Publications

Article

Four Things No One Will Tell You About ESG Data

By: Sakis Kotsantonis and George Serafeim

As the ESG finance field and the use of ESG data in investment decision-making continue to grow, the authors seek to shed light on several important aspects of ESG measurement and data. This article is intended to provide a useful guide for the rapidly rising number of... View Details

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30 Nov 2017
News

Law, Management, and Strategy: Collapsing Boundaries and Managing the Interstices

May 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Japan: "Free, Fair, and Global?"

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Stephen E. Lynagh

In April 1998, Prime Minister Hashimoto faced serious problems, both with his program of six systemic reforms and with his fiscal policy. Japan had been in effective recession for six years, unable to retain the miracle-growth achieved in earlier decades. Hashimoto has... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Development Economics; Social Issues; Policy; Economy; Government Administration; Financial Crisis; Japan

2021
Working Paper

The Green Bonding Hypothesis: How Do Green Bonds Enhance the Credibility of Environmental Commitments?

By: Shirley Lu

This paper proposes and provides evidence on a green bonding hypothesis, where green bonds act as a commitment device that subjects firms to institutions holding them accountable to their environmental promises. I find that green-bond issuers face higher climate change... View Details

Keywords: Bonding Hypothesis; Sustainable Finance; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Bonds; Corporate Accountability

SSRN

July 2020
Case

Kathy Fish at Procter & Gamble: Navigating Industry Disruption by Disrupting from Within

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

When Kathy Fish, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer, and a 40-year company veteran, stepped into her role in 2014, she was concerned that the world’s leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady... View Details

Keywords: Female Protagonist; Organizational Change; Organizational Behavior; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Lean Startup; Experimentation; Metrics; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

2019
Working Paper

Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Environmental Sustainability. Past Roads and Future Prospects

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist, Shawn A. Cole, John Ehrenfeld, Andrew A. King and Auden Schendler

This working paper examines key barriers to business sustainability discussed at a multidisciplinary conference held at the Harvard Business School in 2018. Drawing on perspectives from both the historical and business literatures, speakers debated the historical... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Problems and Challenges; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Opportunities

12 Feb 2025
Blog Post

How risk can be the key to a sustainable future with Sophie Levin (MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences 2022)

leaders I most admired often had interdisciplinary backgrounds. Around the same time, I realized I wanted to explore new industries and expand my skill set. HBS’s focus on leadership and its commitment to... View Details

2022
Working Paper

The Need for Speed: The Impact of Capital Constraints on Strategic Misconduct

By: F. Christopher Eaglin

Under what conditions do firms engage in strategic misconduct? Why do they undertake actions that increase profitability yet break laws or violate strong norms often with costly consequences for public welfare? The strategic management literature offers two external... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Capital Constraints; Organizations; Crime and Corruption; Behavior; Situation or Environment; Capital

January 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Colbún and Chile’s Energy Transition

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In May 2023, Colbún, Chile’s second-largest electricity generator, plans capacity expansions using renewable energy and storage. This strategy supports Chile’s commitment to carbon neutrality (also known as net zero emissions) by 2050. The case delves into the... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Infrastructure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Latin America; South America; Chile

2020
Working Paper

Venture Capitalists and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Will Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan and Ilya A. Strebulaev

We survey over 1,000 institutional and corporate venture capitalists (VCs) at more than 900 different firms to learn how their decisions and investments have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We compare their survey answers to those provided by a large sample of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Health Pandemics; Investment; Decision Making; Surveys

30 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger; Apparel & Accessories; Retail

16 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Alumni Career Journey: Sophie Levin (MS/MBA 2022) - How Risk Can Be the Key to a Sustainable Future

leaders I most admired often had interdisciplinary backgrounds. Around the same time, I realized I wanted to explore new industries and expand my skill set. HBS’s focus on leadership and its commitment to... View Details

January 2013
Article

Payout Taxes and the Allocation of Investment

When corporate payout is taxed, internal equity (retained earnings) is cheaper than external equity (share issues). If there are no perfect substitutes for equity finance, payout taxes may therefore have an effect on the investment of firms. High taxes will favor... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Investment; Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation

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When corporate payout is taxed, internal equity (retained earnings) is cheaper than external equity (share issues). If there are no perfect substitutes for equity finance, payout taxes may therefore have an effect on the investment of firms. High taxes... View Details

February 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Honda Innovations: Leveraging External Insights to Accelerate Creation

By: Antonio Davila

Nick Sugimoto, CEO of Honda Innovations—the open innovation organization of Honda, has to decide how to extend his organization’s approach to innovation across the world. Honda Innovations dates back to 2000 when Honda created Honda Research Institute in Silicon... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Radical Innovation; Corporate Venturing; Corporate Innovation; Organization Structure; Management Control; Business Units; Disruption; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Auto Industry; San Francisco; Japan

2012
Working Paper

Payout Taxes and the Allocation of Investment

When corporate payout is taxed, internal equity (retained earnings) is cheaper than external equity (share issues). If there are no perfect substitutes for equity finance, payout taxes may therefore have an effect on the investment of firms. High taxes will favor... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Taxation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Frank Jerome LaNasa and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice 2013 AL Fellow, 2014 Senior AL Fellow
Two years after the formation of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), a national affiliation of four independent Asian American civil rights groups, Paul Lee, who... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Asian; Asian Americans; Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Civil Rights; Asian Law Caucus; Asian Pacific American Legal Center; Asian American Institute; Asian American Justice Center; Immigration Issues; Immigration Reform; Affirmative Action; Coalition; Asian American Activism; Japanese; Chinese; Korean; Indian; Pakistani; Hmong; Cambodian; Laotians; Filipino; Vietnamese; Pacific Islanders; Ethnic Group; Model Minority; Anti-asian Prejudice; Pan-asian; Discrimination; Immigrants; Immigration Acts; Alien Land Laws; Sei Fujii; Naturalize; Interracial; Immigration And Nationality Act Of 1965; Refugees; War; Warfare; Vincent Chin; Bigotry; Chinatown; Boston; Social Impact; Asian American Lawyers Association; National Asian Pacific Bar Association; Asian Community Development Corporation; Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence; Southeast Asia; Mee Moua; Change Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Rights; Immigration; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Society; North and Central America

November 2021
Article

Venture Capitalists and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Will Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan and Ilya A. Strebulaev

We survey over 1,000 institutional and corporate venture capitalists (VCs) at more than 900 different firms to learn how their decisions and investments have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We compare their survey answers to those provided by a large sample of... View Details

Keywords: Investment Decisions; COVID-19 Pandemic; Impact; Health Pandemics; Venture Capital; Investment; Decision Making; Surveys