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- All HBS Web
(770)
- People (1)
- News (103)
- Research (606)
- Events (2)
- Multimedia (1)
- Faculty Publications (336)
- November 2023 (Revised February 2025)
- Background Note
Corporate Climate Targets
By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter
Companies that are addressing climate change by mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions often set reduction targets. This note describes several types of widely used carbon reduction targets, including carbon neutral, science based, net zero, real zero, and carbon... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Environmental Strategy; Climate Risk; Target-setting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Shih, Willy C., Michael W. Toffel, and Kelsey Carter. "Corporate Climate Targets." Harvard Business School Background Note 624-041, November 2023. (Revised February 2025.)
- January 2023
- Case
EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits
By: George Serafeim
Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details
Keywords: Carbon Credits; Carbon Emissions; Growth; Business Analysis; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Valuation; Climate Change; Accounting; Valuation; Transition; Renewable Energy; Analysis; Product Positioning; India
Serafeim, George. "EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits." Harvard Business School Case 123-060, January 2023.
- February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
- Case
ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A)
By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg
Climate change was becoming an important societal and business issue as more governments were introducing climate change related regulations and investors became increasibly worried about stranded assets within oil and gas firms. In September 2016, the U.S. Securities... View Details
Keywords: Oil & Gas; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Asset Impairment; Predictive Analytics; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Innovation; Disclosure; Accounting; Valuation; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Reporting; Energy Industry
Serafeim, George, Shiva Rajgopal, and David Freiberg. "ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 117-046, February 2017. (Revised June 2017.)
- 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).
- March 2015 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Shanghai: GDP Apostasy
By: George Serafeim
Balancing economic growth alongside environmental sustainability and social inclusion was becoming increasingly important in China. The case describes Shanghai's decision to abandon growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as its primary metric of measuring success.... View Details
Keywords: China; Gdp; Measurement; Measurement Problems; Accountability; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Strategy Execution; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Map; Macroeconomics; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Corporate Governance; Shanghai
Serafeim, George, Rebecca Henderson, and David Freiberg. "Shanghai: GDP Apostasy." Harvard Business School Case 115-042, March 2015. (Revised February 2017.)
- December 2022
- Technical Note
Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework
By: George Serafeim
The transition to a low carbon economy introduces many risks and opportunities for businesses. Risks emerge from regulatory actions, such as carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, technological innovation that develop alternatives for customers making existing... View Details
Keywords: Risk Assessment; Opportunities; Environmental Sustainability; Carbon Footprint; Risk Management; Competitive Dynamics; Business Analysis; Climate Change; Accounting; Finance; Valuation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technological Innovation; Transition; Product Positioning; Renewable Energy; Analysis
Serafeim, George. "Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework." Harvard Business School Technical Note 123-014, December 2022.
- March 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?
By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Youssef Abdel Aal
The case follows Ziad Abi Chaker, founder and CEO of Cedar Environmental, as he weighs options for how to grow the company in the face of growing economic and political instability in Lebanon in 2019.
Founded after the Lebanese civil war, Cedar... View Details
Founded after the Lebanese civil war, Cedar... View Details
Keywords: Waste Management; Recycling; Corruption; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Business And Government; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Pollution; Entrepreneurship; Business and Government Relations; Crime and Corruption; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Corporate Accountability; Green Technology Industry; Middle East; Lebanon
Hsieh, Nien-hê, and Youssef Abdel Aal. "Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?" Harvard Business School Case 321-114, March 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- March 2016 (Revised April 2019)
- Technical Note
ESG Metrics: Reshaping Capitalism?
By: George Serafeim
In the past twenty-five years, the world had seen an exponential growth in the number of companies reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Investor interest in ESG data also grew rapidly. A growing belief that increasing levels of social inequality... View Details
Keywords: Capitalism; Sustainability; Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Responsibilities To Society; Environment; Social Impact Investment; ESG; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Measurement and Metrics; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Economic Systems
Serafeim, George, and Jody Grewal. "ESG Metrics: Reshaping Capitalism?" Harvard Business School Technical Note 116-037, March 2016. (Revised April 2019.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
Cost-Efficient Decarbonization of Portland Cement Production
By: Gunther Glenk, Anton Kelnhofer, Rebecca Meier and Stefan Reichelstein
Accounting for nearly 8% of global annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the cement industry is considered difficult to decarbonize. While a sizeable number of abatement levers for Portland cement production is becoming technologically ready for deployment, many are... View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Carbon Abatement; Carbon Accounting; Carbon Emissions; Carbon Regulation; Carbon Tax; Net-zero Emissions; Management; Environmental Management; Sustainable Cities; Accounting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Environmental Accounting; Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Construction Industry; Steel Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Real Estate Industry; Consulting Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Utilities Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Europe; North America; South America; Africa; Asia
Glenk, Gunther, Anton Kelnhofer, Rebecca Meier, and Stefan Reichelstein. "Cost-Efficient Decarbonization of Portland Cement Production." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-025, October 2023. (TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series, No. 120, May 2023.)
- April 2024 (Revised October 2024)
- Case
New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Michael Norris
In 2023, Colorado-based craft brewery New Belgium Brewing was considering how best to meet its emissions reduction targets. After decades of growth, the beermaker had grown to become one of the largest craft brewers in the U.S., and was purchased in 2019 by Japanese... View Details
Keywords: Beer; Carbon Accounting; Carbon Credits; Operation Management; Renewable Energy; Supply Chain; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Colorado
Toffel, Michael W., Kenneth P. Pucker, and Michael Norris. "New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change." Harvard Business School Case 624-069, April 2024. (Revised October 2024.)
