Publications

April 2025
Article

Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance

By: Belen Villalonga, Peter Tufano and Boya Wang

Using a sample of 3083 firms from 62 countries over 18 years, we analyze how the structure and identity of firms' material owners influence their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. We find that firms with founding families or other individual... View Details

Keywords: ESG; CSR; Family Firms; Social Responsibility; Environment; Sustainability; Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Governance; Environmental Sustainability

September 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Gun Safety in America: Three Leaders Propose Innovative Solutions

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joseph Paul

Gun violence was a significant problem in America. Three Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellows Christy Wood, Russell Sternlicht, and Gareth Glaser each decided to do something about gun safety. They each used their professional and leadership experience to... View Details

Article

Accounting for Climate Change

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna

Corporations are facing growing pressure—from investors, advocacy groups, politicians, and even business leaders themselves—to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their operations and their supply and distribution chains. About 90% of the companies in the S&P... View Details

Keywords: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation; Social Accounting; E-liabilities; Business And The Environment; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

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September 20, 2004
Comment

How Consumers Value Global Brands

By: Douglas Holt, John A. Quelch and Earl L. Taylor

In 2002, we carried out a two-stage research project in partnership with the market research company Research International/USA to find out how consumers in different countries value global brands. First, we conducted a qualitative study in forty-one countries to... View Details

Keywords: Global Brands; Brand Value; Multi-national Brands; Social Responsibility; Global Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

August 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Supplement

Rana Plaza (C): Primark and Victim Compensation

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Keywords: Labor Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability; International Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Marketing; Labor Unions; Environmental Sustainability; Globalized Markets and Industries

29 Jan 2020
News

Study: How Schmoozing Helps Men Get Ahead

June 2020
Teaching Note

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note provides guidance for teaching the case “Generation Investment Management” (820-033), which looks at the challenges facing a sustainable investment firm. View Details

21 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Building a Better World: The Harvard Builders Club

Amid the greatest economic, geopolitical, and social uncertainty in years, there is one thing we can be sure about – real value creation and innovation are enduring. This is why we founded the Harvard Builders Club, an alumni community... View Details

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Mobility; Strategy; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; XPRIZE; Space Industry; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

July 2022
Article

Mental Health During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Recommendations for Moving Forward

By: Lara Aknin, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Elizabeth Dunn, Daisy Fancourt, Elkhonon Goldberg, John Helliwell, Sarah P. Jones, Elie Karam, Richard Layard, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Andrew Rzepa, Shekhar Saxena, Emily Thornton, Tyler VanderWeele, Ashley V. Whillans, Jamil Zaki, Ozge Karadag Caman and Yanis Ben Amour

COVID-19 has infected millions of people and upended the lives of most humans on the planet. Researchers from across the psychological sciences have sought to document and investigate the impact of COVID-19 in myriad ways, causing an explosion of research that is broad... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental Health; Psychological Distress; Subjective Well-being; Lonelines; Social Connection; Self-harm; Suicide; Health Pandemics; Well-being

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01 Jun 2023
News

Action Plan: Net Proceeds

says. “My heroes are the waste pickers, the brands and consumers making better choices, and the companies working on alternatives to petroleum-based plastics. I am simply a guide to help inform people so they can become the heroes of their own stories.” How to: Reduce... View Details

Keywords: April White; recycling; corporate social responsibility; waste management; water; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

May 2012 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Maersk Line and the Future of Container Shipping

By: Forest Reinhardt, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Frederik Nellemann

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Supply And Demand; Environment; Commodity; Natural Environment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Advantage; Shipping Industry

09 Apr 2024
Book

Why Work Rituals Bring Teams Together and Create More Meaning

discuss them or not, rituals are ubiquitous in all kinds of social occasions, from celebrating birthdays to paying respects to the dead. Couples often have rituals too—from setting the dinner table together every night to going grocery... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Article

Sustainability, Business, and Health

By: George Serafeim, Amanda M. Rischbieth and Howard K. Koh

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has demonstrated that response demands involvement from every sector of society. As a major example, some businesses have stepped up in ways previously unimaginable. Garment companies have repurposed production to face... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19; Sustainability; Health And Wellness; Corporate Social Responsibility; Health Pandemics; Health; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Accountability; Health Care and Treatment

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February 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Supplement

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (B)

By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

December 2012 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Developing the Materiality Matrix at Telefónica

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Asun Cano-Escoriaza

Telefónica, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world and headquartered in Spain, has been issuing a corporate sustainability report since 2002. In its 2011 Sustainability report, the company included a "materiality matrix," and was one of only five... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainable Strategy; CSR; Corporate Social Responsibility; Communication Technology; Environmental Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Telecommunications Industry; Spain