Publications

September 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Supplement

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?: Case Supplement #1

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This spreadsheet supplement accompanies 617-010 United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying? and is intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply analysis concepts with real operational data. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Management; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Operations; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry; United States

July–August 2019
Article

Coupling Labor Codes of Conduct and Supplier Labor Practices: The Role of Internal Structural Conditions

By: Yanhua Bird, Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

Exploitive working conditions have spurred companies to pressure their suppliers to adopt labor codes of conduct and to conform their labor practices to the standards set forth in those codes. Yet little is known about whether organizational structures such as codes... View Details

Keywords: Organization Theory; Economic Sociology; Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Auditing; Process Improvement; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Supply Chain; Labor; Working Conditions

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November 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Background Note

Life Cycle Assessment: An Overview

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a holistic approach to quantifying the environmental impacts—including resources consumed and wastes produced—associated with the entire life cycle of a product, from the production or extraction of the raw materials used in its creation,... View Details

Keywords: Life-cycle; Environmental Performance; Design; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Measurement and Metrics; Standards; Accounting; Environmental Accounting

September 2023
Background Note

Amager Bakke: Municipal Waste to Energy

By: Willy Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

This background note describes the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in Copenhagen, which merges traditional waste incineration with a combined heat and power (CHP) plant and air pollution control (scrubbing) technology, and had plans to add carbon dioxide (CO2)... View Details

June 2019 (Revised January 2023)
Teaching Note

Global Sourcing at Nike

By: Nien-he Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull

This Teaching Note describes how to teach the Nike case (HBS No. 619-008) in an operations/supply chain course or a corporate sustainability/ethics course. View Details

July 2020
Technical Note

Digital Platforms: An Introduction

By: Chiara Farronato, Michael W. Toffel and Feng Zhu

Keywords: Technology Industry

June 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Precautionary Principle

By: Michael W. Toffel and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon

This note describes the precautionary principle and its key tenets, highlights challenges associated with its use, and includes many examples of its application, primarily within the realm of regulating activities based on the risk of harm to human health and the... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Health Disorders; Business and Government Relations; Safety; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Teaching Note

Fiji versus FIJI: Negotiating Over Water (TN)

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Keywords: Negotiation; Fiji

Article

How Well Do Social Ratings Actually Measure Corporate Social Responsibility?

By: Aaron K. Chatterji, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel

Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and capabilities influence billions of dollars of "socially responsible" investments as well as some consumers, activists, and potential employees. In one of the first studies to assess these ratings, we examine how... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Effectiveness; Natural Environment; Pollutants

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August 2013
Article

Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices - Appendix

By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder and Michael W. Toffel