Social Accounting - Publications - Faculty & Research

2012
Article

A Field Study on the Acceptance and Use of a New Accounting System

By: V.G. Narayanan, Ranjani Krishnan and Jamshed J. Mistry

This study examines the attitudes, use, and acceptance of a new accounting system in a pharmaceutical corporation that switched from an Activity Based Costing System to the Theory of Constraints System (TOC). Using structuration theory as a framework, we posit that... View Details

Keywords: Theory Of Constraints; Structuration; Field Study; Accounting; Innovation and Invention

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November 2016
Article

Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality

By: Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

Using newly available materiality classifications of sustainability topics, we develop a novel dataset by hand-mapping sustainability investments classified as material for each industry into firm-specific sustainability ratings. This allows us to present new evidence... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Investments; Corporate Social Responsibility; Accounting; Corporate Reporting; Regulation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Corporate Governance

2022
Case

Can Salesforce Compete in the Carbon Accounting Market?

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This case describes Salesforce's development of Sustainability Cloud, a suite of software tools built to help companies measure, track, and report carbon emissions and other sustainability metrics. The goal of this case is to provide students with a background and... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Accountability; Applications and Software

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23 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Self Control and Commitment: Can Decreasing the Liquidity of a Savings Account Increase Deposits?

Keywords: by John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, Christopher Harris & Jung Sakong; Banking

1994
Book

Financial Accounting and Managerial Control for Nonprofit Organizations

By: R. E. Herzlinger and D. Nitterhouse

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations

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04 May 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry

Keywords: by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh; Telecommunications

2005
Other Unpublished Work

Accountability Myopia Can Impede NGO Learning and Mission

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

Keywords: Non-Governmental Organizations; Governance; Mission and Purpose; Learning

Citation

March 22, 2016
Article

The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing?

By: Christopher Marquis, Michael W. Toffel and Yanhua Zhou

This article is a layman summary of "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing," published in Organization Science 27, no. 2 (March–April 2016): 483–504. View Details

Keywords: Reporting; Environmental Performance; Civil Society; Corporate Disclosure; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Civil Society or Community; Environmental Sustainability

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03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

do so, investment funds will need to collect new data. The good news is that over the past decades, many initiatives have contributed to developing standards to assess companies’ social performance. The Sustainability View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

June 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

State Grid: Corporate Social Responsibility

By: Christopher Marquis, Nancy Dai, Dongning Yang and Hong Wu

In October 2009, State Grid, the largest utility company in the world, and a pioneer and leader in CSR practices in China, was planning its 2009 CSR Report and long-term CSR implementation. Some of the specific challenges faced at the time include: How could the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Systems; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Accountability; Behavior; Change Management; Global Range; Employees; Utilities Industry; China

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Educators

10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Hard Numbers on Social Investments

As the field continues to mature, efforts to develop a notion of "blended value," a way to account for social and environmental returns along with financial returns, will be well served by having a... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

nonetheless offer a host of principles (the Reverend Louis Sullivan's Global Sullivan Principles), management standards (the Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability's AccountAbility 1000), best... View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

2019
White Paper

Impact-Weighted Financial Accounts: The Missing Piece for an Impact Economy

By: George Serafeim, T. Robert Zochowski and Jennifer Downing

Reimagining capitalism is an imperative. We need to create a more inclusive and sustainable form of capitalism that works for every person and the planet. Massive environmental damage, growing income and wealth disparity, stress, and depression within developed... View Details

Keywords: Impact-Weighted Accounts; IWAI; Background; Economic Systems; Economy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Measurement and Metrics; Financial Statements

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04 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Accountability and Inequality in Single-Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China

Keywords: by Regina Abrami, Edmund Malesky & Yu Zheng

10 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

COVID-19 Lessons: Social Media Can Nudge More People to Get Vaccinated

exploring ways to leverage social media to have a positive social impact. You Might Also Like: Why We Still Need Twitter: How Social Media Holds Companies View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Health; Technology

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

markets faster through the existing distribution network of the acquirer, or through the ability to invest quickly in significantly expanded facilities. Compared to an IPO, it allows the careful delineation of accountability and... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage