Corporate Sustainability - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19

Keywords: by Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, and Hui (Stacie) Wang

19 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing?

Keywords: by Christopher Marquis & Michael W. Toffel

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

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November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Restructuring at Nova Chemical Corporation (Abridged)

By: Scott P. Mason

Management of a diversified chemicals company faces two financial decisions: whether to finance a major investment in new production facilities for its rapidly expanding Environmental Products Division, and whether to sell a more slowly growing non-specialty chemicals... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Finance; Chemical Industry

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2022
Working Paper

The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans

By: Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim

Sustainability-linked loans (i.e., syndicated loans for which pricing is linked to a sustainability performance indicator) have rapidly evolved into a significant private debt product. We find that sustainability-linked lending has been available mostly to borrowers... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Credit Products; Loan Contracts; Loans; Corporate Finance; Credit Risk; Environment; ESG; ESG Ratings; Climate Change; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Risk and Uncertainty; Credit

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July 2007
Article

Cooperation between Corporations and Environmental Groups: A Transaction Cost Perspective

Theory suggests that when transaction costs are low, corporations and stakeholders can minimize social costs by transacting to their mutual advantage, but when transaction costs are high, reducing social costs requires the intervention of a centralized institution.... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage; Cooperation

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March 2016
Article

An Analysis of Firms' Self-reported Anticorruption Efforts

By: Paul M. Healy and George Serafeim

We use Transparency International's ratings of self-reported anticorruption efforts for 480 corporations to analyze factors underlying the ratings. Our tests examine whether these forms of disclosure reflect firms' real efforts to combat corruption or are cheap talk.... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Corporate Performance; Growth; Disclosure; Disclosure Strategy; Sustainability; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Disclosure; Performance; Sales

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

Rhetoric and Independence Are Not Enough: Empowering Managers and Directors to Do What Is Right, you challenge the adequacy of the Business Roundtable's assertion that the selection of a well-qualified and ethical CEO is the most important role of a View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

10 Jun 2015
News

The Transparency Revolution in Corporate Reporting

28 May 2012
Research & Ideas

A Pragmatic Alternative for Creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Thousands of large, profitable companies have all the right intentions of giving back to society—and yet a sizable number of them have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that provide little benefit to either the community or... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Jan 2022
Blog Post

Lessons Learned from My HBS Career Journey in Environmental Sustainability

Lessons Learned from My HBS Career Journey in Environmental Sustainability I began my HBS admissions application essay with the following sentence: “I aspire to help build organizations that are advancing View Details

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

By: Aiyesha Dey

The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of... View Details

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22 Feb 2022
Blog Post

Lessons Learned from My HBS Career Journey in Environmental Sustainability

it meets criterion #1 – a focus on sustainability and technology – with just one example being the many ways in which BCG is focusing on corporate transitions to net-zero. Of course, I will likely be doing... View Details

Keywords: Energy / Cleantech

2010
Chapter

Taking Sustainability Seriously: The Time Has Come for Integrated Reporting

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Michael P. Krzus

Keywords: Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Citation

November 29, 2011
Article

The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information

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December 2014 (Revised July 2016)
Case

HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José Alvarez, Tonia Junker and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The Dutch company HEINEKEN, one of the leading global brewers known for its brands like Heineken, Amstel, and Desperados and for its award-winning marketing campaigns, seeks to closely integrate its long-term sustainability "Brewing a Better World" approach into its... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Sustainability; Local Sourcing; Corporate Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry

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02 May 2023
Blog Post

Sustainability Career Advice from the Career & Professional Development Office

Hillary Mann is a Corporate Relations Director in the Career and Professional Development Office covering Consumer Products, Retail & Luxury Goods, Hospitality, Agribusiness, and Sustainability. She enjoys helping students and alumni... View Details