Publications

09 Apr 2025
Video

Schneider Electric | How digital solutions are accelerating sustainability in buildings

March 2022
Background Note

Climate Challenges for Cities: Introduction to Issues and Actions in the United States

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Catarina Mia Martinez

This background Note introduces the implications of climate change (global warming) for American cities. In the U.S., partisan political divides and unaddressed economic and racial disparities in climate vulnerabilities can inhibit action. The two main fronts for... View Details

Web

The Green Industrial Strategy Project | Institute for Business in Global Society

The Green Industrial Strategy Project More Research Projects The Green Industrial Strategy Project examines how business and government can create, scale, and compete in clean tech markets to accelerate... View Details

December 2024
Supplement

Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change (B)

By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar, Peter Tufano, Hugo Etchegoyhen and Emilie Billaud

The (B) case explores Northvolt’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on November 21, 2024, highlighting the company’s struggles to scale operations amid a global EV market slowdown and internal production challenges. While the (A) case detailed Northvolt’s ambitious... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Electric Vehicles; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Energy; Green Technology; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Technological Innovation; Risk Management; Failure; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Transportation; Green Technology Industry; Europe; Sweden

08 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

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

enabler for this. Clean has an international component, and there's an ongoing negotiation and green race among countries. There's a lot of capacity building that needs to go on here." Until very... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Energy; Utilities

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Web

Buildings & Cities - Business & Environment

Confronting Climate Change Buildings & Cities Cities are a key place to innovate to reduce greenhouse gases The world is currently undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in human history. More than half of the global population is... View Details

24 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Building ’Brandtopias’—How Top Brands Tap into Society

Customers value some of the most powerful brands in the world primarily for their "cultural value": They provide imaginative resources that people use to build their identities. These are what Harvard Business School professor... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2004
Book

Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

By: Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene and Myra M. Hart

Keywords: Gender; Growth and Development; Business Ventures

Find at Harvard

04 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

Chombosan Much promotion of smart cities assumes that municipalities will take a proactive, top-down, technology-first approach to urban progress. Thus far, these initiatives look for some forward-thinking city official (or immensely deep-pocketed private investor) to... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Green Technology

28 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Building Histories of Emerging Economies One Interview at a Time

interested in building the bank of interviews were given the green light to expand the project, which now includes conversations with business leaders from Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

18 Jul 2024
Blog Post

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

nature. This is one of the reasons why the sector continued to thrive in the past year despite slow economic growth. The increasing global focus on decarbonization and climate resilience presents opportunities for investments in renewable energy, smart grids, and View Details

May 2018
Case

Environmental Platform LEEDership at USGBC

By: Michael W. Toffel, Timothy S. Simcoe and Aldo Sesia

By 2018, it was clear that U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) had significantly contributed to the growth of green building and over its 25-year history had become a powerful brand in the construction sector with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Business Model; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Construction Industry; Green Technology Industry

2013
Book

Constructing Green: The Social Structures of Sustainability

By: Rebecca Henn and Andrew J. Hoffman

Buildings are the nation's greatest energy consumers. Forty percent of all our energy is used for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering machines and devices in buildings. And despite decades of investment in green construction technologies, residential and... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Green Building; Transition; Social Issues

Find at Harvard

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (C)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry

May 2008
Case

Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

By: W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Heather Beckham

The case describes the dilemma of a marketing manager, Thomas Green, who, after being rapidly promoted, is harshly criticized by his boss, Frank Davis. Green and Davis disagree on work styles and market projections. Green believes the sales goals set by Davis are based... View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Performance Management; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Management Style; Conflict Management; Communication; Rank and Position; Personal Characteristics; Power and Influence

February 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat

By: Elie Ofek and Jeff Huizinga

Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech start-up, was hoping to play a major role in disrupting the conventional meat sector. Compared to intensive agricultural practices, Aleph’s cultured (or lab-grown) meat solution held the promise of considerably reducing greenhouse gas... View Details