Publications

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy

By: Rebecca Henderson and James Weber

In 2005, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, launched a sustainability initiative aimed at reducing waste and making the company more environmentally and socially conscious. By 2015, the company had made progress on multiple dimensions: energy efficiency in its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Reputation; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; United States

2005
Chapter

Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States

By: David Vogel, Michael W. Toffel and Diahanna Post

The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) are federal systems in which the responsibility for environmental policy-making is divided or shared between the central government and the (member) states. The attribution of decision-making power has important policy... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Climate Change; European Union; United States

Read Now

2016
Working Paper

Infrastructure, Incentives and Institutions

By: Nava Ashraf, Edward L. Glaeser and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Cities generate negative, as well as positive, externalities; addressing those externalities requires both infrastructure and institutions. Providing clean water and removing refuse requires water and sewer pipes, but the urban poor are often unwilling to pay for the... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Urban Development; Organizations; City; Infrastructure; Zambia

Find at Harvard

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

MiDAS: Automating Unemployment Benefits

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In 2015, the state of Michigan considered whether to nominate its Michigan Integrated Data Automated System (MiDAS) for a prestigious state technology award. Launched in 2013 amid severe budget pressures, the $47 million automated fraud detection system was designed to... View Details

10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

achieving the complete elimination of all waste in pursuit of the most efficient methods.” The system is based on two principles: automation with a human touch, and each View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

01 Jun 2024
News

The Bookshelf: Try As One Might

A professor of management at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and a leading expert on design thinking, Jeanne Liedtka (MBA 1981) helps people make better decisions through experimentation. The concept sounds simple enough in the... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; experimentation; innovation; process

2012
Chapter

Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States

By: David Vogel, Michael W. Toffel, Diahanna Post and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon

The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) are federal systems in which the responsibility for environmental policy-making is divided or shared between the central government and the (member) states. The attribution of decision-making power has important policy... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Policy; Government and Politics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; European Union; United States

Read Now

21 Jan 2020
News

The Convergence of Digital and Commercial Transformations

2025
Chapter

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter argues that since the nineteenth century capitalism has created much wealth, but at the cost of massive ecological destruction, which has been particularly severe in Latin America. During the first global economy before 1929, considerable wealth was... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Globalization; Economic Growth; Latin America

Find at Harvard

September 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Environmental Power Corporation: Changing Manure Into Gold?

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Laure Mougeot Stroock

In 2002, Environmental Power Corp. (EPC), a small company developing renewable energy projects, was attempting to commercialize its "digester," a facility that extracted methane from manure, reduced manure's environmental impact, and generated electricity. The company... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Projects; Wastes and Waste Processing; Corporate Finance; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

results are outlined in a May article published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes called Are They Useful? The Effects of Performance Incentives on the Prioritization of Work Versus... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

11 Apr 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy

doing that, and waste a lot of money on sales and marketing trying to sell that wrong product," says Tom Eisenmann, a professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Computer

29 Apr 2021
News

Stop Spending Time on Things You Hate

January 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Tough Decisions at Marks and Spencer

By: George Serafeim

In 2007, under the leadership of CEO Stuart Rose, the iconic British retailer Marks and Spencer, with great fanfare, announced its "Plan A" initiative. Based on the five essential pillars of climate change, waste, sustainable materials, fair partnership, and health,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry

January 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Chef Davide Oldani and Ristorante D'O

By: Gary Pisano, Alessandro Di Fiore, Elena Corsi and Elisa Farri

This case examines the unique business model of Ristorante D'O, a high end gourmand restaurant located near Milan, Italy. Founded by Chef Davide Oldani, D'O offers meals at approximately one-third the price of other Michelin starred restaurants. Oldani has made this... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Expansion; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Milan