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March 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

The Greening of DUMBO

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and Abhijit Prabhu

The Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) has seen a revitalization since the late 1970s. The neighborhood's business improvement district (BID) is charged with supplementing New York City's efforts in several areas, including... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Local Range; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Wastes and Waste Processing; Urban Development; Public Administration Industry; New York (city, NY)

01 Dec 2020
News

In Review

do harm—by polluting the environment or exacerbating inequality, for example. Keeping business on a path where it’s seen as a force for good is deeply important. When society loses trust in business, everyone is worse off. We need to... View Details

01 Jun 2004
News

Massport, Back on Course

meetings. Thousands of people have participated. And there have been a number of court cases. The judges who have reviewed the evidence have all essentially come to the same conclusion: The new runway is necessary to fix the delay problem. The runway also will help... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Massport; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation

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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26 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 26, 2008

summaries of past environmental performance. In addition, firms with more KLD concerns have slightly, but statistically significantly, more pollution and regulatory compliance violations in later years. KLD environmental strengths, in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

The Political Economy of Carbon Trading

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, J. Gunnar Trumbull, Mikell Hyman, Patia McGrath and Nazli Zeynep Uludere

Global climate change is an increasingly prominent political and business problem. Design of market-based systems to reduce carbon emissions has proven difficult. More broadly, national attempts to comply with the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol present both... View Details

Keywords: Policy; International Relations; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Public Administration Industry

01 Mar 2007
News

Gore All Business at HBS

WARM WELCOME: On an unseasonably mild December day, after a reception with faculty, staff, and students, Al Gore and Dean Jay Light walk to Burden Hall. We are managing the planet as if it were a business in liquidation,” former U.S. Vice President Al Gore declared to... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services; Scientific Research and Development Services

01 Mar 2023
News

Clearing the Air

market? The first way to capture pollutants is at the source, whether it’s in an automobile or at a power plant. It’s also the easiest way to do it, because you have a concentrated source of the molecules you’re trying to gather. Next, we... View Details

Keywords: April White and Dan Morrell; Illustrations by Richard Borge

19 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy

putting an automated pollution meter at a factory’s fence line—compares to actual inspections in gaining compliance. Toffel agrees: “The question of which approach is more effective is a perfect one for scholars to pursue. I hope someone... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 10

growing evidence of pollution and resulting political pressures. The variety of capitalism literature has suggested that the German coordinated market economy model was more conducive to green corporate strategies than liberal market... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

addition, firms with more KLD concerns have slightly, but statistically significantly, more pollution and regulatory compliance violations in later years. KLD environmental strengths, in contrast, do not accurately predict View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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

Keywords: Green Building; LEED Rating System; Economic And Environmental Performance; Program Evaluation And Assessment; Tradeoffs Between Process- And Performance Standards; Buildings and Facilities; Business Headquarters; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Improvement; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Green Technology Industry

September 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Genzyme Center (A)

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

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

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

05 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 5

ourselves. May 2015 Journal of Marketing BYOB: How Bringing Your Own Shopping Bags Leads to Treating Yourself, and the Environment By: Karmarkar, Uma R., and Bryan Bollinger Abstract—As concerns about pollution and climate change have... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Reading Energy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Reading Energy builds facilities that produce energy from nontraditional fuels. A privately held, entrepreneurial organization, it has spent six years developing a plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the town of Robbins, Illinois. The plant would burn municipal... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business and Community Relations; Business Plan; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Illinois

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October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details