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      Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Environmental Sustainability. Past Roads and Future Prospects
      04 Feb 2019Working Paper Summaries

      Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Environmental Sustainability. Past Roads and Future Prospects

      by Ann-Kristin Bergquist, Shawn A. Cole, John Ehrenfeld, Andrew A. King, and Auden Schendler
      At a summer 2018 Harvard Business School conference, historians, scholars, and business professionals debated barriers and opportunities for business and environmental sustainability. Although ideas of a future path differed, many participants said sustainability objectives based on voluntary firm action have become diffuse, making progress difficult.
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      Author Abstract

      This working paper examines key barriers to business sustainability discussed at a multidisciplinary conference held at the Harvard Business School in 2018. Drawing on perspectives from both the historical and business literatures, speakers debated the historical success and future opportunities for voluntary business actions to advance sustainability. Roadblocks include misaligned incentives, missing institutions, inertia of economic systems, and the concept of sustainability itself. It appears that overcoming these roadblocks will require systematic interventions and alternative normative concepts.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: January 2019
      • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #19-067
      • Faculty Unit(s): Finance
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      Shawn A. Cole
      Shawn A. Cole
      John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration
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