Science
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- 12 Sep 2022
- Research & Ideas
When Experts Play It Too Safe: Innovation Lessons from a NASA Experiment
A study of an international robotics competition reveals how experts prioritize easy-to-execute inventions over moonshot ideas. Are companies missing out on potential breakthroughs? Research by Jacqueline Lane and Karim Lakhani.
- 23 Aug 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro
Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time—but a hurricane was approaching his intended path. To succeed, Davidson and his fellow officers had to plot a course to avoid the storm in the face of conflicting weather reports from multiple sources and differing opinions among the officers about what to do. Over the 36-hour voyage, tensions rose as the ship got closer and closer to the storm. And there were other factors compounding the challenge. The El Faro was an old ship, about to be scrapped. Its owner, TOTE Maritime, was in the process of selecting officers to crew its new ships. Davidson and some of his officers knew the company measured a ship’s on-time arrival and factored that into performance reviews and hiring decisions. When the ship ultimately sunk on October 1, 2015, it was the deadliest American shipping disaster in decades. But who was to blame for the tragedy and what can we learn from it? Professor Joe Fuller discusses the culpability of the captain, as well as his subordinates, and what it reveals about how leaders and their teams communicate under pressure in his case, "Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro."
- 28 Jun 2022
- Book
The Moral Enterprise: How Two Companies Profit with Purpose
Despite polarized attitudes, Rebecca Henderson argues that it's the perfect time for companies to reset their moral compass. In an essay from the book A Political Economy of Justice, she explores the social efforts of Cadbury and Unilever.
- 22 Feb 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
How to Scale a Startup Marketplace for Used Furniture
AptDeco, a peer-to-peer marketplace for used furniture in the New York City area, was growing rapidly in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its complexity and high costs. Co-founders Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis were considering different options to scale the business, including converting sellers into buyers and vice versa, finding superusers to fuel the supply for their platform, expanding to new markets, and rebranding with a sustainability focus. Professor Ayelet Israeli and AptDeco co-founder Kalam Dennis discuss the best way to scale the business in the case, “AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Jan 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
How Footwear Startup Allbirds is Decarbonizing Fashion
In 2021, the footwear startup Allbirds was extending its product range into apparel and expanding beyond its online store to open more retail stores around the world. It was also freely sharing its know-how and material innovations with its competitors to try to scale its efforts to decarbonize fashion, by substituting natural materials for conventional petroleum-based materials and leather. But the company also had to find ways to remain differentiated, based on design and comfort. Professor Mike Toffel and Allbirds co-founder and CEO Joey Zwillinger discuss the growing environmental impact of the fashion industry and how the company managed the tension between advancing its environmental mission and staying ahead of competitors in the case, Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Nov 2021
- In Practice
What's the Role of Business in Confronting Climate Change?
COP26 shined a light on the complexities of addressing the climate crisis. We asked Harvard Business School faculty members to discuss how business leaders can help spur change and what opportunities might emerge. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Sep 2021
- Research & Ideas
Science: The Unlikely Frontier for New Business Ideas
Iterative R&D might get products to market quickly, but innovation grounded in scientific research tends to be more valuable, says research by Joshua Lev Krieger and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Sep 2021
- Research & Ideas
Who Pays For Wildfire and Hurricane Damage? Everyone.
Think only coastal states bear the costs related to rising seas? Research by Ishita Sen and colleagues shows how homeowners everywhere pay for climate change, regardless of location. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Jul 2021
- Research & Ideas
What Does an ESG Score Really Say About a Company?
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.
- 24 May 2021
- Op-Ed
Can Fabric Waste Become Fashion’s Resource?
COVID-19 worsened the textile waste crisis. Now it's time for the fashion industry to address this spiraling problem, say Geoffrey Jones and Shelly Xu. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 May 2021
- Working Paper Summaries
Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry
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.
- 06 Apr 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
Disrupting the Waste Industry with Technology
Rubicon began with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management platform, providing efficient service anywhere in the US. Their mobile app did for waste management what Uber had done for taxi service. Five years after the case’s publication, Harvard Business School Associate Professor Shai Bernstein and Rubicon founder and CEO Nate Morris discuss how the software startup leveraged technology to disrupt the waste industry and other enduring lessons of professor Bill Sahlman’s case about Rubicon. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Feb 2021
- Research & Ideas
To Fight Climate Change, Should Green Investors Reconsider Big Oil?
Sustainability funds eschew some of the biggest backers of green technology: oil companies. Research by Lauren Cohen offers reasons to re-evaluate the role of traditional energy companies in addressing climate change. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jan 2021
- Working Paper Summaries
The ESG-Innovation Disconnect: Evidence from Green Patenting
Energy-producing firms are more likely to produce “blockbuster” green patents than other firms. Yet energy firms are excluded from many environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds, and are the targets of divestiture campaigns whose stated aims often include green energy innovation.
- 24 Nov 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry
A framework and method for measuring and monetizing product impact across industries, applying it to two competitors in the consumer finance space.
- 13 Nov 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
The European Commission’s Sustainable Corporate Governance Report: A Critique
The European Commission commissioned a report on sustainable corporate governance that purports to find serious problems of corporate short-termism. The report is wholly flawed: it conflates time horizon problems with externality problems, mismeasures investment and its financing, and proposes ineffective, possibly harmful reforms.
- 02 Nov 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Accounting for Organizational Employment Impact
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.
- 20 Sep 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Updating the Balanced Scorecard for Triple Bottom Line Strategies
Society increasingly expects businesses to help solve problems of environmental degradation, inequality, and poverty. This paper explains how the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Map should be modified to reflect businesses’ expanded role for society.
- 01 Sep 2020
- Cold Call Podcast
How to Launch a New Biosciences Product: Start Small or Dive in?
C16 Biosciences wants to replace palm oil, a major contributor to deforestation, with a lab-grown substitute. But CEO Shara Ticku faces a tough decision in bringing the product to market. Jeff Bussgang discusses his case study. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit
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.