General Management

- 2025
- Chapter
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.
- 2025
- Chapter
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green...
- April 10, 2025
- Article
How to Build a Life: A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths

By: Arthur C. Brooks
- April 10, 2025
- Article
How to Build a Life: A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths

By: Arthur C. Brooks
- April 2025
- Case
So You Want to Change the World?: A Personal Reflection on Systems Change

By: Brian Trelstad
- April 2025
- Case
So You Want to Change the World?: A Personal Reflection on Systems Change

By: Brian Trelstad

About the Unit

The General Management Unit is concerned with the leadership and management of the enterprise as a whole. This concern encompasses:

the personal values and qualities of effective general managers and enterprise leaders;
the philosophies, values, and strategies that inform successful enterprises; and
the relation of enterprise to the broader community and other external constituencies.

The Unit's work is conceived and carried out principally in four interest groups, each of which has its own leadership, research agenda, and teaching programs:

Management Policy and Process
Management Information Systems
Society and Enterprise
Leadership, Values, and Corporate Responsibility

Recent Publications

Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

2025 |
Chapter |
Faculty Research

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.

Keywords: Institutional Entrepreneurship; Environment; Climate Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Citation

Purchase

How to Build a Life: A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths

By: Arthur C. Brooks

April 10, 2025 |
Article |
The Atlantic

Citation

So You Want to Change the World?: A Personal Reflection on Systems Change

By: Brian Trelstad

April 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Grand Seiko—The Sleeping Lion

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Sarah Sasso

April 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Citation

Purchase

How to Build a Life: To Be Happier, Stop Resisting Change

By: Arthur C. Brooks

April 3, 2025 |
Article |
The Atlantic

Citation

Jamie Dimon: Navigating the DEI Backlash

By: Joseph L. Badaracco and Sarah Mehta

April 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Citation

Educators

Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance

By: Belen Villalonga, Peter Tufano and Boya Wang

April 2025 |
Article |
Journal of Corporate Finance

Using a sample of 3083 firms from 62 countries over 18 years, we analyze how the structure and identity of firms' material owners influence their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. We find that firms with founding families or other individual investors as owners underperform, unless family members serve as CEOs, when they outperform all others. Non-family management and government entities also perform significantly better in most analyses. These results are robust to multiple data and methodological stress tests. Our findings show that ownership matters for ESG performance and give us an indication of the preferences of different types of owners regarding ESG.

Keywords: Ownership; ESG; CSR; Family Firms; Environment; Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Corporate Governance

Citation

Read Now