- February 2020 (Revised February 2022)
- Case
Sustainable Product Management at Solvay
By: George Serafeim, Vincent Dessain and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej
In November 2019, Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, a Belgian specialty chemicals and advanced materials group, with annual revenues of more than €10 billion in 2018, announced the group’s mid-term strategy, eight months after she took the helm as Solvay’s 11th CEO. The case... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Sustainability Management; Sustainable Development; Management Accounting; Innovation; Carbon Emissions; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Targets; Target-setting; Product; Management; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Europe; Belgium
Serafeim, George, Vincent Dessain, and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej. "Sustainable Product Management at Solvay." Harvard Business School Case 120-081, February 2020. (Revised February 2022.)
- December 15, 2023
- Article
What Every Leader Needs to Know About Carbon Credits
By: Varsha Ramesh Walsh and Michael W. Toffel
Many companies have begun to look into credits to offset their emissions as a way to support their net zero goals as their target years get closer and closer. As it stands, the carbon credit market is too small to bear the brunt of reducing companies’ impacts on the... View Details
Keywords: Carbon Credits; Climate; Accounting; Carbon Offsetting; Carbon Abatement; Carbon Emissions; Carbon Footprint; Climate Change; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Regulation
Ramesh Walsh, Varsha, and Michael W. Toffel. "What Every Leader Needs to Know About Carbon Credits." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (December 15, 2023).
- July 2021
- Article
Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness
By: Jody Grewal, Clarissa Hauptmann and George Serafeim
As part of the SEC’s revision of Regulation S-K, many investors proposed the mandatory disclosure of sustainability information in the form of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. However, progress is contingent on collecting evidence regarding which... View Details
Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability; Nonfinancial Information; Corporate Social Responsibility; Stock Price Informativeness; Synchronicity; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Accountability; Stocks; Price; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Accounting; Standards
Grewal, Jody, Clarissa Hauptmann, and George Serafeim. "Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness." Journal of Business Ethics 171, no. 3 (July 2021): 513–544.
- October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
- Case
Driving Decarbonization at BMW
The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Change; Environment; Sustainability; Carbon Accounting; Carbon; Carbon Abatement; Electric Vehicles; Automobiles; Transportation; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Accounting; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Supply Chain; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Germany; China; United States; Europe
Lu, Shirley, George Serafeim, and Michael W. Toffel. "Driving Decarbonization at BMW." Harvard Business School Case 123-008, October 2022. (Revised June 2024.)
- June 2024
- Simulation
Vehicle Lifecycle Emissions Calculator
This Vehicle Lifecycle Emissions Calculator calculates the greenhouse gas emissions over the lifespan of internal combustion engine (ICEs) vehicles, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), including those associated with their... View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Environment; Carbon Accounting; Carbon; Carbon Abatement; Electric Vehicles; Automobiles; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Supply Chain; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Climate Change; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry
- January 2023
- Supplement
Organizational Climate Transition Risk Model
By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
- 2014
- Working Paper
The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research
By: George Serafeim
A long-standing ideology in business education has been that a corporation is run for the sole interest of its shareholders. I present an alternative view where increasing concentration of economic activity and power in the world's largest corporations, the Global... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Governance; Environment; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Research; Sustainability Targets; Corporate Performance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Serafeim, George. "The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-110, May 2014.
- February 2010 (Revised December 2011)
- Case
Ricoh Company, Ltd.
By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Marco Iansiti and Akiko Kanno
Ricoh, the Japanese copier manufacturer, is committed to reducing its environmental impact to one-eighth of its 2000 levels by 2050. It has already introduced three stages of environmental awareness to its operations, and its recycled copier business broke even in... View Details
Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Financial Reporting; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Operations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan
Eccles, Robert G., Amy C. Edmondson, Marco Iansiti, and Akiko Kanno. "Ricoh Company, Ltd." Harvard Business School Case 610-053, February 2010. (Revised December 2011.)
- 2022
- Working Paper
Machine Learning Models for Prediction of Scope 3 Carbon Emissions
By: George Serafeim and Gladys Vélez Caicedo
For most organizations, the vast amount of carbon emissions occur in their supply chain and in the post-sale processing, usage, and end of life treatment of a product, collectively labelled scope 3 emissions. In this paper, we train machine learning algorithms on 15... View Details
Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Climate Change; Environment; Carbon Accounting; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Digital; Data Science; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Management; Environmental Accounting
Serafeim, George, and Gladys Vélez Caicedo. "Machine Learning Models for Prediction of Scope 3 Carbon Emissions." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-080, June 2022.
- October, 2022
- Article
The Economic Dynamics of Competing Power Generation Sources
By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein
Competing power generation sources have experienced considerable shifts in both their revenue potential and their costs in recent years. Here we introduce the concept of Levelized Profit Margins (LPM) to capture the changing unit economics of both intermittent and... View Details
Keywords: Renewable Energy; Intermittant; Cost Accounting; Profitability Analysis; Learning-by-doing; Cannibalization Effect; Energy; Environmental Management; Investment; Operations; Technological Innovation; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe; North America; South America; Africa; Asia
Glenk, Gunther, and Stefan Reichelstein. "The Economic Dynamics of Competing Power Generation Sources." Art. 112758. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 168 (October, 2022).