George Serafeim

George Serafeim

Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration

Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration

Accounting and Management
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George Serafeim
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Featured Work Publications Teaching Awards & Honors

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, the Faculty Co-Chair of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project, and the Co-Principal Investigator of the Climate and Sustainability Impact AI Lab at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching the course "Risks, Opportunities and Investments in an Era of Climate Change" that he designed for the elective curriculum of the MBA program and the course "Financial Reporting and Control" in the required MBA curriculum. Previously, he taught, with Professor Rebecca Henderson, the elective course “Reimagining Capitalism: Business and Big Problems”, which received the Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute and the Grand Page Prize. He has presented his research in over 60 countries around the world and ranks among the top 10 most popular authors out of over 12,000 business authors on the Social Science Research Network. His forthcoming book "Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World" will be available in summer of 2022.

Professor Serafeim’s research focuses on measuring, driving and communicating corporate performance and social impact. His work is widely cited and has been published in prestigious academic and practitioner journals, such as Management Science, The Accounting Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Finance, Organization Science, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of International Business Studies, Review of Accounting Studies, Financial Analysts Journal, and Harvard Business Review. His research is regularly cited in the media, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Economist, BBC, Le Monde, Washington Post, and NPR. He has received multiple awards and recognitions, including the Greenhill Award for outstanding contributions to the HBS community, the Pericles Leadership Award in recognition of services to the Hellenic Republic, the Kim B. Clark Fellowship on Responsible Leadership from University of Oxford, the Dr. Richard A. Crowell Memorial Prize, the JIBS Decade Award, and the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award, for his research on corporate purpose, sustainability and the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in business strategy and investing. He has been recognized by Barron's as “one of the most influential people in ESG investing.”

Professor Serafeim has held several positions of leadership. He serves on the board of directors of Liberty Mutual, a Fortune 100 company and global leader in property-casualty insurance, dss+, a leading operations consulting firm and the global leader in employee health and safety services, and AEA-Bridges Impact Corp., a NYSE publicly listed company. He is an academic partner at State Street Associates, where he directs research on climate change-related transition and physical risks and opportunities and other ESG issues that are of relevance to investors globally. He has been an investor and advisor for several start-ups in the investment management industry.

Previously, he co-founded the advisory services firm KKS Advisors, which was acquired by DuPont Sustainable Solutions. Moreover, he served on the steering committee of the Athens Exchange Group, the governance body for both stock and bond market exchanges, with a focus on capital formation and efficient financing. During his tenure as the Chairperson of Greece’s Corporate Governance Council, a new corporate governance code was created and issued to improve corporate governance practices, investor protection, and competitiveness. He has contributed in advancing corporate transparency globally, having served on the inaugural Standards Council of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, which created standards for investor relevant sustainability corporate disclosures adopted by hundreds of leading companies around the world, and on the Taskforce Working Group on Impact Transparency, Integrity and Reporting established by the UK's Presidency of the G7 nations. He was a member of the first ever decarbonization advisory panel for the New York Common Retirement Fund, one of the largest US pension funds, which offered recommendations on how the Fund could identify, assess and manage the investment risks and opportunities of climate change.

Professor Serafeim earned his doctorate in business administration at Harvard Business School, where his doctoral dissertation was recognized with the Wyss Award for excellence in research. He received a master's degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was awarded the Emeritus Professors’ Prize for best academic performance. He grew up in Athens, Greece.

Featured Work
Purpose + Profit
How Business Can Lift Up the World

Available for order now.

