Environmental Operations - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

Consumers in the United States are so increasingly into fresh, local, and carbon neutral that if someone figured out how to grow a tomato that could walk itself to the grocery store, they'd be a millionaire. So why is Mutti S.p.a., a tomato processing company based in... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Food & Beverage; Retail

14 Jul 2021
News

The First Five Years: Nicolas Manes (MBA 2020)

What are your long-term goals for the company? “In the short term, we are raising a new round of financing to boost our growth in Mexico and to launch an operation in Brazil and in Central America. In the long term, we aspire to be the... View Details

11 Sep 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Chief Sustainability Officers: Who Are They and What Do They Do?

Keywords: by Kathleen Miller & George Serafeim

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer-Packaged Foods Industry

By: Amanda Rischbieth, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the consumer-packaged goods industry. We design a methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates on customer... View Details

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01 Jun 2005
News

Lessons from the Tsunami Disaster

CURRAN: "The most important thing I learned is that central planning in such situations doesn't work." Courtesy Dan Curran International relief agencies that raced to aid Indonesia’s tsunami-ravaged Aceh province have a lot to learn from the unique management... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Environmental Quality Programs; Administration of Environmental Quality Programs; Administration of Environmental Quality Programs; Administration of Environmental Quality Programs; Administration of Environmental Quality Programs

01 Oct 1997
News

Short Takes

Green Stuff: Value, Risk, and Environmental Management Environmental issues increasingly influence companies in their approach to fundamental business concerns. How these matters play out in terms of... View Details

21 Oct 2013
News

Moving the Needle

hospital stays and doctors' visits showed her the health care system up close. "I realized that I really wanted to make a difference," she recalls. At Harvard, this self-described "contrarian" recalls having to push her idea of promoting social and View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

01 Mar 2017
News

The Middle Way

late 2015, “the environmental groups said, ‘We have all that we need. We’re signing off.’ ” The final deal protected 85 percent of Great Bear from logging while offering forestry companies a process for certainty of View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photos by Kamil Bialous

01 Dec 2013
News

Plugged In

pretty surreal," says Camargo. But the day after the show, the reality of the challenge ahead of him remained: How, exactly, do you sell America a high-end electric car? 1. DITCH THE OLD PITCH The first wave of electric vehicles had a dual View Details

Keywords: Transportation Equipment Manufacturing; Manufacturing

16 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation

Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Interior, without focusing on specific "customer" needs. One executive observed, "What customers do is up to the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

23 Apr 2018
News

Sowing the Seeds of Leadership

faculty and emphasize values, ethical entrepreneurship, gender equality, and environmental and social commitment. “Every one of our students has the potential to go back home and lift people out of poverty in some of the most vulnerable... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

29 Jan 2021
News

Holding Business to Account

idea of being a passive investor, along for the ride, no longer appealed to me,” Aiyer says. Shareholders were owners, she realized, and they had a say in how a company ran as well as the ability to influence everything from labor practices to View Details

08 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Will the Japan Disaster Remake the Landscape for Green Energy in Asia?

Even before the recent earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan, many parts of Asia had already begun investing in "green" energy. But the disaster has certainly upped the urgency of the discussions. “It's driven a lot of people to have a bit of a... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Energy; Utilities

2008
Case

Nike Considered: Getting Traction on Sustainability

By: Rebecca Henderson, C. Reavis, R. Locke and C. Liddy

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Citation

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Water Utilities Industry

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the water utilities industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of water... View Details

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01 Dec 2000
News

Q&A: Andrew Kendall

need for management experience in nonprofits, and I decided to try to combine my business skills with my commitment to the environment," says Kendall. He embarked on a "classic business school analysis of the industry," talking to the leaders of many local, regional,... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Forestry and Logging; Agriculture; Special Design Services; Professional Services; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

October 21, 2022
Article

Climate Regulations Are About to Disrupt Global Shipping

By: Willy C. Shih

Ships that transport goods across oceans are collectively a major generator of greenhouse gases. Rules from the International Maritime Organization and the European Union aimed at curbing these emission promise to make transoceanic and regional shipping more expensive... View Details

Keywords: Shipping; Decarbonization; Environmental Regulation; Supply Chain; Disruption; Shipping Industry; Atlantic Ocean; Oceania; Asia; Europe; North and Central America

Citation

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June 12, 2023
Article

How AI Will Accelerate the Circular Economy

By: Shirley Lu and George Serafeim

Despite living on a planet with finite resources, our economy remains largely linear and full of single-use products. The shift toward a circular economy, where companies recover or recycle resources, has hit roadblocks, including low value of used products and high... View Details

Keywords: Recycling; Materials Management; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; AI and Machine Learning; Operations; Industrial Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry

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01 Jun 2020
News

Inside Out

Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace. When he and his siblings sold it in 2006, Macomber started teaching at HBS, where he began some revelatory research into the Indian real estate market and its regulatory and environmental issues. “It... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct... View Details