sustainability - Publications - Faculty & Research

May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan

Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India

Citation

Educators

Purchase

1985
Book

The Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance

By: M. E. Porter

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Performance Consistency

Citation

Find at Harvard

2003
Chapter

Designing Sustainability at BMW Group: The Designworks/USA Experience

By: Michael W. Toffel, Natalie Hill and Kellie McElhaney

This case study describes how an industrial design company developed a Sustainability Management System (SMS) standard, designed and implemented an SMS throughout its business, and then became the first company in the world to achieve third-party SMS certification. The... View Details

Keywords: Design; Governance Compliance; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Environmental Sustainability; United States

Citation

Read Now

25 Apr 2014
News

Sustaining a commitment to the environment

board of the Westchester Land Trust, Riverkeeper, and the Mount Auburn Cemetery. At Harvard University, he funded the Harvard Sustainability Initiative in Infrastructure Design at the Graduate School of Design to develop a set of View Details

2022
Case

Mandalay Homes: Building Sustainable Innovation in Residential Construction

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Mandalay Homes, a home builder based in northern Arizona, is a market leader in energy efficiency based construction. The company is now at a crossroads for developing a strategy for the future. Internal leadership is in agreement that quality is better than quantity... View Details

Keywords: Green Building; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Construction Industry

Citation

Purchase

23 Dec 2017
News

Exploring a New Agenda for Corporate Sustainability

September 2013 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Olam: Building a Sustainable Supply Chain in Côte d'Ivoire

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Nina Ann George

Describes Olam's development of a sustainable cotton supply chain in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Key dilemma for its managers: feasibility of introducing tractor technology for improving yield. View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Technology Usage; Development Economics; Agribusiness; Technology Adoption; Supply Chain; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Côte d'Ivoire

Citation

Educators

Purchase

19 Sep 2016
News

Sustainable Farming in the Arid World

Philipp Saumweber (MBA 2006) started Sundrop Farms to bring sustainable horticulture to the arid world, growing high-value crops using seawater and sunlight and bringing jobs to communities that previously had no agriculture sector. In... View Details

06 May 2022
Blog Post

Career Advice: Starting a Sustainable Startup

Career Advice: Starting a Sustainable Startup Tell us a little about what you were doing before HBS and what brought you to HBS. I’ve always found myself drawn to working on products and services that can have a positive impact on the... View Details

13 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The European Commission’s Sustainable Corporate Governance Report: A Critique

Keywords: by Mark Roe, Holger Spamann, Jesse Fried, and Charles Wang

06 Jan 2012
News

Is sustainability now the key to corporate success?

11 Sep 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Chief Sustainability Officers: Who Are They and What Do They Do?

Keywords: by Kathleen Miller & George Serafeim

14 Dec 2015
News

How Accounting Can Help Build a Sustainable Economy

16 Apr 2013
News

New Guidelines to Help Companies Report on Sustainability Issues

Web

Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

This course is part of the Business in Society and Strategy track. Introduction to Sustainable Business Strategy ENROLL NOW No application needed for our certificate programs. Start your journey today! View Details

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details