Are purpose and profit substitutes or complementary? What are the technological, societal, and market forces that are reshaping this relationship? What can we all do to reshape the relationship between purpose and profit as entrepreneurs, managers, consumers, employees, and investors? Backed by cutting-edge research, "Purpose and Profit" provides answers to these fundamental questions that are increasingly defining the competitiveness of businesses all around the world. Based on more than a decade of field and archival research Professor Serafeim takes readers through a journey to understand:

  • How and why environmental and social issues are becoming increasingly relevant for businesses all around the world;
  • The ways that companies can design and implement a strategy that has more positive impact;
  • The six archetypes of value creation enabled by these new trends;
  • The role of investors in supporting companies by recognizing the value of strategic management of material ESG issues and
  • How we can all look at our choices and our careers through the lens of these societal trends to drive impact in our lives and for our organizations.
Making Sustainability Count
Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value
How can organizations create real value and impact from their ESG efforts? Too many companies have embraced a "box-ticking" culture and fail to see any value from their ESG efforts. In this article Professor Serafeim describes a five-pronged approach for companies to better manage and govern resources allocated to ESG issues:
  1. Think ESG as strategy not as compliance
  2. Create accountability for ESG throughout the organisation
  3. Identify a corporate purpose and build a culture around it
  4. Give ESG responsibilities to core business leaders
  5. Use impact weighted accounting metrics for better decision making and to attract aligned investors
Reimagining Capitalism: Purpose and Profit
Performance, Purpose, and ESG Issues
Professor George Serafeim explores performance, purpose, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues and how they can meet the challenges of growing income inequality and environmental damage in his Kim B Clark Fellowship Talk, while visiting Oxford University.
How to Measure a Company's Real Impact
The Impact Weighted Accounts Project
To reshape capitalism towards a more inclusive and sustainable system we need to reshape accounting. Professor Serafeim leads the Impact Weighted Accounts Project that revolutionizes measurement of corporate performance. For research on product, employment and environmental impact please see here. You can find an open access dataset of corporate environmental impact for ~13,000 firm-year observations.
Investors as Stewards of the Commons
Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of initiatives seeking to mobilize investor voice towards positive social impact. This paper, provides a framework outlining the role of investors as stewards of the commons.
White-Collar Crime
How to Scandal-Proof Your Company
For the past 10 years we’ve studied white-collar crime and explored how companies can create an environment that discourages it. We used data from individual companies and from surveys by PwC, Transparency International, the World Bank, executive recruiting firms, and other organizations. All told we looked at data on thousands of organizations and individuals. In addition, we interviewed more than 50 senior and middle managers at 10 organizations that had experienced scandals. And in our research we’ve found time and again that while compliance systems are important, leadership plays a critical role in shaping an organization’s attitudes toward preventing crime and its responses when wrongdoing is detected.
Toward a More Inclusive Society
How do we ensure that everyone in society benefits from economic growth? How do we narrow income disparities? If inclusive capitalism at its core means bringing society and business together, what are the strategies to get us there? At the Aspen Ideas Festival, Professor Serafeim provided answers to those questions.

In a Harvard Business Review article Professor Serafeim and co-authors outline a roadmap for companies and investors that seek to create inclusive growth.
Aligning Sustainability with Corporate Performance
How Companies Can Integrate Sustainability to their Core and Why Investors Should Care

By now most companies have sustainability programs. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. Professor's Serafeim reseach has shown the value implications of integrating sustainability in a company's strategy and operations, and what are the distinguishing organizational processes that sustainable organizations have. His work on the financial materiality of sustainability investments was the first one to demonstrate the path to financial value. Relatedly, in his work he has outlined a process that can be used to execute a sustainable strategy and extend the boundaries of The Performance Frontier, and how to implement a strategy to achieve organizational change.

In his line of work on sustainable investing he has documented a market interest in nonfinancial information, how sell-side analysts have shifted their perceptions about the value of sustainability, and how firms with better ESG performance have better access to finance.

Corporate Transparency and Disclosure
How Companies Communicate their Sustainability Efforts and What are the Consequences
An increasing number of companies issue sustainability or integrated reports. It is estimated that now more than 10,000 companies do so. In addition, an increasing number of countries now mandate reporting of ESG information. In his work, Professor Serafeim has articulated the functions of corporate reporting, why integrated reporting promises to serve those functions effectively, and an institutional strategy for adoption of integrated reporting globally. Relatedly, he has documented how a company can use integrated reporting to shape a more long-term oriented investor base. 

