Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(733)
- Faculty Publications (137)
- 2016
- Working Paper
Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard
By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger
This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details
- June 2016 (Revised January 2018)
- Case
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell
Nearly all environmental organizations have a similar aim: to stop the degradation of the natural environment. However, the strategies that environmental organizations choose to employ are sometimes starkly different. This case compares the models of two dissimilar... View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
Entrepreneurs and the Co-Creation of Ecotourism in Costa Rica
By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora
Between the 1970s and the 2000s, Costa Rica became established as the world’s leading ecotourism destination. This working paper suggests that although Costa Rica benefited from biodiversity and a pleasant climate, the country’s preeminence in ecotourism requires more... View Details
- 2016
- Article
The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence, and Exceptions
By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin
The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical dependencies in the work being performed. This article presents a unified picture of... View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions
By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin
The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the work being performed. A thorough understanding of the... View Details
Keywords: Modularity; Innovation; Product And Process Development; Organization Design; Design Structure; Organizational Ties; Mirroring Hypothesis; Industry Architecture; Product Architecture; Complex Technical Systems; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Product Development
- April 2016
- Teaching Note
Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb
By: John Gourville and Michael Norris
This case is taught as part of the first year required marketing course in the Harvard Business School's MBA program. This course is built around the "Four Ps," with modules focusing on product, promotion, place, and pricing. The Cree case is used in the product policy... View Details
- Article
Tracking the Changing Feature of a Moving Object
By: Julian De Freitas, Nicholas E. Myers and Anna C. Nobre
The mind can track not only the changing locations of moving objects, but also their changing features, which are often meaningful for guiding action. How does the mind track such features? Using a task in which observers tracked the changing orientation of a rolling... View Details
- January 2016
- Teaching Note
Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
This case examines a start-up service provider that helps clients improve the energy efficiency of their factories, warehouses, and commercial and office spaces by integrating and installing lighting, heating, and cooling technologies. The company seeks to double... View Details
- January 2016 (Revised October 2016)
- Case
Saudi Aramco and Corporate Venture Capital
By: Joseph B. Fuller, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Nathaniel Burbank
Saudi Aramco launched an internal venture capital arm in 2011, which promptly became the world's largest investor in energy related startups. In choosing to proceed, the company's New Business Development unit (NPD) wrestled with a number of challenges. How should the... View Details
- 2015
- Case
Advanced Leadership Pathways: Torsten Thiele and the Global Ocean Trust
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Brian Hoffstein
Following a successful career in finance, Torsten Thiele devoted himself full-time to the challenging cause of ocean conservation and stewardship. In August 2015, Thiele had already come a long way in spearheading initiatives towards the protection of the ocean: from... View Details
- March 24, 2015
- Article
Starbucks' 'Race Together' Campaign and the Upside of CEO Activism
By: Aaron Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
When Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz asked his baristas to engage customers in a discussion about race in America, it was a clear case of the growing trend of "CEO activism." Despite the criticism of that particular initiative, CEO activism—from Shultz to Chick-Fil-A's... View Details
- September 2014 (Revised April 2016)
- Case
Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb
By: John Gourville and Michael Norris
Cree, a North Carolina-based maker of light emitting diodes (LEDs), has just introduced its first consumer product—an LED light bulb. It is designed as an energy efficient replacement for the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb. But given that it is an unfamiliar... View Details
- April 2014 (Revised February 2015)
- Case
Saudi Arabia: Finding Stability after the Arab Spring
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Hilary White
In 2015, King Salman of Saudi Arabia was juggling several balls as the kingdom's new monarch. At home, there were pressures for liberalization, from women and youth, and pressures for more conservative religious observance and policy from the Muslim "ulema." His... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
Waste, Recycling and Entrepreneurship in Central and Northern Europe, 1870–1940
By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora
This working paper examines the role of entrepreneurs in the municipal solid waste industry in industrialized central and northern Europe from the late nineteenth century to the 1940s. It explores the emergence of numerous German, Danish, and other European... View Details
- November 2013 (Revised January 2015)
- Case
Obamacare
By: Matthew Weinzierl and Katrina Flanagan
One vote in June, 2012, decided the fate of President Barack Obama's crowning first-term achievement: universal health insurance. Chief Justice John Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court cast the deciding vote to uphold the keystone of the reform: the mandate to purchase... View Details
- August 2013 (Revised January 2016)
- Case
Sustainability at Siemens
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Emer Moloney
Describes sustainability efforts at Siemens since arrival of Chief Sustainability Officer, Barbara Kux, in 2008. Asks students to evaluate success of those efforts and outline what the company should do going forward. View Details
- Summer 2013
- Response
How Caesars Entertainment Is Betting on Sustainability: Response
One of the largest gaming companies in the world expanded its sustainability efforts using a scorecard to guide and goad managers. This response assesses Caesars Entertainment's CodeGreen scorecard, advocates a more comprehensive environmental assessment to target... View Details
- 1 Apr 2013
- Interview
Restoring U.S. Competitiveness: Professor Michael Porter in an interview with Charlie Rose
"There is an historic opportunity right now for business and government to work together [to restore U.S. competitiveness]." Professor Porter discusses the eight federal policy priorities that business leaders and policymakers, liberals and conservatives agree will... View Details
- February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
- Case
Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details
Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston