Publications

2023
Working Paper

Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency

By: Gunther Glenk, Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein

Widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier is widely believed to require continued advances in Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of system prices and conversion efficiency for three currently prevalent... View Details

Keywords: Clean Tech; Decarbonization; Carbon Emissions; Learning By Doing; Environment; Energy; Environmental Management; Sustainable Cities; Price; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; South America; Africa; Asia

SSRN

2015
Chapter

The Role of Multiplier Firms and Megaprojects in Leading Change for Sustainability

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Martine Haas, John D. Macomber and Tiona Zuzul

In both the private and public sectors, organizations around the world face increasingly pressing questions about how to stimulate and manage change for long-term environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the roles... View Details

Keywords: Blueprint Logic; Learning Logic; Megaprojects; Multiplier Firms; Leading Change; Environmental Sustainability

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2013
Chapter

Luxembourg: A Sustainable Society Starts Here

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Integrated Corporate Reporting; City; Luxembourg

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February 1997
Article

New Strategies for Inner-City Economic Development

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Strategy; City; Economics; Growth and Development

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October 19, 2011
Article

What's the Greenest Building? The Problem With Ranking Systems

By: Auden Schendler and Mike Toffel

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Buildings and Facilities

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March 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Miami’s Climate Tech Potential (A): The State of Play

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an urgent major issue for the region in light of global warming and sea level rise. Venture capitalists saw the... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Climate; Entrepreneur; Development; Startup; Climate Change; Venture Capital; Investment; Entrepreneurship; Green Technology; Government Administration; City; Miami

April 2020 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Shorefast: A Strange and Familiar Way to Reimagine Capitalism

By: Brian Trelstad, Wendy Smith and Natalie Slawinski

In 2006, Zita Cobb and two of her brothers, Alan Cobb and Tony Cobb, native Newfoundlanders, launched Shorefast to help grow another leg of Fogo Island’s economy. Like so many rural communities, Fogo Island’s fate was tied directly to one primary resource—in this case... View Details

Keywords: Place Making; Non-profit; Hotel; Economic Development; Tourism; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Tourism Industry; Canada

28 Apr 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Is the Healthiest Building in the World Worth the Rent?

Keywords: Re: John D. Macomber; Real Estate

October 2011 (Revised June 2014)
Case

inge watertechnologies, GmbH

By: Ramana Nanda, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Markus Mittermaier

Using the financing history and exit choices of a German clean-tech startup as a lens, this case explores the reasons why venture-backed entrepreneurship is much lower in Germany than the US, despite a robust SME sector and large-corporate innovation in Germany. It... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Venture Capital; Negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; Germany

May 1968 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Graybar Syndications

By: William J. Poorvu

A potential investor evaluates a proposed offering—a major office building in downtown Manhattan. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Investment; Construction; City; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; New York (city, NY)

March 2020
Case

A Tower for the People: 425 Park Avenue

By: John Macomber, Joseph G. Allen and Emily Jones

Healthy buildings and superior air quality are increasingly important since people now spend so much time indoors. Indoor spaces drive performance and productivity. Commercial real estate landlords and investors are responding to the demands of sophisticated tenants... View Details

Keywords: Health And Wellness; Real Estate; Sustainability; Health; Pollution; Buildings and Facilities; Performance Productivity; Finance; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

07 May 2025
News

Scaling New Heights

Brianna Brown, chief product officer at City Fresh Foods in Boston. (Photo/video credit: Susan Young) City Fresh Foods has long served nutritious meals to students, seniors, and daycare centers in Greater Boston’s under-resourced communities. But when the company saw... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

01 Sep 2011
News

Making a Difference in the World

The City Solution: Facts and Figures p. 32 “half the world’s people ” U.N. Habitat report (“Cities and Climate Change – Global Report on Human Settlements”) March 2011 p. 33 “2 percent land mass most of its emissions.” UN Habitat Report... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

spring 2002
Article

Business Leadership Coalitions and Public-Private Partnerships in American Cities: A Business Perspective on Regime Theory

By: James Austin and Arthur McCaffrey

Keywords: Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Theory; Perspective; City; United States

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05 Nov 2013
News

Start-Ups Get a Start in New Orleans

Kevin Wilkins by Constantine von Hoffman Just eight years after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Kevin Wilkins (MBA 1992) says the city is poised to join Silicon Valley, Boston, and Austin (Texas) as one of the nation's... View Details

Keywords: New Orleans; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

Fast Answer

Sustainability in Construction Industry

expect nine shifts to radically change the construction value chain and offer a blueprint for the next normal ahead. How do you build a city for... View Details

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass — On a rainy afternoon in late October, Mohsen Mostafavi stood before a packed auditorium at Harvard University and considered the history of cities in terms of three cooked eggs. Mostafavi, the Dean of the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2012
Chapter

Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future?

By: Robert G. Eccles, Annissa Alusi, Amy C. Edmondson and Tiona Zuzul

Two trends are likely to define the 21st century: threats to the sustainability of the natural environment and dramatic increases in urbanization. This paper reviews the goals, business models, and partnerships involved in eight early "ecocity" projects to begin to... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; City; Urban Development; Infrastructure; Housing; Urban Scope; Business Ventures; Business Model; Green Technology Industry