Publications

01 Mar 2011
News

Two Kinds of Green

social and environmental concerns into daily operations. In the multimedia case “Burt’s Bees: Balancing Growth and Sustainability,” HBS associate professor Christopher Marquis uses text exhibits and video interviews to show how the small natural products View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; natural products company; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

25 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

More Than the Sum of Its Parts: The Impact of Modularity on the Computer Industry

drives. CB: Ultimately, though, the power of modularity does not lie simply in the creation of financial option value and the ensuing impact on competition. Modularity also helps simplify complex systems and divvy up complex tasks so that... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Computer; Consumer Products; Technology

30 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Driving Social Impact Through Consumer Behavior: Nonprofit to Finance to Retail with Nicole Krantz (MBA 2022)

student-run company, Campus Enterprises, as the Chief Operating Officer,” Krantz shared. “The company is several different ventures under one umbrella, and I founded a new cleaning service business within it.” In her senior year, Krantz... View Details

Keywords: Retail

October 2013 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Bridges Ventures

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby

Bridges Ventures, a UK-based impact investor with double-digit returns on its investments, is reflecting on its social impact and pondering its future course. View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; United Kingdom; Financial And Social Return; Social Enterprise; Investment Portfolio; Transportation Industry; Retail Industry; Real Estate Industry; United Kingdom

January 2020
Case

SK Group: Social Progress Credits

By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and David Freiberg

SK Group was one of the largest companies South Korea. A family-run conglomerate consisting of around 120 subsidiaries and employing more than 100,000, SK was tightly knit into the fabric of Korean society. SK viewed their future success as contingent upon the strength... View Details

29 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Finding Professional Purpose: Building an Impactful Career that Reflects your Values with Lisa Tanzer (MBA 1993)

analysis for a pet food company that I discovered an interest in marketing, branding, and product development—a spark that inspired me to pursue a career in marketing. At HBS, I gained a deeper understanding of how businesses operate.... View Details

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

BC Partners: Acuris

By: Victoria Ivashina and Terrence Shu

This case follows Nikos Stathopoulos, Managing Partner of BC Partners, as he and his team evaluate the potential sale of one of BC Partners’ portfolio companies, Acuris. Acuris was a global financial intelligence, news, and data company that had been acquired by BC... View Details

Keywords: Fund Management; Fund Raising; Leveraged Buyout; Buyout; Portfolio Management; Operations Improvement; Exit; Exit Strategy; Valuation Ratios; Finance; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Operations; Performance Improvement; Acquisition; Valuation

January 2025
Case

PayJoy: Financing for the Next Billion

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

PayJoy, an impact-driven financial technology company founded in 2015, provides smartphone financing and other financial products to customers who lack access to traditional credit products. As of early 2025, PayJoy had issued $2.5 billion in loans to 13 million... View Details

01 Dec 2013
News

Your Own Medicine

The first conversation wasn't promising: The Secklers came in planning to set up a venture fund to support companies pursuing DMD treatments and were looking for a fund manager; Williams, a former SVP at Genzyme with no fund-managing... View Details

Keywords: Morrell, Daniel; biomedicine; biopharmaceutical company; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

29 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Finding professional purpose: Building an impactful career that reflects your values with Lisa Tanzer (MBA 1993)

one of the Big Four accounting firms (PwC), focusing on strategic planning in financial services, business services, telecommunications, and consumer products. It was during a product line analysis for a pet food company that I discovered... View Details

01 Jun 2005
News

Faculty Research Online

Entrepreneurial Hospital Pioneers New Model Associate Professor Tarun Khanna examines a “Robin Hood” cardiac hospital in India, which treats patients regardless of their ability to pay. His findings? A solvent, successful model of international health care. Is Business... View Details

Keywords: nonprofit; social impact; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

April 2025
Supplement

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion PowerPoint Supplement

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

April 2025
Teaching Note

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) and (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 622-024, 625-004, 625-005, and 625-702. The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Business Startups; Initial Public Offering; Knowledge Sharing; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

October 17, 2022
Article

When Climate Collaboration Is Treated as an Antitrust Violation

By: Matteo Gasparini, Knut Haanaes and Peter Tufano

Carbon emissions transcend firms and borders—they are a massive, unpriced externality. Companies across industries are increasingly waking up to the need to cooperate in the fight against climate change but the law might get in the way. Across Europe and the U.S.,... View Details

Keywords: Climate Impact; Climate Finance; Antitrust; Anti-trust; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Law

Register to Read

October 2016
Case

La-Z-Boy (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Natalie Kindred

Kurt Darrow, CEO of La-Z-Boy furniture, must decide whether to continue an overhaul of the company's strategy in the face of a collapse in demand during the great recession. Having pared back La-Z-Boy's portfolio of brands and manufacturing network, he intends to... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Manufacturing; Organizational Transformations; Reorganization; Furniture Industry; Corporate Strategy; Home Fashion; Turnaround; Portfolio Rationalization; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Brand Repositioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2002
Chapter

Bridging the Gap: How Improved Information Can Help Companies Integrate Shareholder Value and Environmental Quality

By: Forest Reinhardt

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information; Environmental Sustainability