Publications

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September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Biotechnology Industry; Construction Industry; Real Estate Industry; Green Technology Industry

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

find no evidence that directors lose seats on other boards, a proxy for reputational consequences, as a result of shareholder activism. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46376 The Impact of Corporate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2023 (Revised February 2025)
Background Note

Corporate Climate Targets

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

Companies that are addressing climate change by mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions often set reduction targets. This note describes several types of widely used carbon reduction targets, including carbon neutral, science based, net zero, real zero, and carbon... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Environmental Strategy; Climate Risk; Target-setting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Educators

14 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

New Agenda for Corporate Accountability Reporting

How do you measure corporate accountability? And can you do it credibly? Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, for-profit corporations are facing greater demand to disclose more than revenues and expenses on annual financial reports. In response, some are pointing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Energy; Utilities

01 Jun 2011
News

The Best-Laid Plans

with Urban Water Partners RelayRides explanatory video FashionStake-Reuters story An online shipping platform that uses social networks and smartphones. Low-cost medical care and monitoring that helps seniors to live at home. The “Skype”... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Health, Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

2023
Working Paper

Polarizing Corporations: Does Talent Flow to "Good" Firms?

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Tim McQuade, Gabriel Ramos, Thomas Rauter and Olivia Xiong

We conduct a field experiment in partnership with the largest job platform in Brazil to study how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices of firms affect talent allocation. We find both an average job-seeker’s preference for ESG and a large degree of... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Job Search; Talent and Talent Management; Wages; Attitudes

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Keywords: NGO; Development

October 16, 2023
Article

How a Defined Purpose Drove Unilever’s Turnaround

By: Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

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January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

PortageBay and ESG Analytics

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In 2023, sustainable investors faced several challenges. The first was the lack of access to standardized and vetted environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, and equally, the interpretation of this data into investment-useful insights. Reducing reliance on... View Details

Keywords: ESG Ratings; Investment Funds; Governance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Educators

Spring 2018
Article

The Next Phase of Business Sustainability

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Trends; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Disclosure

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June 2003 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Xilinx, Inc. (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Christina Darwall

Is it possible to create a great business and a company? Wim Roelandts sets out, in the context of Xilinx, to create a high-performance organization without sacrificing the human dimension. Roelandts experiences additional pressure when the company is affected by a... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Design

11 Aug 2020
News

Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead in an Era of Disruption

Keywords: capitalism

01 Jan 2003
News

One More Time

Keywords: Frederick Herzberg

March 2018
Supplement

JPMorgan Chase: Invested in Detroit (B)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Local Economic Development; Workforce Development; Philanthropic Investment; Financial Institutions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Urban Development; Business and Community Relations; Banking Industry; United States; Michigan