Publications

13 Dec 2012
News

Is ESG Information for Investors Losing its Competitive Edge?

14 Nov 2021
News

Vikram Gandhi—HBS Professor and Managing Partner at Asha Impact Fund

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

Vikram S. Gandhi is the Gerald P. Kaminsky Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the General Management Unit. He has developed and teaches two new courses in the Elective Curriculum of the MBA Program. The first is a finance and investing course, Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: financial services

October 2020 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Divesting Harvard's Endowment

By: Daniel Green, Luis M. Viceira and Holly Fetter

By early 2020 Harvard University was facing growing pressure from students, faculty, and alumni to divest its $40 billion endowment of financial stakes in fossil fuel producers. Its previous policy of avoiding the issue was quickly becoming outdated—$21 trillion of... View Details

Keywords: Divestment; Harvard University; ESG; Higher Education; Investment Portfolio; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

03 Dec 2016
News

Cashing In on Climate Change

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Should a Pension Fund Try to Change the World? Inside GPIF's Embrace of ESG

By: George Serafeim

In the fall of 2018, Hiro Mizuno, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of GPIF, the Japanese Government Pension Fund, was reflecting on his efforts to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into every aspect of GPIF’s portfolio. His efforts ranged... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Governance; Leading Change; Economy; Performance Improvement; Japan

May 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Cisco Systems: Building Leading Internet Capabilities

By: Richard L. Nolan and Christina L. Darwall

Cisco has invested in building a leading IT, Internet-based infrastructure. This case describes Cisco's latest efforts to broaden Internet capabilities in the company from 30% to 60% penetration. The strategy is intended to sustain Cisco's double-digit revenue growth... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry

01 Mar 2019
News

ESG Returns Eventually Will Win Over Critics

December 2016 (Revised December 2018)
Case

From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem

By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran

In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “startup nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

CPP Investments—The Road to Zero

By: Vikram Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In February 2022, Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, the investment management organization that managed funds for the CPP, one of the biggest pension plans in the world, announced a net-zero commitment for its portfolio by 2050. Under its CEO, John Graham, it... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Leading Change; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

December 2020
Case

Urban Company

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Urban Company is an India-based market platform that helps customers book home services and at home beauty services. The company differentiated itself by investing heavily in building customer trust. Rather than merely positioning itself as a lead generating... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Service Delivery; Trust; Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

September 2016 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Seema Amble

The case examines the career of Joan Bavaria, a pioneer of socially responsible investing and founder of Trillium Asset Management and Ceres, the nonprofit organization advocating for sustainability leadership. It describes her personal journey from art student and... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career

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

SSRN

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October 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Ӧzyeğin Social Investments: A Legacy of Giving

By: Christina R. Wing, Zeshan Gondal and Brittany L. Logan

This case explores the work of Özyeğin Social Investments, founded by Hüsnü Özyeğin, one of Turkey's most successful entrepreneurs. With a focus on education, health, gender equality, rural development, and disaster relief in Turkey, Özyeğin Social Investments and the... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family Business; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Turkey

26 Jul 2020
News

DOL’S ESG proposal would hurt retirement accounts

02 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 2

Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/312067-PDF-ENG Generation Investment Management (Abridged) Sandra J. Sucher and Matthew PrebleHarvard Business School Case 613-002 Examines the investment process of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career