Publications

2015
Chapter

The Role of Multiplier Firms and Megaprojects in Leading Change for Sustainability

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Martine Haas, John D. Macomber and Tiona Zuzul

In both the private and public sectors, organizations around the world face increasingly pressing questions about how to stimulate and manage change for long-term environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the roles... View Details

Keywords: Blueprint Logic; Learning Logic; Megaprojects; Multiplier Firms; Leading Change; Environmental Sustainability

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January 2022
Article

Why is Corporate Virtue in the Eye of The Beholder? The Case of ESG Ratings

By: Dane Christensen, George Serafeim and Anywhere Sikochi

Despite the rising use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, there is substantial disagreement across rating agencies regarding what rating to give to individual firms. As what drives this disagreement is unclear, we examine whether a firm’s ESG... View Details

Keywords: ESG Ratings; Rating Agency Disagreement; ESG Disclosure; Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Disclosure

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March 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Allianz Türkiye: Adapting to Climate Change

By: John D. Macomber and Fares Khrais

Allianz Turkey is a property casualty insurance company operating in a region experiencing increasing losses from natural catastrophe events related to climate change, for example hail, wildfire, and flooding. There are also substantial other natural catastrophe... View Details

Keywords: Insurance And Reinsurance; Natural Disasters; Turkey; Insurance; Climate Change; Analytics and Data Science; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; Turkey

Web

Continuing Education - Business & Environment

and learn how to incorporate them into investment decisions and measure and manage their impact. Power and Influence for Positive Impact Online Understand how power really works and develop your own to gain influence and make an impact... View Details

04 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

Chombosan Much promotion of smart cities assumes that municipalities will take a proactive, top-down, technology-first approach to urban progress. Thus far, these initiatives look for some forward-thinking city official (or immensely deep-pocketed private investor) to... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Green Technology

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

Programs By: Hanson, Samuel G., David S. Scharfstein, and Adi Sunderam Abstract—We develop a model of government portfolio choice in which a benevolent government chooses the scale of risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. These two... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

28 Jan 2020
Book

Advanced Leadership Requires More Than Outside-The-Box Thinking

ever seen before that challenges conventional wisdom and poses new approaches to big social or environmental issues. Leaders must continuously make adjustments, review premises, bring the flexibility to pivot if necessary, and find the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

Accounting for Carbon Offsets – Establishing the Foundation for Carbon-Trading Markets

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Marc Roston

Tackling climate change requires reductions in current and future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the removal of existing GHG from the atmosphere. Carbon-offset producers purport to provide such removals. But poor measurement practices and inadequate controls... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Offsetting; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Corporate Accountability

SSRN

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12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

the Use of Unverifiable Estimates in Required Goodwill Impairment Authors:Karthik Ramanna and Ross L. Watts Publication:Review of Accounting Studies (forthcoming) Abstract SFAS 142 requires managers to estimate the current fair value of... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

13 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 13, 2010

Management Series. Oxford University Press, 2010 An abstract is unavailable at this time. Purchase the Book: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199552863.do Shadow of the Contract: How Contract Structure Shapes Inter-Firm Dispute... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Innovation Labs: Where Passion and Purpose Meet

Heinz Professor of Management Practice in Environmental Management, Retired, and Srikant Datar, the George F. Baker Professor of Administration and Dean of the Faculty, served as faculty chairs. This... View Details

December 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Sustainable Tea at Unilever

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Frederik Nellemann

Unilever's Lipton Tea had been successful with the first phase of its certification partnership with Rainforest Alliance. Now the company faced challenges in how to push forward with the transformation of more difficult parts of the supply chain and how to market... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

May 2013
Article

The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

By now most companies have sustainability programs. They're cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a strategy must address... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Innovation; Environment; Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility; Governance; Strategy; Value; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention

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January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

TPG Rise Climate: Deploying 'Climate Capital'

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, David Allen, Sarah Mehta and Shannon Roche

This case is about TPG Rise Climate, a $7.3 billion climate impact fund launched in 2021 by alternative asset manager TPG. Climate investing is a complex, capital-intensive endeavor; entering it has forced TPG to think and act differently. Relative to other funds, Rise... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Environmental Management; Ownership; Science; Value; Asset Management; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; California; San Francisco; New York (city, NY)

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Helsinki, Finland

By: Martin A. Sinozich, Lena Duchene, Tonia Labruyere and Daniela Beyersdorfer

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Finland. It highlights Finland's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2024 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Foreign Direct Investment; Crisis Management; Culture; Environmental Sustainability; International Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Finland; Europe

2022
Chapter

Sustainability Science and Corporate Cleanup in Community Fields: The Translation, Resistance and Integration Process Model

By: P. Devereaux Jennings, Maggie Cascadden and Andrew J. Hoffman

Both practically and theoretically, the sustainability science and corporate operation perspectives often diverge. Overcoming this divergence requires some degree of engagement with organizational field members; not just negotiation, but on-the-ground process work to... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business Processes; Science-Based Business; Research

04 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 4

launch were disappointing, and the joint venture's managers had to decide how to respond. The case includes information on the structure of the industry, on government regulation, and on the preferences of Chinese purchasers of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Plug Power (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

Set immediately after a December 2019 short-seller attack, the case explores Plug Power’s long challenging history. It then focuses on two key issues raised in the short-seller report related to lease accounting and stock warrants that Plug purportedly used to boost... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Environmental Accounting; Financial Reporting; Ethics; Management; Social Enterprise; Investment; Stocks; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Europe