Publications

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B6): Miami Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; City; United States; Miami

2011
Working Paper

Historical Trajectories and Corporate Competences in Wind Energy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane

This working paper surveys the business history of the global wind energy turbine industry between the late nineteenth century and the present day. It examines the long-term prominence of firms headquartered in Denmark, the more fluctuating role of U.S.-based firms,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Renewable Energy; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; United States; Denmark

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August 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Nanosolar, Inc.

Nanosolar is a start-up company in the clean tech sector. It expects to be one of the first manufacturers to produce thin-film solar panels using copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) technology. Although this technology is less efficient in producing electricity... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Europe; United States

27 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Customer Loyalty Programs That Work

explain Alvarez and Sesia, in response to a few key issues: the rise of self-service in retail, which led to a weakening of face-to-face connections with customers; the increased commoditization of the retail experience; and "massive improvement" in all... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Retail

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

New Research: Surviving Bankruptcy, Useful Economics, and Retirement

Crisis or Opportunity? Psychological Science Ayse Yemiscigil, A.V. Whillans, and N. Powdthavee “Does retirement lead to an existential crisis or present an opportunity to experience a renewed sense of purpose in life? In a nationally... View Details

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

1366 Technologies

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Ramana Nanda and David Kiron

Just months after declaring their intent to become a solar cell equipment supplier, van Mierlo and Sachs were again revisiting the issue of what the company should be. Becoming a successful solar cell manufacturer would potentially be much more lucrative than becoming... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Green Technology Industry

2025
Working Paper

Residential Battery Storage - Reshaping The Way We Do Electricity

By: Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

In this paper, we aim to understand when private households invest in behind-the-meter battery storage next to rooftop solar and how those batteries impact households, the electricity market, and emissions. We answer three main research questions: 1) When do customers... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Energy Storage; Technology And Innovation Management; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Energy Industry

SSRN

29 Feb 2016
HBS Case

Bigbelly's Big Bet on the Digital Trash Can

Q: When is a trash can not a trash can? A: When it’s a Wi-Fi hotspot, air-purity monitor, and advertising billboard—all in one. Bigbelly solar-powered trash cans have been street corner fixtures in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and other cities around the world for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

07 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

the effects of rapid climate change. Less typically, he's more bullish on nuclear power and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," than he is on solar energy or wind power for addressing the worldwide carbon emissions problem. It's not that he has anything against View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

30 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Where Could More Regulation Help Small Businesses? Online Lending.

With Donald Trump’s election, Washington’s policy debate on financial services shifted overnight. Recent signs such as the president-elect’s own words and those of GOP leaders point to renewed efforts to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act.... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills and Brayden McCarthy; Financial Services

29 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 29

in Brazil. Purchase this supplement:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/912412-PDF-ENG Heavy Metal (C): Baosteel Enters Brazil Regina M. Abrami and Iacob Koch-WeserHarvard Business School Case 912-413 The case begins with Baosteel's View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

Amyris Biotechnologies: Commercializing Biofuel Gary P. Pisano and Alison Berkley WagonfeldHarvard Business School Case 610-031 In 2009, Amyris Biotechnologies was building a plant in Brazil that used synthetic biology to convert sugarcane into both View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Jan 2009
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Career & Life Balance

continually renewing sense of success that really seems worthwhile and lasting on all your success targets, you have to give up the standards of maximization. Is There Room For Spirituality At The Office? Does Spirituality Drive Success?... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B7): Milwaukee Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Coelin P. Scibetta and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Cities; Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; United States; Wisconsin

April, 2023
Article

Reducing Information Barriers to Solar Adoption: Experimental Evidence from India

By: Meera Mahadevan, Robyn C. Meeks and Takashi Yamano

Off-grid solar technologies hold promise for unelectrified and low-quality electricity settings; however, their adoption remains low. Important barriers to adoption, such as incomplete information remain relatively unexplored in developing countries. In collaboration... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Renewable Energy; Knowledge Sharing; Developing Countries and Economies; India

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May 2024
Teaching Note

Vineyard Wind Starts Spinning: Overcoming Onshore Challenges to Offshore Wind

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-113. To activate the first wind turbines in the ocean off Martha’s Vineyard eventually supplying clean energy to 400,000 households, Vineyard Wind’s leaders had to navigate the permitting process, numerous delays, and objections from... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Renewable Energy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Massachusetts; Martha's Vineyard; New Bedford

23 Aug 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Has the Corporate Mission Just Been Disrupted?

overcoming long odds. Should a Pension Fund Try to Change the World? Can inclusivity, sustainability, and better governance boost economies? Rebecca Henderson and George Serafeim discuss the impact investing efforts of GPIF, Japan’s government pension fund. How a Coal... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Green Technology

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Women Leading Business: A New Kind of Conversation

style. Paul Marshall will address the issues of stimulating growth in companies that have been up and running for a while, because our participants are, by and large, running very large corporations or they are entrepreneurs who started a company some time ago. They... View Details

Keywords: Re: Myra M. Hart & Cynthia A. Montgomery

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; China