• 07 Nov 2019
• News

Growing Our Food: Making Agriculture More Sustainable

• 22 Apr 2013
• Research & Ideas

Earth Day: Recent Research on Sustainability

Recent articles have looked at research into the history, efficacy, and social responsibility found at the intersection of business and the environment. Here is a sample of some of the latest work from the... View Details

• March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
• Case

CEO Activism (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Aaron K. Chatterji and Julia Kelley

This case introduces CEO activism, a phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential... View Details

Keywords: Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Environment; Climate Change; Gender Equality; Communication Strategy; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Law; Rights; Risk Management; Media; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Religion; Expansion; Strategy; Social Issues; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Indiana; North Carolina

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Toffel, Michael W., Aaron K. Chatterji, and Julia Kelley. "CEO Activism (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-001, March 2017. (Revised June 2019.)

• 26 Feb 2009
• Lecture

Sustainability in the Board Room." Presentation for the Conference Board: "Corporate Governance and Sustainability Working Group

By: Lynn S. Paine

Keywords: Corporate Governance

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Paine, Lynn S. Sustainability in the Board Room." Presentation for the Conference Board: "Corporate Governance and Sustainability Working Group. Lecture at the Conference Board Corporate Governance and Sustainability Research Working Group, New York, NY, February 26, 2009.

• December 1995 (Revised October 1996)
• Case

Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corporation

By: John J. Gabarro

Maureen Frye, assistant product manager at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., is asked to implement an action plan for changing the call pattern of the salesforce. Currently the salesforce is spending too much time on small accounts. Earlier Frye attempted to change their... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Planning; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Steel Industry

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Gabarro, John J. "Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 496-024, December 1995. (Revised October 1996.)

• November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
• Supplement

Global Unichip Corporation (B)

By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien

Jim Lai, President of Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), mapped out the changes he saw coming to the global semiconductor industry. The big question was how many system developers would start coming directly to GUC. View Details

Keywords: Abstraction; Value-network; Vertical Integration; Entry Barriers; Intermediaries; Dis-intermediation; Aggregator; Vertical Specialization; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Integration; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Industry Structures; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Complexity; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

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Shih, Willy, and Chen-Fu Chien. "Global Unichip Corporation (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 613-049, November 2012. (Revised August 2013.)

• February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
• Case

Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy

By: Rebecca Henderson and James Weber

In 2005, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, launched a sustainability initiative aimed at reducing waste and making the company more environmentally and socially conscious. By 2015, the company had made progress on multiple dimensions: energy efficiency in its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Reputation; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; United States

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Henderson, Rebecca, and James Weber. "Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy." Harvard Business School Case 316-042, February 2016. (Revised February 2017.)

• March 2023
• Article

Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits

By: Elisabeth Kempf and Oliver Spalt

This paper provides novel evidence suggesting that securities class action lawsuits, a central pillar of the U.S. litigation and corporate governance system, can constitute an obstacle to valuable corporate innovation. We first establish that valuable innovation output... View Details

Keywords: Class-action Litigation; Turnover; Lawsuits and Litigation; Innovation and Invention; Risk and Uncertainty

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Kempf, Elisabeth, and Oliver Spalt. "Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits." Management Science 69, no. 3 (March 2023): 1323–1934.

• October 2002 (Revised January 2003)
• Case

Hermitage Fund, The: Media and Corporate Governance in Russia

William Browder, the top executive of the Hermitage Fund, the best-performing international equity fund over the last five years, attributed much of his funds' strong returns to its focus on shareholder activism and corporate governance. In 2001, he was putting this... View Details

Keywords: Media; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Russia

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Dyck, Alexander. "Hermitage Fund, The: Media and Corporate Governance in Russia." Harvard Business School Case 703-010, October 2002. (Revised January 2003.)

• 2025
• Working Paper

Partisan Corporate Speech

By: William Cassidy and Elisabeth Kempf

We construct a novel measure of partisan corporate speech using natural language processing techniques and use it to establish three stylized facts. First, the volume of partisan corporate speech has risen sharply between 2012 and 2022. Second, this increase has... View Details

Keywords: Natural Language Processing; Perspective; Communication; Public Opinion; Business and Shareholder Relations; Trends

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Cassidy, William, and Elisabeth Kempf. "Partisan Corporate Speech." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 05-056, May 2025.

• December 2022 (Revised February 2023)
• Case

Marfrig's Quest for Sustainable Beef

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Pedro Levindo and Ruth Costas

Marfrig, one of the world’s leading meatpackers, strived to comply with its commitment to have a deforestation-free value chain in Brazil by 2030. The company also pledged to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases in accordance with the guidelines set by the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Acquisition; Family Business; Communication Strategy; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Bonds; Food; Global Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Government and Politics; Political Elections; Leading Change; Marketing; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil; Latin America; Argentina; Uruguay; North America; United States; Europe; Asia; China

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Alvarez, Jose B., Pedro Levindo, and Ruth Costas. "Marfrig's Quest for Sustainable Beef." Harvard Business School Case 523-073, December 2022. (Revised February 2023.)

• Research Summary

Organizational Change: The Market for Corporate Control and the Third Industrial Revolution

Michael C. Jensen is conducting research on organizational change and the corporate control market. Specifically, he is investigating the changing role of the corporation and competing organizational forms, such as leveraged buyout organizations, that are replacing... View Details

• 2011
• Module Note

Social and Environmental Responsibility: Case Study of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

By: Shashank Shah and Shashank Shah

Keywords: Social Responsibility Of Business; Corporate Social Responsibility; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry; India; United Kingdom

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Shah, Shashank. "Social and Environmental Responsibility: Case Study of Hindustan Unilever Ltd." India: Sage Publications Module Note, 2011.

• 01 Dec 2022
• News

Educating, Connecting, and Mobilizing Around Climate Change

building a more sustainable economy. She focuses particularly on how firms can safeguard economic growth and long-term profitability by addressing challenges like climate View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

• 2013
• Working Paper

Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the responsibility of business in a historical and global perspective. It shows that from the nineteenth century American, European, Japanese, Indian and other business leaders discussed the responsibilities of... View Details

Keywords: Rachel Carson; Sustainability; Local Food; Operations Management; Supply Chain; Business And Society; Business Ethics; Business History; Corporate Philanthropy; Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Social Responsibility And Impact; Environmentalism; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Ethics; Globalization; History; Religion; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Africa

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Jones, Geoffrey. "Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-004, July 2013.