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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,025)
- People (1)
- News (307)
- Research (1,422)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (869)
- 2015
- Chapter
Chief Sustainability Officers: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
By: Kathy Miller and George Serafeim
Keywords: Sustainability; Environment; Strategy; Strategy Execution; Corporate Governance; ESG; Organization Design; Change Management; Leadership
Miller, Kathy, and George Serafeim. "Chief Sustainability Officers: Who Are They and What Do They Do?" Chap. 8 in Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective, edited by Rebecca Henderson, Ranjay Gulati, and Michael Tushman. Oxford University Press, 2015.
- February 2008 (Revised November 2015)
- Case
Danaher Corporation
By: Bharat Anand, David J. Collis and Sophie Hood
Between 1985 and 2007, Danaher has been one of the best-performing industrial conglomerates in the U.S. This case examines the corporate strategy of this diversified, global corporation. It describes the firm's portfolio strategy and the Danaher Business System—a... View Details
Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation
Anand, Bharat, David J. Collis, and Sophie Hood. "Danaher Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 708-445, February 2008. (Revised November 2015.)
- 2016
- Book
Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business
By: John A. Quelch
The public health footprint associated with corporate behavior has come under increased scrutiny in the last decade, with an increased expectation that private profit not come at the expense of consumer welfare.
Consumers, Corporations, and Public... View Details
Consumers, Corporations, and Public... View Details
Keywords: Consumer; Corporate Culture; Public Health; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Health; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Supply Chain Management; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Communications Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Distribution Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Tourism Industry; Transportation Industry; Travel Industry; Asia; Oceania; North and Central America; Middle East; Latin America; Europe
Quelch, John A. Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
- 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
Henderson, Rebecca M., and Frederik Nellemann. "Sustainable Tea at Unilever." Harvard Business School Case 712-438, December 2011. (Revised November 2012.)
- Forthcoming
- Article
Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets
By: Khrystyna Bochkay, Jeffrey Hales and George Serafeim
In this paper, we examine how the development of voluntary sustainability standards has affected the nature of information covered in conference calls. Using industry-specific dictionaries of sustainability terms contained in the disclosure standards developed by the... View Details
Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Standards; ESG; ESG Disclosure; Accounting; Corporate Disclosure; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; United States
Bochkay, Khrystyna, Jeffrey Hales, and George Serafeim. "Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets." Review of Accounting Studies (forthcoming). (Pre-published online March 17, 2025.)
- Spring 2018
- Article
The Next Phase of Business Sustainability
By: Andrew J. Hoffman
The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. View Details
Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Trends; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Disclosure
Hoffman, Andrew J. "The Next Phase of Business Sustainability." Stanford Social Innovation Review (Spring 2018): 34–39.
- December 2021
- Case
Bunge: Building a Sustainable Future?
By: Forest Reinhardt, David E. Bell, Pedro Levindo and Ruth Costas
Bunge, one of the world’s leading agribusiness traders and processors, strives to comply with its commitment to having a deforestation-free value chain by 2025 while it considers potential new business growth areas. After a complex turnaround, which involved one of the... View Details
Keywords: Deforestation; Value Chain; Agribusiness; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry
Reinhardt, Forest, David E. Bell, Pedro Levindo, and Ruth Costas. "Bunge: Building a Sustainable Future?" Harvard Business School Case 522-007, December 2021.
- March 2025 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
Good for the Seller, Good for the Buyer and Good for Society: Sampo-yoshi, Sustainability and Trust at ITOCHU
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Bethelehem Y Araya
In 2024, ITOCHU CEO Masahiro Okafuji was at a crossroads. As the thirteenth CEO since ITOCHU’s founding in 1858, he had fueled the company’s growth since 2011 by bringing ITOCHU’s founding philosophy of Sampo-yoshi (good for the seller, good for the buyer and... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Trust; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Japan
Sucher, Sandra J., and Bethelehem Y Araya. "Good for the Seller, Good for the Buyer and Good for Society: Sampo-yoshi, Sustainability and Trust at ITOCHU." Harvard Business School Case 325-053, March 2025. (Revised March 2025.)
- May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
- Case
Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan
Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details
Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India
Bartlett, Christopher A. "Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan." Harvard Business School Case 914-417, May 2014. (Revised March 2017.)
- 2015
- Article
The Nobel Prize: The Identity of a Corporate Heritage Brand
By: Mats Urde and Stephen A. Greyser
Purpose—The purpose of this study is to understand the identity of the Nobel Prize as a corporate heritage brand and its management challenges.
Design/methodology/approach—An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate... View Details
Design/methodology/approach—An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate... View Details
Keywords: Nobel Prize; Brand Stewardship; Corporate Brand Identity; Corporate Heritage Brand; Heritage Brand Identity Process; Networked Brand; Organizations; Brands and Branding
Urde, Mats, and Stephen A. Greyser. "The Nobel Prize: The Identity of a Corporate Heritage Brand." Journal of Product & Brand Management 24, no. 4 (2015): 318–332.
- 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
Villalonga, Belen, Peter Tufano, and Boya Wang. "Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance." Journal of Corporate Finance 91 (April 2025).
- July 2015
- Article
The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations: Analysts' Perceptions and Shifting Institutional Logics
By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
We explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings on sell-side analysts' assessments of firms' future financial performance. We suggest that when analysts perceive CSR as an agency cost, due to the prevalence of an agency logic, they produce... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Analysts; Investment Recommendations; Sustainability; Institutional Logics; Environment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Corporate Governance; United States
Ioannou, Ioannis, and George Serafeim. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations: Analysts' Perceptions and Shifting Institutional Logics." Strategic Management Journal 36, no. 7 (July 2015): 1053–1081.
- August 1996 (Revised January 1999)
- Background Note
Achieving and Sustaining Superior Profits
A basic premise of strategy is that superior profits occur when a corporation secures favorable positions in attractive industries, and pursues economies of scope across business units. This note draws on research that documents the importance of industry, positioning,... View Details
McGahan, Anita M. "Achieving and Sustaining Superior Profits." Harvard Business School Background Note 797-039, August 1996. (Revised January 1999.)
- 01 Apr 2015
- News
Sustainability Reporting: The Lawyer’s Response
- January 2007 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
Amanco: Developing the Sustainability Scorecard
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho
Describes the challenges of using the Balanced Scorecard to implement a triple-bottom-line strategy for delivering excellent economic, environmental, and social performance. The owners and senior executive team of Amanco, a producer of plastic pipe and complete water... View Details
Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Strategy; Construction Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Latin America; Brazil
Kaplan, Robert S., and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho. "Amanco: Developing the Sustainability Scorecard." Harvard Business School Case 107-038, January 2007. (Revised January 2008.)
- 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
Eccles, Robert G., George Serafeim, and Asun Cano-Escoriaza. "Developing the Materiality Matrix at Telefónica." Harvard Business School Case 413-088, December 2012. (Revised October 2013.)
- 11 Feb 2019
- News
Yes, Sustainability Can Be a Strategy
- Research Summary
Conceptualizing and measuring environmental sustainability
This research involves developing clarity around the murky construct of environmental sustainability, and improving techniques to measure corporate environmental performance. My prior research in this domain includes View Details
- July–August 2013
- Article
Building Sustainable Cities
By: John D. Macomber
By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details
Macomber, John D. "Building Sustainable Cities." Harvard Business Review 91, nos. 7/8 (July–August 2013): 40–50.
- 20 Mar 2013
- Research & Ideas
How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals
Michael Beer and his coauthors at the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership, the executives underscored the importance of higher-ambition goals, including engaging with and developing employee and customer commitment, contributing to the community in which they... View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman