Publications

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

2018 Boston: Harvard Business Review Press Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business By: Gupta, Sunil Abstract—Disruption and transformation get a lot of hype and for good reason. Digital technologies have disrupted... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

09 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Speed Up Energy Innovation

career studying technological change, Henderson has observed trends and common traits across a variety of industries. “I believe energy is the problem of our time.” And her message is optimistic. Moving to clean energy "is not... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

March 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Cree, Inc.: Which Bright Future?

By: David J. Collis, Mary Furey and Matthew Shaffer

After its founding in the late 1980s, Cree Inc. quickly grew into a major player in the emerging LED market. By 2007, technological improvements in LEDs had made them suitable for TV, computer, and mobile "backlighting"; and concerns over global warning led to calls to... View Details

July 2014 (Revised December 2016)
Case

EcoMotors International

By: John D. Macomber and Hermes Alvarez

Eco-Motors, funded in part by Khosla Ventures, has to decide how to go to market with a new technology for internal combustion engines for automotive and industrial use. The OPOC engine has opposed pistons and is a two-stroke engine, as compared to a more traditional... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Engineering; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry

October 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Harvest: Organic Waste Recycling with Energy Recovery (A)

By: Deishin Lee, Baris Ata and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

This case describes the waste management industry and a clean technology solution for landfill diversion and renewable energy production. The (A) case focuses on the operational characteristics of waste management and waste to energy, as well as the characteristics of... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Logistics; Wastes and Waste Processing; Corporate Finance; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Industrial Decarbonization: Confronting the Hard Challenges of Cement

Cities like Cairo; Chongqing, China; Delhi; and Kinshasa, Congo are experiencing population explosions accompanied by unprecedented demand for homes, offices, factories, and infrastructure. In the United States, the Biden Administration’s policy-driven infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: by by Janelle Conaway; Green Technology; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53636 Scale versus Scope in the Diffusion of New Technology: Evidence from the Farm Tractor By: Gross, Daniel P. Abstract—Using the farm tractor as a case study, I show that lags in View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 2000
Background Note

Internet Access Providers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Daniel Green

Describes the Internet access provider business model. First, it defines the model and presents different ways to categorize access providers. Second, it offers a summary of the various ways that Internet access providers create value for their customers. Next, it... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

18 Mar 2013
HBS Case

HBS Cases: LEGO

play" and "quality in every detail" that was distributed to everyone in the company. Like his father, Godtfred paid careful attention to every aspect of the business, applying, for example, his knowledge of material science and production View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Entertainment & Recreation

December 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Tata Power and India's Energy Transition

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Radhika Kak and Kairavi Dey

Tata Power stood at the forefront of India’s energy transition. The firm had a long history deeply intertwined with the country's development. As Mumbai’s power needs increased, Tata Power built out thermal assets across North, West, and East India. While thermal power... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Energy Sources; Climate Change; Green Technology; Transition; Energy Generation; Resource Allocation; Energy Industry; Asia; India

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

In March 2023, Garry Cooper, cofounder and CEO of Chicago-based Rheaply, needed to demonstrate that Rheaply’s expanded vision could translate into building cash flows and metrics needed to raise a Series B and turn the business into a model for financial and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Entrepreneurial Finance; Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

04 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

Chombosan Much promotion of smart cities assumes that municipalities will take a proactive, top-down, technology-first approach to urban progress. Thus far, these initiatives look for some forward-thinking city official (or immensely deep-pocketed private investor) to... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Green Technology

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

15 Mar 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

More Than 900 Examples of How Climate Change Affects Business

This word cloud is composed of blog posts by more than 900 students describing how individual organizations are likely to be affected by climate change. Image by Patrick Clapp Last fall, first-year MBA students at Harvard Business School received a new assignment in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Green Technology

06 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 6

today's managers need to harness technological advances, manage and lead a dispersed and diverse workforce, anticipate and react to constant competitive and geopolitical change and uncertainty, compete on a global scale, and operate in a... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

October 2021 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Project Maji: Pricing Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Esel Çekin

In July 2021, Sunil Lalvani, founder and CEO of Project Maji, a non-profit social enterprise headquartered in Dubai that had already provided sustainable, clean water solutions to 80,000 people living in rural communities across Ghana and Kenya, was facing an important... View Details

Keywords: Water; Pricing; Nonprofit Organizations; Projects; Price; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Equity; Green Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Africa; Dubai

April 2022
Case

NIO: A Chinese EV Company's Global Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, Shu Lin and Noah B. Truwit

Founded in November 2014 and based in Shanghai, NIO designed, jointly manufactured, and sold premium “smart” EVs. Its mission was to “shape a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and being the best user enterprise. At NIO Day 2021,... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Green Technology; Auto Industry; China; Europe; Norway

2017
Chapter

Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy

By: Geoffrey Jones

This study examines the geography of the global wind energy industry before 2000. Between 1980 and 2000, the global generating capacity of wind power grew from 13 megawatts to 17,400 megawatts, but two-thirds of that capacity was in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the... View Details

Keywords: Wind Power; Business And Government; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Geography; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Business History; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Asia; Europe; United States

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August 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Northvolt: Making the World's Greenest Battery

By: Jurgen R. Weiss and Emilie Billaud

In 2021, the demand for lithium-ion batteries increased rapidly, particularly for electric vehicles. Anxious not to be reliant on Asian players, Europe was keen on developing its own home-grown capacity to control the value chain, maintain employment in Europe, and get... View Details