Publications

August 2016
Case

Building Smart Neighborhoods at Bouygues

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Bertrand Moingeon, Guo Bai and Jean-François Harvey

Can a consortium of 16 organizations, including multinational corporations, local government agencies, and startups, turn a rundown Paris suburb into a “smart” (ecologically viable, high-tech, livable) neighborhood? This case explores how Bouygues Immobilier led such a... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Teaming; Cross-industry Collaboration; Interorganizatonal Relationships; Innovation; Nascent Industries; Smart Cities; Governance; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry; Construction Industry; Paris; France

08 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

Replacing the antiquated electrical system in the United States with a super-efficient smart grid always seemed a surefire way to strengthen the economy, improve society, and provide endless opportunities... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Energy; Utilities

08 Mar 2012
News

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

05 Feb 2019
News

Protecting the Power Grid

pools. Barely a month later, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Japan and caused a 10-foot tsunami to smash into the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, cutting off grid power and drowning the backup generators. The plants’... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli; terrorism; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

August 2014
Teaching Note

Enterprise Risk Management at Hydro One (B): How Risky are Smart Meters?

By: Anette Mikes and Amram Migdal

December 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Supplement

Enterprise Risk Management at Hydro One (B): How Risky Are Smart Meters?

By: Anette Mikes and Dominique Hamel

Keywords: Risk Management

01 Mar 2013
News

Getting Smart About Philanthropy

School's Social Enterprise Initiative Advisory Board. Among those included in the video series are HBS alumni Richard Atlas (MBA 1968), Josh Bekenstein (MBA 1984), Bill Draper (MBA 1954), George Kaiser (MBA 1966), Henry McCance (MBA... View Details

24 Apr 2014
News

Recasting environmentalism as a smart financial investment

A former managing director and partner for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 24 years, Mark Tercek (MBA 1984) is inspired by the opportunity to help businesses, governments, and environmental organizations work together in new, innovative ways. Tercek left Goldman Sachs in... View Details

01 Jun 2013
News

Can Business Smarts Save the Charter School Revolution?

Reform, taught by HBS lecturer Stacey Childress (MBA 2000), who later served on Given's board. And Childress, now at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—which invested heavily in Hall's Growth Fund—has provided funding for a charter run by Match Education CEO Stig... View Details

Keywords: David McKay Wilson; charter schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services

14 Oct 2014
News

Making smart investments in companies that solve critical social needs

Lisa Hall (MBA 1993), managing director of impact investing for Anthos Asset Management, talks about her work overseeing a financial portfolio of social enterprises that guarantee a financial return along with addressing critical social... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

Dr. Crawford conducts research on innovation in the energy industry, with a special focus on emerging business models. She is developing several cases for the EC course, "21st Century Energy," that specifically examine innovations at the interface of IT and Energy — ... View Details

19 Jun 2013
News

Your Guide to Social Enterprise

over the last two decades. A nonprofit innovator and think-tank scholar, Keohane knows the field well. Now, in her first book, Social Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century, this adjunct professor in the Program on Social Enterprise at... View Details

Keywords: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

24 Apr 2014
News

Fueling a sustainable enterprise in Brazil

almost entirely fossil fuel independent, relying primarily on hydroelectric energy for its grid electricity and sugarcane ethanol to fuel its cars. Diniz, formerly a high-level executive at retail giant Companhia Brasileira de... View Details

November 2016
Case

ShotSpotter

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

SST, Inc. offered a subscription-based gunfire detection service, ShotSpotter Flex, to cities across the United States in addition to a few abroad. Over its 20-year history, SST had mostly honed a reliable business-to-government sales model, and the company had been... View Details

Keywords: ShotSpotter; SST; Internet Of Things; IoT; Smart Cities; Public Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Sales; Scaling And Growth; Government; Public Sector; Innovation; Ralph Clark; Entrepreneurship; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Public Administration Industry; California; United States

Web

Once in a Lifetime Opportunities | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Once in a Lifetime Opportunities In 2011, at 26 years of age, Kasia Stochniol (MBA 2014) packed her bags and moved to Nairobi, Kenya. After previous professional experience as a consultant, she joined the early team at M-KOPA, a social View Details

Web

Working with City Leadership to Leverage Technology | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

council and its staff. “I hoped to get a smart person who could help me organize the innovation team” says Shireen, “and a person who could accelerate the work. In Henry, I got both to a degree that exceeded my expectations. We’ve been... View Details

February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston

Teaching

Overview

21st Century Energy — Dr Crawford teaches this EC course, which exposes students to business models and management diilemmas, all along the energy value chain — from oil sands and pipelines, to coal and natural gas, hydro and nuclear, wind and solar, to biofuels. The... View Details

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details