Faculty & Research
Faculty & Research
- 2020
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer-Packaged Foods Industry
By: Amanda Rischbieth, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
| We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the consumer-packaged goods industry. We design a methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates on customer...
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- September 2020
- Case
Algramo
By: Michael Chu, Monica Silva and Mariana Cal
| Algramo, recognized for reducing food prices in Chilean low-income neighborhoods through dispensers eliminating packaging, has developed a model to end single-use plastic in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry. Beginning with a partnership with Unilever...
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- 2020
- Book Chapter
Climate Change Is Going to Transform Where and How We Build
By: John D. Macomber
| As fires, floods, and droughts increasingly threaten homes, businesses, and other institutions, climate risk has become financial risk. This implies that homeowners and investors have been making location decisions without properly pricing the cost of potential peril,...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Measuring the Cost of Corporate Water Usage
By: DG Park, George Serafeim and T. Robert Zochowski
| We develop a methodology that calculates the impact that organizations have on the environment through their water consumption relating to water stress risk. Using the methodology, we derive estimates for four companies that show how assumptions on the geographic...
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- September 2020
- Case
d.light
By: Michael Chu, Krishna G. Palepu and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha
| Kenyan off-grid-solar pioneer d.light can power entire homes in rural Africa but must now decide how to fund the growth of its asset-heavy business model. Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman founded d.light in 2006 to transform lives through solar solutions enabling access to...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Long-run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies
By: Shawn Cole, Martin Melecky, Florian Mölders and Tristan Reed
| There is growing interest in impact investing, the idea of deploying capital to obtain both financial and social or environmental returns. Examination of every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation, one of the largest and longest-operating...
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- September–October 2020
- Harvard Business Review
Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value
By: George Serafeim
| Until the mid-2010s few investors paid attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data—information about companies’ carbon footprints, labor policies, board makeup, and so forth. Today the data is widely used by investors. How can organizations create...
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- 2020
- Foundations and Trends® in Accounting
Research on Corporate Sustainability: Review and Directions for Future Research
By: Jody Grewal and George Serafeim
| We review the literature on corporate sustainability and provide directions for future research. Our review focuses on three actions: measuring, managing and communicating corporate sustainability performance. Measurement is the least developed of the three and...
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- 01 Sep 2020
- Cold Call Podcast
How to Launch a New Biosciences Product: Start Small or Dive in?
Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang
| 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.
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- September 2020
- Case
GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
| In June 2020, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) presented its report to the California Energy Commission indicating that its proof of concept project to demonstrate its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G , had been a success. While conventional...
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- September 3, 2020
- Harvard Business Review (website)
How to Measure a Company’s Real Impact
By: Ronald Cohen and George Serafeim
| Impact transparency will reshape capitalism. By shifting the pursuit of profit away from negligently creating problems to purposefully creating valuable solutions for the world, it will redefine success, so that its measure is not just money, but the positive impact we...
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