Disaster Response - Publications - Faculty & Research

December 2015 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis

By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig

This case highlights the tough choices, competing interests, and decision-making mechanisms involved in California's management of its severe drought, entering its fifth year in 2015. Stuart Woolf, CEO of Woolf Farming, a grower and processor of almonds, tomatoes, and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Natural Disasters; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Economics; Weather; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; California

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Entrepreneurship - Faculty & Research

empowerment, others condemned it as a disaster for the poor. Female empowerment has often been seen as one of the key promises of the industry. In part, this is based on the fact that more than 80% of its poorest clients, i.e., those who... View Details

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Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Entrepreneurship (5) Corporate Finance (12) Corporate Governance (33) Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact (121) Corporate Strategy (97) Cost Accounting (3) Cost Management (9) Cost of Capital (1) Cost vs Benefits (8) Cost (15)... View Details

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Chevrolet Camaros. Rather than make excuses, Barra took responsibility for the problems and went further to attribute them to “GM’s cultural problems.” Three years later, she is well on her way to transforming GM’s moribund,... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

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Leadership - Faculty & Research

kilometers to the south. As a result of nature's onslaught, three of Daini's four reactors lacked sufficient power to achieve cooldown. To prevent the disaster experienced up north, the site superintendent, Naohiro Masuda, and his team... View Details

02 Apr 2020
What Do You Think?

What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis?

outbreaks Climate change and its ensuing environmental, economic and social disasters is the next White Swan.” JSD saw a possible motive behind the debate when he opined that, “In the corporate sector, the continuing effort to brand the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 15

competence—expertise in technology—and its skilled people to accomplish what government and relief agencies could not: an information system and supply chain that tracked and managed the flow of relief supplies. Its efforts were crucial in avoiding the all-too-familiar... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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Effects of Climate Change - Business & Environment

record on Earth [3] . Sea Level Rise By 2050 at least 570 cities and some 800 million people will be exposed to rising seas and storm surges [4] . Extreme Weather Annual weather-related natural disasters (hurricanes, intense rain,... View Details

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

mitigating the risk of contagion. Other examples of this in the past have been less extreme, but include, for example, medical device advancement developed in response to a rise in consumer awareness of radiation risk. We recently... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

01 Mar 2024
News

On the Radar

Illustration by Brian Stauffer Illustration by Brian Stauffer Our planet is teeming with trillions of viruses and bacteria, most of which are innocuous or even helpful, but some pose a significant risk to public health, animals, and crops. In recent decades,... View Details

Keywords: Janine White; Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities; Government

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

question: The data and analysis in the latest IPCC report amplified the reality that climate change is widespread, rapidly intensifying, and attributable to human activity. It also signaled both a responsibility and a real opportunity to... View Details

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Most Accountants Aren’t Crooks—Why Good Audits Go Bad

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, signed into law last July, is the government's response to a series of financial reporting scandals that rocked investors. Among other measures the law offers up stiff criminal penalties for accounting... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore; Accounting; Financial Services

10 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Policy Drivers for Environmental Justice: What Businesses Need to Know

responsibility for cleanup onto the polluters, which should continue to raise funding for cleanup. The IRA also includes permanent tax funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund ($1.1 billion over ten years).[21] This condition... View Details

01 Jan 2011
News

Karen Gordon Mills, MBA 1977

that has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions, and other forms of assistance to small businesses. She leads a team of 3,000 employees who help small businesses across the country. The agency also employs 2,000 on-call staff who... View Details

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

other ways, though, it was a disaster in the making. The company's key facilities management, coaching, people development, and recruiting functions were allowed to atrophy. As the organization grew in size, this neglect became a bigger... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Learning in Action

initial role was to capture lessons from the National Training Centers where troops engage in long, simulated battles to test their readiness and skills. As the Army's mission broadened to include 'operations other than war' such as fire fighting, flood control, and... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

29 Mar 2023
News

Supporting Earthquake Victims in Turkey and Syria

iStock The faculty, students, and staff of Harvard Business School are thinking about the people of Turkey and Syria who were impacted by the recent earthquake. We have all been touched by the loss of life, the hopeful stories of survival, and the rapid View Details

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2024 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

consequences of this move. The rise of a more authoritarian regime in China and a competition narrative began a rethinking of this model. This was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shined a spotlight on the vulnerabilities of extended supply chains to not... View Details

25 Jun 2019
News

After the Storm

It’s fitting that Erik Dyson’s HBS interview was conducted over a pay phone in Costa Rica, where he and his wife, Debbi, were finishing a three-year program for Habitat for Humanity. Now the CEO of the disaster relief organization All... View Details

Keywords: Paul Flannery

05 Feb 2019
News

Protecting the Power Grid

inadequate protection from disasters that occur infrequently and have consequences beyond the routine responsibilities of commercial enterprises. “Resilient societies need deliberate actions for the... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli; terrorism; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

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