Publications

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10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

conditions and the paramount importance of doing the right thing—some leadership teams have committed themselves to two guiding principles: act now to protect and run the business today, and plan now to retool the business for the... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

September 2016
Teaching Note

Nuclear Energy: An Answer to Climate Change?

By: Michael W. Toffel and Glen W. S. Dowell

This case asks students to take the perspective of a nuclear energy industry association whose objective is convincing politicians and the public about the merits of its industry. The association is considering whether to approach environmental nongovernmental... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Power; Environment; Climate Change; Nonprofit Organizations; Environmental Protection; Environmental Strategy; Energy; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Partners and Partnerships; Alliances; Strategy; Energy Industry; United States

October 2009 (Revised January 2014)
Teaching Note

Genzyme Center (A), (B) & (C)

By: Michael W. Toffel

Teaching Note for [610008], [610009], and [610010]. View Details

Keywords: Environment; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Environmental Operations; Environmental Protection; Environmental Regulation; Standard Setting; Standards; Environmental Accounting; Engineering; Governance; Energy; Economics; Operations; Projects; Social Enterprise; Infrastructure; Construction Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Real Estate Industry

August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

EnerNOC: DemandSMART

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess... View Details

Keywords: Production Planning; Productivity; Environmental Protection; Energy; Environment; Business Government Relations; Laws And Regulation; Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Production; Energy Conservation; Energy Industry

25 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Self-Regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

Keywords: by Andrew King & Michael W. Toffel

2025
Working Paper

The Limits of Insurance Demand and the Growing Protection Gap

By: Parinitha Sastry, Tess Scharlemann, Ishita Sen and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva

In a world with rising risk, how much are U.S. households willing to pay for homeowners insurance, and what does their demand imply for the future of insurance markets? We provide the first estimates of household willingness to pay for homeowners insurance and the... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Risk and Uncertainty; Insurance; Personal Finance; Consumer Behavior; Mortgages

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21 Nov 2015
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Stella McCartney Combines High Fashion with Environmental Values

looks at McCartney from a brand perspective in the case study Stella McCartney, co-written with Sandrine Crener. In the Cold Call podcast, a transcript of which is presented here, Keinan discusses how McCartney has built a luxury fashion brand while maintaining View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Fashion

February 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nuclear Energy: An Answer to Climate Change?

By: Michael W. Toffel, Glen W. S. Dowell and James Weber

Environmental activist groups have traditionally opposed nuclear energy. However, the growing environmental problems associated with global climate change require major changes to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation. Should environmental groups... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Power; Climate Change; Safety; Activism; Nonprofit; Environment; Environmental Protection; Social Movements; Energy; Energy Generation; Environmental Sustainability; Non-Governmental Organizations; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

2016
Working Paper

Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger

This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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18 Feb 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Global Ocean Trust: Protecting the Blue Planet in New Ways

Keywords: Re: Rosabeth M. Kanter; Green Technology

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

environmental shortfalls, such as outdoor displays in environmental protection areas or using an illegal artesian pond to supply water to some of its offices. This is good... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

February 2014 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.: Safety, Environment and Health

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In January 2014, Gary Bald, senior vice president of Safety, Environment and Health at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), prepared for a review meeting with the company's chief executive, Adam Goldstein, and chairman, Richard Fain. Prior to joining RCL in 2006, Bald... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

Sending a Message: An Empirical Assessment of Responses to Punitive and Non-punitive Compliance Messaging Strategies

By: Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Melissa Ouellet

Regulators operate in an increasingly hostile political environment. The U.S. Supreme Court is ramping up efforts to curtail the authority of administrative agencies. The second election of Donald Trump to the presidency has unleashed a torrent of anti-regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Field Experiment; Compliance; Compliance Programs; Compliance Policies; Regulatory Enforcement; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Policy; Government Experimentation; Governance Compliance; Government Administration; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Construction Industry; Public Administration Industry; California; United States

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March 2014
Teaching Note

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.: Safety, Environment and Health

By: John A. Quelch

In January 2014, Gary Bald, senior vice president of Safety, Environment and Health at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), prepared for a review meeting with the company's chief executive, Adam Goldstein, and chairman, Richard Fain. Prior to joining RCL in 2006, Bald... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Public Health; Cruising; Cruise Lines; Royal Caribbean; Safety; Security; Biodefense; Epidemic; Norovirus; Fire Safety; Crew; Environmental Protection; Innovation; Ship Design; Vacation; Recreation

Teaching Interest

Business Opportunties in Climate Adaptation

By: John D. Macomber

This is a Short Intensive Program or SIP at Harvard Business School. It’s an optional student offering prior to the formal start of the Spring semester the following week. SIPs tend to cover new material on current topics, to be less formal than the HBS Case Study... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Climate Risk; Climate Impact; Fire Protection; Insurance Risk Exposure; Hedge Fund; Public Health; Public Health Measures; Climate Change; Adaptation; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Transportation Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Africa; Latin America

October 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa

By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

In 2018 the majority ownership of publicly owned Wilderness Safaris, the leading high-end ecotourism company in Africa with safari operations in eight countries, was acquired by The Rise Fund, one of the world’s largest private social impact investing funds, and by FS... View Details

September 1993 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Environment and International Trade

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

During the 1990s, environmental activists became interested in trade issues for the first time. Whereas GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, had previously been the province of trade specialists, a new poster popular among environmentalists depicted the... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Policy; Government and Politics; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Globalization; International Relations; Conflict of Interests

2012
Book

The Oxford Handbook of Business and the Natural Environment

By: Pratima Bansal and Andrew J. Hoffman

Environmental issues now loom large on the social, political, and business agenda. Over the past four decades, "corporate environmentalism" has emerged and been constantly redefined, from regulatory compliance to more recent management conceptions such as pollution... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Policy; Governance Compliance

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November 1992 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Advertising Council Earth Share Campaign: Strategy, Execution, and Final Campaign

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jayne D. Kramer

In the several years preceding 1992, there had been a dramatic rise in the public's concern for environmental issues. Yet the Roper Organization reported that fewer than one in ten Americans made personal efforts to help solve environmental problems on a regular basis.... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Research; Environmental Sustainability; Welfare