Publications

Article

The Growing Strategic Importance of End-of-Life Product Management

By: Michael W. Toffel

Requiring manufacturers to manage the their products when they become waste is an innovative form of regulation, one that has been adopted by countries in Asia, Europe, and North America on a variety of products that range from vehicles to appliances to batteries.... View Details

Keywords: Product; Environmental Sustainability; Cost Management; Wastes and Waste Processing; Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Europe; North and Central America

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29 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 29, 2019

incremental and major innovation. Recall prevention and remediation efforts are thus more important than previously suggested, due to significant competitor responses. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55022 Understanding and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Global Climate Change and BP

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Mikell Hyman

Following the sudden resignation of Sir John Browne, Tony Hayward, BP CEO, must decide how global climate change management will figure into BP's corporate strategy. Climate change management was a major part of BP's strategy under Browne: In 1997 Browne broke from his... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Climate Change; Corporate Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Teams; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Energy Sources; Global Strategy; Operations; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America

12 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 12, 2006

Protection Agency (US EPA) program that encourages companies to self-disclose violations of environmental laws and regulations in exchange for reduced sanctions. We find that facilities are more likely to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 18

about it. We discuss the implications of these results for collaborations in the social realm. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/13-028.pdf License to Cheat: Voluntary Regulation and Ethical Behavior Authors:Francesca... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

responses by firms that receive poor ratings, especially those that face lower cost opportunities to improve and that operate in highly regulated industries. Our empirical analysis examines how nearly 600 firms in the United States... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2024
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

March 2022
Article

Carbon Footprinting and Pricing under Climate Concerns

By: Marco Bertini, Stefan Buehler, Daniel Halbheer and Don Lehmann

This article studies how organizations should design a product by choosing the carbon footprint and price in a market with climate concerns. The authors first show how the cost and demand effects of reducing the product carbon footprint determine the profit-maximizing... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Climate Impact; Net-zero Emissions; Pricing; Climate Change; Product Design; Price; Environmental Sustainability; Marketing

August 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Patch Technology: Making It Easy to Do the Right Thing

By: Tomomichi Amano, Robert J. Dolan and Carol Zhang

In 2021, the growing threat of climate change pushed companies around the world to understand that significant behavioral change was necessary. While many recognized that decreasing emissions was critical, more sophisticated players such as Microsoft began to recognize... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Management; Marketing; Digital Platforms; Climate Change

August 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?

By: Willy C. Shih

Peter Schneider, the President of T.G.S. Transportation, Inc., faced a choice. His company operated drayage trucks that moved containerized cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to customers across the State of California, with a focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Clean Technology; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Truck Transportation; Transportation Industry; United States; California

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

Chemical Company (A) Arthur A. DaemmrichHarvard Business School Case 710-027 This case explores company strategy, business-government relations, and collective action challenges associated with international and domestic lobbying regarding View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Verne Global: Building a Green Data Center in Iceland

Verne Global, a pioneering startup created to build the first large-scale data center in Iceland, faces critical challenges regarding its green strategy. Verne Co-Founder Isaac Kato is tasked with evaluating how the company can most successfully market and sell the... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Startups; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Sales; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Iceland

18 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

Common wisdom holds that oil and gas companies, electric utilities, and other industries known for their large carbon emissions generally oppose clean energy policies. Now, a study of corporate advocacy spanning 30 years reveals that many companies are more flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Utilities

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

2018
Book

Business and the Natural Environment: A Research Overview

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and Susse Georg

The fields of corporate environmentalism, green business and corporate sustainability have grown significantly over the past twenty-five years, such that the academic research domains of business decision-making, accounting, organizational behaviour, and the protection... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Regulation; Research

2016
Book

Strategy Beyond Markets

By: John de Figueiredo, Michael Lenox, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Rick Vanden Bergh

Strategy beyond markets has been an active area of research inquiry since the early 1990s. Since its inception, the scholarship emanating from this research stream has grown substantially in quantity, quality, and breadth. Likewise, firms across the world have... View Details

Keywords: Strategy