Moreover, he has demonstrated the consequences of mandatory sustainability reporting and how investors react to mandatory nonfinancial reporting.
Books
Selective Readings in Climate Change & Decarbonization Strategies
Selective Readings in Corporate Purpose
Selective Readings in ESG Data & Strategies
Selective Readings in Leadership & Governance
Impact-Weighted Accounts
Journal Articles
Op-eds
Book Chapters
Teaching Cases
Teaching Notes
  • Serafeim, George, Ethan Rouen, and Katie Panella. "Valuing Employment Case Spreadsheet Supplement." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 121-091, May 2021. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and Ethan Rouen. "Valuing Employment." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 121-087, April 2021. View Details
  • Deshpandé, Rohit, Aiyesha Dey, and George Serafeim. "BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 121-089, May 2021. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and Ethan Rouen. "Redefining Mogul." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 121-030, October 2020. View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Harlem Capital: Changing the Face of Entrepreneurship." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 121-027, September 2020. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, Ethan Rouen, and David Freiberg. "SK Group: Social Progress Credits." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 120-112, May 2020. View Details
  • Di Maggio, Marco, Ethan Rouen, and George Serafeim. "Facebook's Libra: The Privatization of Money?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 220-048, December 2019. (Revised February 2022.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "JetBlue: Relevant Sustainability Leadership (A) & (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 118-116, May 2018. (Revised November 2018.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 118-065, February 2018. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 119-034, September 2018. (Revised April 2019.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "Omar Selim: Building a Values-Based Asset Management Firm (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 117-011, January 2017. (Revised February 2017.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "21st Century Populism." Harvard Business School Technical Note 118-029, November 2017. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 117-057, April 2017. (Revised March 2019.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, Rebecca Henderson, and David Freiberg. "CLP: Powering Asia." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 117-053, April 2017. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and David Freiberg. "Turnaround at Norsk Gjenvinning (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 117-037, October 2016. (Revised February 2019.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, and Jody Grewal. "ESG Metrics: Reshaping Capitalism?" Harvard Business School Technical Note 116-037, March 2016. (Revised April 2019.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, Rebecca Henderson, and David Freiberg. "Shanghai: GDP Apostasy." Harvard Business School Case 115-042, March 2015. (Revised February 2017.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Aviva Investors." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 115-058, May 2015. View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Statoil: Transparency on Payments to Governments." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 115-054, May 2015. View Details
  • Serafeim, George, Rebecca Henderson, and David Freiberg. "Shanghai: GDP Apostasy." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 115-065, June 2015. (Revised February 2017.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Greece's Debt: Sustainable?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 115-064, June 2015. View Details
  • Eccles, Robert G., George Serafeim, and Michael P. Krzus. "A Note on Materiality for Nonfinancial Information." Harvard Business School Background Note 314-033, August 2013. (Revised November 2013.) View Details
  • Serafeim, George, Robert G. Eccles, and Sydney Ribot. "Natura Cosméticos, S.A. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 113-103, February 2013. View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Ultimate Fighting Championship: License to Operate (A) & (B) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 113-034, September 2012. (Revised March 2013.) View Details
  • Eccles, Robert G., and George Serafeim. "Foxconn Technology Group (A) and (B) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 413-055, August 2012. (Revised March 2013.) View Details
  • Eccles, Robert G., George Serafeim, Pippa Armbrester, and Jess Schulschenk. "A Note on the International Integrated Reporting Council: Towards An International Framework ." Harvard Business School Technical Note 413-072, November 2012. View Details
  • Palepu, Krishna G., and George Serafeim. "Leasing Decision at Magnet Beauty Products, Inc. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 111-089, April 2011. View Details
  • Healy, Paul, Krishna G. Palepu, and George Serafeim. "Subprime Crisis and Fair-Value Accounting (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 112-027, August 2011. View Details
  • Eccles, Robert G., George Serafeim, Mayuka Yamazaki, and Akiko Kanno. "An Aging Society." Harvard Business School Background Note 112-074, December 2011. View Details
  • Eccles, Robert G., Amy C. Edmondson, George Serafeim, and Sarah E. Farrell. "A Note on Water." Harvard Business School Background Note 412-050, August 2011. (Revised February 2012.) View Details
  • Ramanna, Karthik, and George Serafeim. "Urban Water Partners (TN) (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 111-067, December 2010. View Details
  • Serafeim, George. "Sustainable Product Management at Solvay." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 122-081, March 2022. View Details
Working Papers
Other Publications and Materials
Teaching
Reimagining Capitalism: Business and Big Problems

