Publications

February 10, 2015
Article

Nonprice incentives and Energy Conservation

By: Omar Isaac Asensio and Magali A Delmas

We investigate the effectiveness of nonprice incentives to motivate conservation behavior. We test whether tailored information about environmental and health damages produces behavior change in the residential electricity sector. In a randomized controlled trial with... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Health Disorders; Knowledge Dissemination; Behavior

Read Now

1998
Book

Global Climate Change: A Senior Level Dialogue at the Intersection of Economics, Strategy, Technology, Science, Politics and International Negotiation

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Based on the 1997 conference organized by the Kellog Environmental Research Center and sponsored by the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Global Climate Change presents the views of key players in the debate over global climate change... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Policy; Goals and Objectives; International Relations

Video

What Is the Tragedy of the Commons?

04 Feb 2020
Video

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej, Chair of the India-based Godrej Group, discusses the role of business and the importance of firms’ engaging in socially responsible projects. He discusses his company’s involvement in educational... View Details

February 2006 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco

Located in the highlands of Peru, the Tintaya copper mine has long been a source of intense conflict between local community members and mine operators. The mine, which was owned and managed first by the Peruvian state and later by BHP Billiton, stands on 2,300... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Conflict Management; Mining Industry; Australia; Peru

November 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Unilever's New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

In January 2009, when Paul Polman was appointed CEO of Unilever, he inherited a company in long-term decline at the beginning of a major global financial crisis. As the first outsider ever recruited to lead the company, Polman lost little time in challenging the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

2013
Working Paper

Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Waste Heat Recovery

By: Chonnikarn Fern Jira and Deishin Lee

Waste heat recovery is a proven technology for improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of energy-intensive manufacturing firms. However, evidence suggests that opportunities for recovering waste heat are untapped. By showing how the process... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Energy; Capital Budgeting; Waste Heat Recovery; Manufacturing; Energy Industry; Manufacturing Industry

04 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Is Voluntary Disclosure a Signal of Effective Self-Policing?

Keywords: by Michael W. Toffel & Jodi L. Short

Article

Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance

By: Beiting Cheng, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

In this paper, we investigate whether superior performance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies leads to better access to finance. We hypothesize that better access to finance can be attributed to a) reduced agency costs due to enhanced stakeholder... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Capital Constraints; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Stakeholder Engagement; Disclosure; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Capital

SSRN

September 2023
Teaching Note

Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-057. Patagonia’s change of ownership from a privately held company to a perpetual purpose trust and 501(c)(4) nonprofit in order to use the company’s profit to fight the environmental crisis and be a model for future businesses. View Details

16 Jun 2015
News

Michael Porter on America's Historic Energy Opportunity

From Calm Leadership, Lasting Change

She was a slight, soft-spoken woman who preferred walking the Maine shoreline to stalking the corridors of power. And yet View Details

18 Feb 2020
Working Paper Summaries

A Preliminary Framework for Product Impact-Weighted Accounts

Keywords: by George Serafeim, Katie Trinh, and Robert Zochowski

July 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

The Miccosukee Tribe and the Battle to Save the Everglades: A Miami Climate Action Story

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

The Miccosukee Indians, a small tribe of indigenous people in South Florida, have a long-standing interest in protecting the land, waterways, and habitats of the Everglades, their ancestral home, which serves as a watershed for urban areas in Miami-Dade County and a... View Details

Keywords: Native Americans; Climate Change; Change; Leadership; Natural Environment; Florida; Everglades National Park

September 2011 (Revised May 2013)
Case

New Resource Bank: In Pursuit of Green

By: Christopher Marquis and Juan Almandoz

New Resource Bank was founded in San Francisco in 2006 with a mission focused on environmental sustainability. The case illustrates the opportunities and challenges of banking on values and the challenges of organizations defining a social and environmental commitment.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; San Francisco

October 2008
Article

Risk Frameworks and Biomonitoring: Distributed Regulation of Synthetic Chemicals in Humans

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

The ability to detect and measure the presence of synthetic chemicals at trace levels in humans coupled to increased environmental NGO mobilization concerning chemical exposure has challenged risk and regulatory frameworks built up over the past quarter-century. This... View Details

Keywords: Chemicals; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Non-Governmental Organizations; United States

May 2008
Article

Coerced Confessions: Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

As part of a recent trend toward more cooperative relations between regulators and industry, novel government programs are encouraging firms to monitor their own regulatory compliance and voluntarily report their own violations. In this study, we examine how regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Power and Influence; Organizations; Decisions; Business and Government Relations; United States