Wide-scale adoption of renewable energy is essential to ensure Europe decarbonizes its energy systems and meets its ambitious net-zero targets. But what motivates interested individuals to make the decision to invest? A recent study by Operations Management Professors Andrea Masini and Sam Aflaki (HEC Paris), Shadi Goodarzi (California State University and the University of Texas), and Behnam Fahimnia (University of Sydney Business School), sheds light on the influence of different communication sources on this process, with implications for policymakers, technology providers, and other sustainability stakeholders.
By Andrea Masini , Sam Aflaki
In a world that is currently confronting a climatic crisis caused in part by overconsumption and garment manufacture, it is critical to determine which industry actors can effectively be drivers of the move to a more sustainable lifestyle. Based on a field study in the Portuguese textile and clothing industry, Monica Santos Silva, a SASI Master student supervised by Operations Management Professor Sam Aflaki, explains the mechanisms that make family businesses more competitive and sustainable.
Camille Putois is the CEO of Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG), a coalition of more than 40 global businesses, representing 4.4 million employees and a combined revenue of over 1 trillion USD. She discusses how this coalition strives for more inclusive practices and navigates the pros and cons of the different methods to measure progress on this crucial topic. For this, she worked with Leandro Nardi and Marieke Huysentruyt, researchers at the Inclusive Economy Center at HEC Paris.
The world is constantly evolving and uncertain. However, if there is one certainty it is the need to remain humble. To better build the resilience needed to manage this change and uncertainty in a responsible way, find key findings and classic advice from HEC Paris researchers to decipher environments at all levels: from one’s own career to geopolitical business links. In this In-Depth issue, you will learn that family businesses focus more on resilience than on performance, that connecting private interests and sharing with the community is vital for sustainable objectives and that developing professional and personal resilience takes practice. You will also discover how hybrid governance and smart cities can overcome disrupted supply chains and fight social inequality. Find the PDF version of the Knowledge@HEC' In-Depth issue here.
How can private companies and public bodies reorganize their short- and long-term strategies in the current economic context? For years, Professor Bertrand Quélin has been researching the collaboration between private firms, public authorities and civil society to offer solutions aimed at building resilience in cities and designed to tackle the challenges of climate change.
No business can relax for too long, but in our digital world, it's a matter of adapt or die. And as the boom of e-commerce has revolutionized supply chains and profoundly altered customer demands, data standards for retail products have needed to evolve. This has been a challenge for GS1, the original global provider of barcodes, which has had switch from providing “data-as-a-product” to “data-as-a-service”, totally rethinking its business model in the process.
By Shirish Srivastava
Online shoppers hunting for the perfect product may have pages and pages of search results to scroll through. An algorithm recently developed by a team of professors incorporates customers “click and search” behavior to help online retailers make important decisions about products’ price and ranking and thus potentially boost online sales.
By Sajjad Najafi
Increasingly firms are seeking new methods to stimulate creativity in a fast-moving business climate. Many turn to design thinking — but with mixed results. New research by HEC Paris Professor Sihem BenMahmoud-Jouini and RISE Senior Researcher Lisa Carlgren sought to find out why this practice is successful for some companies and less so for others. A culture clash may be at the heart of many difficulties.
By Sihem Ben Mahmoud-Jouini
Though nations agree that they must speed the creation and use of renewable energy solutions in order to avert climate disaster, there is less consensus on what government policies would most effectively serve this end. New research by HEC Paris Professors Sam Aflaki and Andrea Masini, and East West University Professor Syed Abul Basher of Economics offers insight into the best use of public investment.
New evidence shows that drugmakers can protect profitability by making process improvements to cut costs and strengthen the resilience of critical supply chains in the face of political pressure to ‘reshore’ operations and shortages of key ingredients amid coronavirus.
By Dimitrios Andritsos
