Publications

September 2010 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Aspen Skiing Company (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; Aspen

September 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

Aspen Skiing Company (D)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world-renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; Aspen

September 2010 (Revised September 2013)
Supplement

Aspen Skiing Company (C)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; Aspen

September 2010 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Aspen Skiing Company (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Aspen

December 2014
Supplement

Aspen Skiing Company Video Supplement

By: Michael W. Toffel

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Climate Change; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Tourism Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Aspen

February 2023
Article

Climate Solutions Investments

By: Alex Cheema-Fox, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang

An increasing number of companies are providing products and services that help reduce carbon emissions in the economy. We develop a methodology to identify those companies and create a sample of publicly listed climate solutions companies allowing us to study their... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Finance; Climate Impact; Climate Risk; Environment; Sustainability; Carbon Emissions; Electric Vehicles; Energy; Renewables; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Emerging Markets; Investment Portfolio

SSRN

June 2008 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Cook Composites and Polymers Co.

By: Deishin Lee, Michael W. Toffel and Rachel Gordon

This case describes how a company improves resource efficiency and process quality in its manufacturing process by developing a waste by-product into a new product. The case describes how CCP cleans production equipment between batches using styrene, which becomes a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance Efficiency; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry

April 2007
Case

ABN AMRO Bank N.V.: Global Change Agents

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Lance P. Pierce and Ryan Leo Raffaelli

ABN AMRO Global Banking Group developed its risk management function in response to expansion, and increasingly focused on environmental and social risks. The head of the function needed to influence policies and business decisions in a highly decentralized context in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banks and Banking; Expansion; Change; Governing and Advisory Boards; Social Enterprise; Leadership Development; History; Banking Industry; Service Industry; Brazil; India; United States

January 2006 (Revised February 2006)
Case

E.ON Corporate Strategy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Sebastian Frankenberger

Examines the corporate strategy of German energy giant E.ON. The firm is vertically integrated, horizontally diversified across electricity and natural gas, and active in numerous countries in Europe as well as in the United States. Explores the costs and benefits of... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Globalization; Energy Sources; Economics; Energy Industry; Germany; United States; Europe

September 20, 2024
Article

It’s Time to Unbundle ESG

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

ESG is at an inflection point. It has come to represent a broad and inchoate aspiration for what business should be doing beyond maximizing shareholder value. With ESG advocates on the defensive, business leaders need a new roadmap to determine which factors to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; ESG Disclosure; Sustainability; Climate; Climate Finance; Climate Risk; Social Accounting; Investment; Governance; Safety; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

07 Oct 2014
HBS Seminar

Dylan Minor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

John W. Pratt

John W. Pratt is a professor of business administration, emeritus, at Harvard Business School. He was educated at Princeton and Stanford, specializing in mathematics and statistics. Except for two years at the University of Chicago, and a sabbatical in Kyoto on a... View Details

July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Project Helios: Harvesting the Sun

By: Mark Egan and E. Scott Mayfield

Aware of the impact that modern society was having on the environment, Ashley Telkes had always tried to be cognizant of her own impact on the environment and to take reasonable steps to mitigate her own effects. Having already implemented a number of passive measures... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability

June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Sustainability Reporting at Dollar Tree, Inc.

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

The cases discusses the ESG strategy of Dollar Tree Inc., a U.S. Fortune 500 company in the deep discount retail industry and the and shareholder pressure faced by the company. In 2022, the company faced a shareholder resolution from a renowned shareholder advocacy... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Shareholder Activism; Dollar Tree; Sustainability Reporting; ESG Reporting; Board Of Directors; Shareholder Engagement; GHG; Environmental Accounting; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Trends; Communication; Announcements; Voting; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Reports; Business or Company Management; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Strategic Planning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Public Opinion; Strategy; Adaptation; Alignment; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Retail Industry; United States; Virginia

September 1992 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Acid Rain: The Southern Co. (B)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

In addition to the issues of expected cost minimization elucidated in Acid Rain: The Southern Co. (A), problems involving regulatory uncertainty are critical to the firm's Clean Air Act compliance strategy. The regulatory uncertainty affects, and is affected by, the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Business Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Cost vs Benefits; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategic Planning; Investment Return; Government Legislation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business and Government Relations; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United States

2021
Case

Walmart's Blockchain Quest: Integrating New Technology into a Complex Supply Chain

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Blockchain is a digital, distributed, immutable ledger designed to build trust among parties without requiring an independent, third-party arbitrator or intermediary. The technology has potential to improve a variety of industries, including the complex, fragmented,... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Supply Chain Management; Technology Adoption

January 1999
Case

Ciba Specialty Chemicals

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Based on extensive interviews, this case discusses the environmental policies of a successful firm in the specialty chemicals business. Executives at Ciba have differentiated products along environmental lines and have used environmental scrutiny as a tool for cutting... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Chemical Industry