Publications

05 Jan 2021
Working Paper Summaries

The ESG-Innovation Disconnect: Evidence from Green Patenting

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, and Quoc H. Nguyen

30 Jan 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Can Second-Generation Ethanol Production Help Decarbonize the World?

Keywords: Re: Gunnar Trumbull; Energy

Career Coach

Oscar Mak

Oscar is currently a Senior Director at NORD/LB, a leading bank in financing renewable energy and infrastructure projects. He previously led strategic investments (e.g., M&A, corporate VC, joint ventures) in North America for Toyota... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy; Energy; Energy; Energy; Energy; Energy

2008
Working Paper

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, Ralf Martin and Raffaella Sadun

We use an innovative methodology to measure management practices in over 300 manufacturing firms in the UK. We then match this management data to production and energy usage information for establishments owned by these firms. We find that establishments in better... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

June 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Case

The Suzlon Edge

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Juliana Seminerio

With prices of oil, coal and gas at historically high levels, the wind industry had installed more than 20,000 MW of wind energy, representing a $37 billion investment in 2007. Besides high prices, wind energy represented a solution for consumers seeking an energy... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Cost vs Benefits; Renewable Energy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Integration; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; India

18 Jul 2024
Blog Post

Building the Future: An HBS Alumna’s Journey in Sustainable Infrastructure Investment

significant contributions was helping deploy capital to a renewable energy company aimed at providing clean energy access for commercial and industrial users in Africa. This project was instrumental in... View Details

October 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Europe, Russia, and the Age of Gas Revolution

By: Rawi Abdelal, Leonardo Maugeri and Sogomon Tarontsi

The 2014 Ukraine crisis once again exposed the mutually limiting knot—a web of commercial relationships and oil and gas pipelines—that historically tied the European Union and Russia closely. In this crisis, a familiar conundrum preoccupied minds in the corridors of... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Business and Government Relations; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; European Union; Russia; Ukraine

Guest Column

Who's Afraid of 100%?

By: Jurgen Weiss

The articles describes 100% renewable/clean energy systems and argues that they may be less costly and easier to achieve than is often argued in the industry. View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Green Technology; Green Technology Industry; Energy Industry

11 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Alumni: Where are they now? Featuring Joe…

Current Position: Associate with Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital Current Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Tell us what you’re up to these days. I’m currently an Associate with Chrysalix, a leading early-stage venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Technology

02 Nov 2010
News

Harvard Professor: Iceland Should Think Geothermal

May 2010
Article

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, Ralf Martin and Raffaella Sadun

We use an innovative methodology to measure management practices in over 300 manufacturing firms in the U.K. We then match this management data to production and energy usage information for establishments owned by these firms. We find that establishments in better... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

September 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Environmental Power Corporation: Changing Manure Into Gold?

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Laure Mougeot Stroock

In 2002, Environmental Power Corp. (EPC), a small company developing renewable energy projects, was attempting to commercialize its "digester," a facility that extracted methane from manure, reduced manure's environmental impact, and generated electricity. The company... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Projects; Wastes and Waste Processing; Corporate Finance; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

December 2007 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Leadership in Energy: Jim Rogers at Cinergy

By: Boris Groysberg, Nitin Nohria, Colleen Kaftan and Geoff Eckman Marietta

Jim Rogers, CEO of the energy company Cinergy, has led the company from the brink of bankruptcy to one of the premier energy companies through selecting a focused strategy, aligning the organization to support it, and mobilizing all the employees to implementation. The... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Corporate Strategy; Energy Industry

Oct 05 2018
Tout

McARTHUR HALL SUSTAINABILITY

03 Nov 2008
HBS Case

Economics of the Ethanol Business

What happens when a group of Missouri corn farmers gets into the energy business? With consumers paying more than double for gasoline than they did a year ago, turning crops into fuel, not food, seems like a good way to go—but not so... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Energy

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

consequences of what they are doing." Such snap decisions can result in geo-mistakes that sap energy out of an organization and cause it to lose focus on what it was doing well in the first place. Geographic expansion should provide... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

May 02 2017
Testimonial

Focusing on What Comes Next

September 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

EnergyNow: Powering a New Market

By: Alexander MacKay and James Barnett

In August 2022, EnergyNow co-founder and CEO Stuart MacWilliam (MBA 2015) considers the company strategy for building solar panels to provide power in South Africa’s recently deregulated energy market. View Details

2020
Working Paper

The ESG-Innovation Disconnect: Evidence from Green Patenting

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun and Quoc H. Nguyen

No firm or sector of the global economy is untouched by innovation. In equilibrium, innovators will flock to (and innovation will occur where) the returns to innovative capital are the highest. In this paper, we document a strong empirical pattern in green patent... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investment; Decision Making; Policy; Energy; Green Technology; Technological Innovation; Patents