Publications

Research Summary

Conceptualizing and measuring environmental sustainability

By: Michael W. Toffel

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

Research Summary

Corporate Diplomacy

Michael Watkins is defining a top management function of increasing importance: the conduct of corporate diplomacy. Senior executives conduct the business equivalent of international diplomacy when they negotiate to sustain or transform relationships with influential... View Details

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

Keywords: Competition; Profit

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

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

2022
Chapter

Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research

By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre

Though workers face a series of critical challenges in contemporary work organizations, they are often overlooked in conversations about sustainable business. In this chapter, we argue that prioritizing the rights and well-being of workers is a core dimension of... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Employees; Well-being; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Structure; Social Issues

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

Find at Harvard

January 2012 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Dow Chemical: Innovating for Sustainability

Dow Chemical is one of the few major American industrial corporations that was founded in the late 19th century that is still in existence. From its origins producing bromine out of the brine underneath Midland, Michigan, the company has evolved from a diversified... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry

March 2003 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Sustainable Development at Shell (A)

Describes the complex and challenging process by which social and environmental concerns are integrated into the existing strategy of a large, multinational firm. Details the circumstances leading up to a large-scale effort to transform Shell's strategy to take into... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry

04 Dec 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Pathways to Materiality: How Sustainability Issues Become Financially Material to Corporations and Their Investors

Keywords: by Jean Rogers and George Serafeim

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

Keywords: Growth Management; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; City

Find at Harvard

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nestle: Sustainable Agriculture Initiative

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Swiss food giant Nestle attempts to improve the performance of its suppliers of agricultural commodities to raise quality, lower costs, and contribute to sustainable development. Its initiatives focus first on coffee, cocoa, and milk. Nestle managers assert that the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy; Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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

Teaching Interest

Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

By: Andy Wu

In the fight for market leadership, your company must be able to build a winning strategy—and execute it seamlessly across multiple business lines. This program prepares you to identify and exploit sources of competitive advantage and implement game-changing... View Details

August 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Driving Sustainability at Bloomberg L.P.

By: Christopher Marquis, Daniel Beunza, Fabrizio Ferraro and Bobbi Thomason

Describes the addition of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance indicators to the Bloomberg terminal. The initiative grew out of Bloomberg's broader sustainability initiatives and is an example of how committed employees can create positive social... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Dissemination; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

August 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Danaher Corporation (Abridged)

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; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy

March 2003 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Sustainable Development at Shell (B)

The case describes the complex and challenging process by which social and environmental concerns are integrated into the existing strategy of a large, multinational firm. This case focuses on a specific business within Shell Chemicals, the Close Looped Cleaning... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry

2016
Working Paper

Does Firm Innovation Affect Corporate Social Responsibility?

By: Rui Shen, Yi Tang and Ying Zhang

This study examines the relationship between firm innovation and CSR. Stakeholders’ concern over transaction-specific investments exacerbates when firms engage heavily in innovation activities. To secure stakeholders’ support, firms adopt CSR effectively as an ex ante... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Firm Innovation; Transaction-specific Investments; Firm Risk; Environmental Munificence; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Innovation and Invention