Natural Disasters - Publications - Faculty & Research

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

of stories about social entrepreneurs, political entrepreneurs, and others whom we study in business schools—investors, capitalists, and so on. Q: What's different about entrepreneurship in both countries? A: The extent and type of government involvement and the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 8, 2018

beyond addressing the immediate need for shelters and adopt a more holistic development plan? How should they acquire technical expertise and organize themselves to successfully execute this effort? The case focuses on how businesses can drive entrepreneurship and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

budget of $2 million. Together they must develop a joint plan for how the money should be spent. Purchase this exercise: http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=909040 Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Jun 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How One Insurtech Firm Formulated a Strategy for Climate Change

Keywords: Re: Lauren H. Cohen; Insurance

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

have to be applied more selectively, depending on such things as the industry, the nature of competition, and the speed with which a particular organization's environment is changing. And there is a question about whether a sufficient... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

employees. They know who they will not serve, businesses they will not be in, and activities they will not engage. They do not pursue profit for its own sake if it means getting into areas that are outside their defined distinctive capabilities. The View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

doesn't stand still and it's natural for companies to fall out of alignment with achievement of key objectives. Too often, leaders don't realize how off-track they are until serious damage has been done to the business or the firm's... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

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

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

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

financial disasters we've witnessed began as minor errors of judgment and escalated into corruption.— Bazerman, Loewenstein, and Moore Escalation. It's natural for people to conceal or explain away minor... View Details

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

March 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Rick McCathron, CEO of Hippo, considered how the firm’s underwriting model could account for the effects of climate change. Along with providing smart home packages, targeting risk-friendly customers, and using data-driven pricing, the Insurtech used technologically... View Details

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Educators

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround

shores which nature has decreed to be most vital to our national safety, not to mention our prosperity." Q: You describe the US involvement in the construction and administration of the Panama Canal as a "successful American... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Transportation

07 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Who Pays For Wildfire and Hurricane Damage? Everyone.

New Mexico homeowners might think their inland location buffers them from the financial toll of climate change, but they’re still paying for climate-related property damage occurring in coastal states. New research finds that homeowners in New Mexico and other states... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Insurance

January 2020
Background Note

Climate Change in 2020: Implications for Business

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert and Mariana Oseguera

This note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Included is an overview of climate change science and a number of its impacts, including rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and extreme weather, pressure on water... View Details

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January 2013
Supplement

The Great East Japan Earthquake (D): Lawson's Response

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi, Victor Stone, Samer Abughannam, Sebastien D'Incau, Jonathan Driscoll, Katharine Hill and Jeffrey Reynolds

CEO Niinami Takeshi (HBS '91) stared out his corner office window as the Tokyo skyscrapers swayed and the concrete trembled. He was in the midst of the largest seismic event to hit Japan in recorded history. Lawson's managers understood earthquake response. They had... View Details

Keywords: East Japan; Earthquake; Lawson's; Natural Disasters; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Japan

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06 Nov 2012
Op-Ed

Stop Talking About the Weather and Do Something: Three Ways to Finance Sustainable Cities

The wrath of Hurricane Sandy has illuminated a fundamental question: How do we ensure that our cities are resilient in the face of inevitable future disasters? A destroyed city is not a sustainable city. I'm making the case that it's time to stop complaining about... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

September 2006
Article

In the Eye of the Storm

By: Dutch Leonard and Arnold M. Howitt

Keywords: Natural Disasters

Citation

2007
Chapter

Against Desperate Peril: High Performance in Emergency Preparation and Response

By: Herman B. Leonard

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Performance Efficiency

Citation

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

Business is about making money, not measuring macho. The scrap heap of business disasters is littered with managers whose ego drive overwhelmed good business sense. Founder and former chief executive Ray Noorda had a wonderful business in... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

August 2011
Supplement

InnoCentive.com (C)

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Eric Lonstein

InnoCentive.com enables clients to tap into internal and external solver networks to address various business issues. This case focuses on the outcome of InnoCentive's decision to post challenges related to environmental issues created by the Gulf Oil Spill. It reviews... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Networks; Decisions; Outcome or Result; Pollutants; Natural Disasters; Natural Environment; Japan

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April 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Great East Japan Earthquake (A)

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi and Victor Stone

At 2:46pm on March 11th, 2011, a 9.0M earthquake shook the Tohoku (Northeastern) region of Japan. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the coastal waters of Tohoku and reverberations from the quake triggered a tsunami that ravaged the coastal shores of Eastern Japan.... View Details

Keywords: Japan; Earthquake; Tohoku; Tsunami; Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Facility; Natural Disasters; Japan

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