Professor Serafeim teaches with Professor Rebecca Henderson the course "Reimagining Capitalism: Business and Big Problems" in the second year of the MBA. Cases taught in this course include among others:

Fighting corruption and turning around an organization using strong values and management: Turnaround at Norsk Gjenvinning

Empowering more effective self-regulation mechanisms and exploring the effectiveness of voluntary, self-regulatory and regulatory approaches: Statoil: Transparency on Payments to Governments

Understanding the flaws of GDP as a measure of economic well-being and designing strategy maps and alternative metrics for strategy execution: Shanghai: GDP Apostasy

Exploring the role of purpose and values in individual decision making inside organizations: Omar Selim: Building a Values-Based Asset Management Firm

Understanding the challenge of change in large organization and scenario analysis in environments of transformational change: ExxonMobil: Business As Usual?

Illustrating the benefits and costs of firm actions to adapt to a low carbon world and fighting climate change: CLP: Powering Asia

Understanding active ownership and engagement in public markets in the context of environmental and social issues. Aviva Investors

Exploring the development of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and their effect on organizational and market behavior. ESG Metrics: Reshaping Capitalism? 

Awards & Honors
Winner of the 2022 Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Decade Award with Ioannis Ioannou for their article "What Drives Corporate Social Performance? The Role of Nation-level Institutions" (December 2012).
Winner of the 2021 Richard A. Crowell Memorial Award, First Prize, from PanAgora Asset Management’s Quantitative Research Institute for his paper with Aaron Yoon, “Stock Price Reactions to ESG News: The Role of ESG Ratings and Disagreement."
Winner of the 2020 Graham and Dodd Scroll Award from the Financial Analysts Journal for “Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability” (2020).
Awarded the 2019 Kim B. Clark Fellowship in Responsible Leadership at Saїd Business School at Oxford University.
Winner of Aspen Institute’s 2017 Ideas Worth Teaching Award in the Corporate Purpose & Leadership category for the MBA course Reimagining Capitalism: Business and the Big Problems with Rebecca Henderson.
Winner of the 2017 Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula for the MBA course “Reimagining Capitalism: Business and the Big Problems” with Rebecca Henderson.
Recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Service-National Meeting Co-coordinator Award from the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) of the American Accounting Association with Lian Fen Lee.
Received a 2017 Emerald Management Review Citation of Excellence Award for "Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance" with Beiting Cheng and Ioannis Ioannou (Strategic Management Journal, 2014).
Winner of the inaugural Pericles Leadership Award from the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Japonica Partners in 2015.
Winner of the second place 2013 Hermes Fund Managers' Best Paper Prize for the paper "Causes and Consequences of Firm Disclosures of Anticorruption Efforts" (with Paul Healy, Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12–077, 2012).
Runner-up for the 2013 Whitebox Grant for Research in the Behavioral Sciences for the paper with Mozaffar Khan and Leonid Kogan, "Mutual Fund Trading Pressure: Firm-Level Stock Price Impact and Timing of SEOs" (Journal of Finance, 2012).
Received the Scandinavian Private Bank (SEB) Award at the 2011 PRI-Mistra Conference for his paper with Beiting Cheng and Ioannis Ioannou, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance" (Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming).
Selected for publication in the 2010 Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings for "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations," coauthored with Ioannis Ioannou.
Won the 2010 Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research.
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