Wassenhove

We study the impact of emissions tax and emissions cap-and-trade regulation on a firm's technology choice and capacity decisions. We show that emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade results in greater expected profit than a constant emissions price under an... View Details

Keywords: Technology Management; Management; Technology; Service Operations; Environmental Sustainability

01 Nov 2019
Blog Post

Confronting Climate Change in the Classroom and Beyond

they want to put their energy and focus their career.” BEI was founded in 2010 to connect and engage faculty, students, alumni, and practitioners on environment-focused research, teaching, and discourse. Its mission: to deepen the understanding View Details

November 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Unilever's New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

In January 2009, when Paul Polman was appointed CEO of Unilever, he inherited a company in long-term decline at the beginning of a major global financial crisis. As the first outsider ever recruited to lead the company, Polman lost little time in challenging the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

22 Dec 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #13: Democratizing Climate Returns - Nisha Desai (HBS 1997), Founder and CEO of Invest With Intention

the explanation by Jaclyn Foroughi in the Stanford Social Innovation Review: “Three principles define impact investing: first, there must be an expectation of financial return alongside social and/or View Details

June 2024
Simulation

Vehicle Lifecycle Emissions Calculator

By: Mike Toffel, Shirley Lu and George Serafeim

This Vehicle Lifecycle Emissions Calculator calculates the greenhouse gas emissions over the lifespan of internal combustion engine (ICEs) vehicles, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), including those associated with their... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Environment; Carbon Accounting; Carbon; Carbon Abatement; Electric Vehicles; Automobiles; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Supply Chain; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Climate Change; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry