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- All HBS Web (303)
- Faculty Publications (125)
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- November 2015 (Revised January 2016)
- Teaching Note
McDonald's Corporation: Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain—From Amazon Soya to Cage Free Eggs
This case provides an opportunity for students to consider how large, multinational corporations should respond when targeted by activists regarding environmental and social concerns in their supply chains. Greenpeace targeted McDonald's because its chicken supplier... View Details
- July 8, 2013
- Column
Greening Is Not Enough: 4 Steps to Corporate Leadership on Climate Change
By: Michael W. Toffel and Auden Schendler
Environmental sustainability usually means greening operations and products, but that's not nearly enough to stop climate change. Corporate leadership on climate change also requires urging action by governments, trade associations, and suppliers — and marketing these... View Details
Toffel, Michael W., and Auden Schendler. "Greening Is Not Enough: 4 Steps to Corporate Leadership on Climate Change." Network for Business Sustainability, Thought Leaders (blog) (July 8, 2013). (Reprinted in Greenbiz.com July 9, 2013.)
- 22 Apr 2014
- First Look
First Look: April 22
Greenwashing By: Marquis, Christopher, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract—Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- November 2014
- Article
Government Green Procurement Spillovers: Evidence from Municipal Building Policies in California
By: Timothy Simcoe and Michael W. Toffel
We study how government green procurement policies influence private-sector demand for similar products. Specifically, we measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the U.S. Green Building... View Details
Keywords: Public Procurement; Green Building; Quality Certification; Environmental Policy; Buildings and Facilities; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Government and Politics; Green Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; California
Simcoe, Timothy, and Michael W. Toffel. "Government Green Procurement Spillovers: Evidence from Municipal Building Policies in California." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 68, no. 3 (November 2014): 411–434. (Lead article.)
- Article
Designing Sustainability at BMW Group: The Designworks/USA Experience
By: Kellie McElhaney, Michael W. Toffel and Natalie Hill
This case study describes how an industrial design company developed a sustainability management system (SMS) standard, designed and implemented an SMS throughout its business, and then became the first company in the world to achieve third-party SMS certification by a... View Details
Keywords: Design; Governance Compliance; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; United States
McElhaney, Kellie, Michael W. Toffel, and Natalie Hill. "Designing Sustainability at BMW Group: The Designworks/USA Experience." Greener Management International: The Journal of Corporate Environmental Strategy and Practice 46 (Summer 2004): 103–116.
- November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature
By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett
Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct... View Details
Keywords: Carbon Sequestration; Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Massachusetts
Iansiti, Marco, Michael W. Toffel, and James Barnett. "Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature." Harvard Business School Case 620-024, November 2019. (Revised June 2020.)
- April 3, 2016
- Guest Column
The Power of C.E.O. Activism: How Politically Outspoken Executives Sway Public (and Consumer) Opinion
By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
Some CEOs are making news by taking public stances on controversial social issues largely unrelated to their core business. This article summarizes the insights from our research paper that shows that such "CEO activism" can influence public opinion and consumer... View Details
Keywords: Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Non-market Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility; Politics; Political Influence; Political Strategy; Political Risk; Equity; Gender; Climate Change; Communication Strategy; Law; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Media; Problems and Challenges; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Public Opinion; United States; Georgia (state, US); North Carolina; Indiana; Indianapolis
Chatterji, Aaron K., and Michael W. Toffel. "The Power of C.E.O. Activism: How Politically Outspoken Executives Sway Public (and Consumer) Opinion." Grey Matter. New York Times (April 3, 2016), SR10.
- September 2016
- Article
Enhancing the Practical Relevance of Research
This article seeks to encourage scholars to conduct research that is more relevant to the decisions faced by managers and policymakers and addresses why research relevance matters, what relevance means in terms of a journal article, and how scholars can increase the... View Details
Keywords: Research Questions; Relevance; Rigor; Practice-based Research; Research; Communication; Media; Education Industry
Toffel, Michael W. "Enhancing the Practical Relevance of Research." Production and Operations Management 25, no. 9 (September 2016): 1493–1505. (Sparked a Working Knowledge article about research relevance.)
- September 2010
- Article
Making Self-Regulation More Than Merely Symbolic: The Critical Role of the Legal Environment
By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Using data from a sample of U.S. industrial facilities subject to the federal Clean Air Act from 1993 to 2003, this article theorizes and tests the conditions under which organizations' symbolic commitments to self-regulate are particularly likely to result in improved... View Details
Keywords: Adoption; Code Law; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Organizations; Governance Compliance; Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; United States
Short, Jodi L., and Michael W. Toffel. "Making Self-Regulation More Than Merely Symbolic: The Critical Role of the Legal Environment." Administrative Science Quarterly 55, no. 3 (September 2010): 361–396. (Lead article; Featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (Summer 2011) and in Behind the scenes of the Administrative Science Quarterly.)
- 2012
- White Paper
Robust Enforcement Should Complement Voluntary Regulation
By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Spurred by the anti-regulation movement that started in the 1970s, voluntary self-regulation programs have emerged in many regulatory agencies, seeking to increase cooperation between government and industry to achieve greater and more cost-effective compliance.... View Details
Short, Jodi L., and Michael W. Toffel. "Robust Enforcement Should Complement Voluntary Regulation." Georgetown University Economic Policy Vignette, September 2012.
- September 2016
- Article
Monitoring Global Supply Chains
By: Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel and Andrea R. Hugill
Firms seeking to avoid reputational spillovers that can arise from dangerous, illegal, and unethical behavior at supply chain factories are increasingly relying on private social auditors to provide strategic information about suppliers' conduct. But little is known... View Details
Keywords: Monitoring; Transaction Cost Economics; Industry Self-regulation; Auditing; Codes Of Conduct; Supply Chains; Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Supply Chain; Globalization
Short, Jodi L., Michael W. Toffel, and Andrea R. Hugill. "Monitoring Global Supply Chains." Strategic Management Journal 37, no. 9 (September 2016): 1878–1897. (Video abstract (4 minutes). Working Knowledge article for practitioners.)
- October 2023
- Article
Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA
By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
Keywords: Safety Regulations; Regulations; Regulatory Enforcement; Machine Learning Models; Safety; Operations; Service Operations; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Decisions; United States
Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 15, no. 4 (October 2023): 30–67. (Profiled in the Regulatory Review.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA
By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
Keywords: Government Administration; Working Conditions; Safety; Quality; Production; Analysis; Resource Allocation; Manufacturing Industry; United States
Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-019, August 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
- May–June 2013
- Article
Can Global Brands Create Just Supply Chains? Response: Promoting Political Mobilization
By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Codes of conduct indicate that working conditions are improving overall at the factories being monitored by multinational corporations, and that these codes of conduct also create possibilities for political mobilization that can improve labor conditions more broadly. View Details
Keywords: Regulation; Auditing; Labor Relations; Occupational Safety; Environmental Operations; Environmental Regulation; Employees; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Manufacturing Industry; China; Bangladesh; India; Honduras; Nicaragua; Pakistan; Guatemala; Malaysia; Viet Nam
Short, Jodi L., and Michael W. Toffel. "Can Global Brands Create Just Supply Chains? Response: Promoting Political Mobilization." Boston Review 38, no. 3 (May–June 2013).
- October 2013
- Article
How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure
By: Anil R. Doshi, Glen W.S. Dowell and Michael W. Toffel
Mandatory information disclosure regulations seek to create institutional pressure to spur performance improvement. By examining how organizational characteristics moderate establishments' responses to a prominent environmental information disclosure program, we... View Details
Keywords: Information Disclosure; Institutional Theory; Environmental Strategy; Mandatory Disclosure; Environmental Performance; Information; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Improvement; Environmental Sustainability; Manufacturing Industry; United States
Doshi, Anil R., Glen W.S. Dowell, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure." Strategic Management Journal 34, no. 10 (October 2013): 1209–1231. (Featured in The Regulatory Review.)
- September 2015
- Teaching Note
Sustainability at IKEA Group
Can IKEA Group double its global sales within a decade by expending in emerging markets while implementing on its ambitious sustainability strategy that included focusing on raw material sourcing and suppliers’ production processes? The case focuses on IKEA Group’s... View Details
- September 2014
- Article
OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California
By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
For companies with strong internal occupational safety and health auditing programs, OSHA inspections might seem a formality that risk uncovering, at most, nitpicky deviations from the thousands of pages of safety regulations. For those with poor safety practices, OSHA... View Details
Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Operations; Safety; Governance Compliance; United States; California
Levine, David I., and Michael W. Toffel. "OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California." The Compass (Newsletter of the American Society of Safety Engineers) 14, no. 1 (September 2014): 4.
- 23 Nov 2010
- First Look
First Look: November 23
Effective Self-Policing Authors: Michael W. Toffel and Jodi L. Short Publication: Journal of Law and Economics... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- May 16, 2019
- Article
To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled
By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
Health inspections are an important tool to increase food safety, but there are still 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses and 128,000 hospitalizations every year in the United States. Our research finds that inspectors reported fewer health code violations as they... View Details
Keywords: Inspection; Scheduling; Food; Safety; Health; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Improvement
Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 16, 2019).
- 06 Mar 2007
- First Look
First Look: March 6, 2007
Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator Authors:Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel Abstract As part of a recent trend toward more... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace