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    Serafeim, GeorgeRemove Serafeim, George →

    Page 1 of 73 Results →
    • 20 Sep 2022
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

    Re: George Serafeim

    In 2014, Larry Fink started writing letters to the leaders of some of the largest publicly listed companies, urging them to consider the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Fink is the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, one of the largest asset management houses in the world. The firm’s success was rooted in its cost-effective, passive investment products that rely more on tracking indices and funds. But Fink wanted his firm to engage with the companies in which they invest and hold them accountable for their social and environmental impacts. What role should investors play in urging business leaders to take environmental, social, and governance issues more seriously and enforcing compliance? Harvard Business School professor George Serafeim discusses the merits of Fink’s approach, the importance of corporate investments in ESG themes, and how to lead a company driven by purpose and profit in his case, “BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit,” and his new book Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up The World.

    • 02 Aug 2022
    • Research & Ideas

    6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

    by Lane Lambert

    A new generation of business leaders is finding innovative and profitable ways to bring about positive change in the world. In the book Purpose and Profit, George Serafeim offers a roadmap for people at every career stage who seek to align their professional aspirations with their personal values.

    • 02 Nov 2021
    • Research & Ideas

    Why COVID-19 Probably Killed More People Than We Realize

    by Michael Blanding

    Millions of people around the world have died from COVID-19, according to government records, but research by Ethan Rouen, George Serafeim, and Botir Kobilov suggests that the actual number could be much higher. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 21 Jul 2021
    • Research & Ideas

    What Does an ESG Score Really Say About a Company?

    by Kristen Senz

    A key gauge in the $30 trillion sustainable investment market provides a murky picture of corporate social responsibility. Research by Anywhere Sikochi and George Serafeim probes the underlying factors. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 12 May 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Accounting for Product Impact in the Water Utilities Industry

    by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

    Using a framework for measuring and monitoring product impact in a systematic way, this paper compares two competitor companies in the water utilities industry. Results demonstrate the potential for product impact measurement to inform strategic decision-making.

    • 04 May 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry

    by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

    A product impact framework is a systematic methodology applicable to different companies across a wide range of industries. This study examines the telecommunications industry, estimating the value of a product’s reach, accessibility, quality, optionality, environmental use emissions, and end-of-life recyclability.

    • 09 Mar 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Stock Price Reactions to ESG News: The Role of ESG Ratings and Disagreement

    by George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

    Company performance evaluations have included sell-side analyst forecasts, recommendations, and credit ratings, but a newer set has emerged: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings. This study finds that ESG ratings are useful for predicting future ESG news, but their predictive ability diminishes for firms with large disagreement between raters.

    • 28 Feb 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Measuring Employment Impact: Applications and Cases

    by Katie Panella and George Serafeim

    Employment impact-weighted accounting statements quantify the positive and negative effects of firm practices for employees and the broader labor community. This analysis of companies in different sectors shows how these statements are beneficial both at an aggregate and more specific level.

    • 11 Jan 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Accounting for Product Impact in the Airlines Industry

    by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

    A systematic methodology for measuring product impact can be applied across a range of industries. Examining two competitor companies in the airlines industry, this study finds that analyzing each dimension of product impact allows for deeper understanding of each company’s business strategies.

    • 24 Nov 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

    by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

    A framework and method for measuring and monetizing product impact across industries, applying it to two competitors in the consumer finance space.

    • 02 Nov 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Accounting for Organizational Employment Impact

    by David Freiberg, Katie Panella, George Serafeim, and T. Robert Zochowski

    Impact-weighted accounting methodology standardizes previously disparate measures of impact, in this case the impact of employment. This paper’s methodology and analysis of Intel, Apple, Costco, and Merck shows the feasibility of measuring firm employment impact for insight into firm practices and performance. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 08 Sep 2020
    • Sharpening Your Skills

    Capitalism Works Better When I Can See What You're Doing

    by Sean Silverthorne

    Lower prices. More innovation. Better government. Transparency fuels the basic principles of competitive business and open government. Well, most of the time. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 07 Jul 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    Market Investors Pay More for Resilient Companies

    by Kristen Senz

    During a market collapse, investors will pay up for companies considered resilient in their response, according to George Serafeim. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 12 Jun 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19

    by Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, and Hui (Stacie) Wang

    Investors look for evidence during a market crisis that a company is resilient. This study includes findings that challenge the notion that companies need to adopt practices that hurt their employees because investors want them to do so.

    • 08 May 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Corporate Environmental Impact: Measurement, Data and Information

    by George Serafeim, DG Park, David Freiberg, and T. Robert Zochowski

    This paper proposes a methodology for investors, companies, or regulators to use established environmental resources, reasonably accessible in the public domain, to measure an organization’s environmental impact from operations. These measurements contain information that is different from environmental ratings widely used by investors and other stakeholders.

    • 22 Apr 2020
    • Research Event

    How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

    by Danielle Kost

    What are the financial implications of rising seas and extreme weather? Asset managers and risk experts gathered at Harvard Business School to discuss how they’re evaluating climate risk in their portfolios. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 18 Feb 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    A Preliminary Framework for Product Impact-Weighted Accounts

    by George Serafeim, Katie Trinh, and Robert Zochowski

    Although there is growing interest in environmental, social, and governance measurement, the impact of company operations is emphasized over product use. A framework like this one that captures a product’s reach, accessibility, quality, optionality, environmental use emissions, and end of life recyclability allows for a systematic methodology that can be applied to companies across many industries.

    • 23 Jan 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    Businesses Need a 'Catalyst' to Make CSR Practices Stick

    by Michael Blanding

    Despite best intentions, many corporate social responsibility programs fail. One answer: Companies need community partners to sustain work over the long term, says Robert Kaplan. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 04 Dec 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Intelligent Design of Inclusive Growth Strategies

    by Robert S. Kaplan, George Serafeim, and Eduardo Tugendhat

    How companies, working with a catalyst, can redesign supply chains to achieve economic, environmental, and social returns.

    • 04 Dec 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Pathways to Materiality: How Sustainability Issues Become Financially Material to Corporations and Their Investors

    by Jean Rogers and George Serafeim

    This paper provides a framework for understanding and predicting how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues become financially material.

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