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Research for Practice

Ideas you can use

Our latest sustainability research and ideas for business leaders with a focus on sustainability strategy, social enterprise, and responsible investment.

   
   
 

OPEN IMPACT launches to help Canadian investors find impact investment products 

IMPACT INVESTING 
Lee-Chin Institute and Purpose Capital | www.openimpact.ca | 2017
OPEN IMPACT, an online resource to help Canadian investors find their social and environmental impact launched.

 

 
 

What If Investors Who Held Their Shares Longer Got More Voting Power?

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE

Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | April 27, 2017
A proposal to combat short-termism. 

 


 

Bold Bets for Social Change

SOCIAL INNOVATION

Roger L. Martin | ssir.org | April 27, 2017
To lower the risk of big philanthropic bets, funders should start with smaller, bolder ones.

 


 

Impact Investing in Victorian England? The Case of Model Dwellings Companies

IMPACT INVESTING
Rod Lohin | ssir.org | April 17, 2017
Can Impact Investing help with affordable housing? Lessons from an early approach to improving social conditions through investment.

 

 

Responsible Investing: Canadian Cleantech Investor Profiles

IMPACT INVESTING
Jason Visscher | Corporate Knights Magazine | Winter 2017
Alternative investment options for Canadians in the cleantech space.

 


 

Impact Investing: Tracking the Adoption of a Financial (and Social) Innovation

IMPACT INVESTING
Roger L. Martin & Rod Lohin | Rotman Mgmt. Mag. | Winter 2017
If impact investing can address barriers to adoption and play up key strengths, it will be one of the breakthrough innovations of our time. 


 

When Expertise Becomes A Liability

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE
Andras Tilcsik & Juan Almandoz | Rotman Mgmt. Mag. | Winter 2017
Domain experts are often touted as being invaluable, but when uncertainty prevails, they can actually increase the likelihood of failure.



 

Research: How Subtle Class Cues Can Backfire on Your Resume

GENDER & INCLUSION
Lauren Rivera & Andras Tilcsik | hbr.org | December 2016
The gendered effect of social class signals in an elite labour market.

 

 

 

Getting Beyond Better Syllabus: Being a Social Entrepreneur Is a Way of Seeing...

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Roger L. Martin & Sally R. Osberg | skoll.org | December 5, 2016
On the release of Getting Beyond Better and the companion Syllabus.

 

 

Are Americans Enamored with the Wrong Kinds of Entrepreneurs?

SOCIAL INNOVATION
Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | November 11, 2016
What it really means to be an entrepreneur. For Drucker Forum 2016: The Entrepreneurial Society.

 

 

The False Premise of the Shareholder Value Debate

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE
Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | September 26, 2016
What it really means to be an entrepreneur. For Drucker Forum 2016: The Entrepreneurial Society.

 

 

When Having Too Many Experts on the Board Backfires

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE
Andras Tilcsik & Juan Almandoz | hbr.org | August 29, 2016
A study of banks pursuing uncertain strategies. 

 

 

Overhead Sounds Useless, So Stop Calling It That

SOCIAL INNOVATION
Roger L. Martin | ssir.org | Summer 2016  

Social Entrepreneurship by the Billions

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Roger L. Martin, Sally R. Osberg, & Jennifer Riel | Strategy + Business | March 29, 2016


The Overvaluation Trap

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE
Roger Martin and Alison Kemper | hbr.org | December 2015 Issue


Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE | BOOK RELEASE
Roger L. Martin and Sally R. Osberg | Harvard Business Review Press | October 2015


Yes, Short-termism Really is a Problem

INCENTIVES & GOVERNANCE
Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | October 2015

 

Self-Fulfilling Prophesies and Inclusive Capitalism

Roger L. Martin | Huffington Post Business | June 17, 2015

For Retailers, Expensive Lawsuits Focus the Mind Wonderfully

Roger L. Martin and Alison Kemper | The Globe and Mail | May 2015

Two Keys to Sustainable Social Enterprise

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg | Harvard Business Review | May 2015 Issue


Cities are businesses' best allies in the battle against climate change

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | October 14, 2014

 

The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy

Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | October 2014

 

When Star Talent Grew More Powerful Than Capital

Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | September 9, 2014 | also posted to The Huffington Post, September 10, 2014

 

How to Win the Argument with Milton Friedman

Roger L. Martin | hbr.org | June 2, 2014

 

All business leaders should consider the source of their electrical power

Alison Kemper and Roger Martin on “” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, May 7, 2014

 

The Rush For New Oil and Gas Sources is Pushing Us Towards Extreme Actions

Roger L. Martin and Alison Kemper | The Guardian Sustainable Business | March 27, 2014

 

 

Oil and trains make for a volatile combination in North America

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | March 13, 2014

 

Do middle-managers and finance block progress towards sustainability?

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | January 24, 2014

 

A lack of trust is standing in the way of sustainable collaborations

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | January 23, 2014

 

Top tips for overcoming short-termism

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | January 22, 2014

 

New research points to risk peak oil presents to business

Alison Kemper and Roger L. Martin | The Guardian Sustainable Business | January 13, 2014














ARCHIVED PUBLICATIONS

  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin on “Climate talks will fail unless parties agree to a carbon price,” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, November 25, 2013
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin on “Denialism: the shifting relationship between science and industry” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, November 11, 2013
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin on “New York, London and Mumbai: major cities face risk from sea-level rises,” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, November 4, 2013
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin on “Are governments' trade policies harming the growth of renewables?” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, September 25, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "We are underestimating climate change and underfunding innovation," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, September 9, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “Climate change puts the value of countless companies at risk,” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, June 26, 2013. 
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “Dhaka factory collapse: who will prevent another tragedy?” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, May 10, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “Volatile fossil fuel prices make renewable energy more attractive,” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, March 21, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “Will a new US secretary of state finally close a climate change deal?” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, January 15, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “New York, London and Mumbai: major cities face risk from sea-level rises,” in The Guardian Sustainable Business, January 4, 2013
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper, “The Message From Doha: Time's Running Out,” in the Huffington Post Business Blog, December 5, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Leaders look to US energy policy to signal sustainability is back in business," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, November 29, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Understanding cause and effect are vital to progress on sustainability," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, October 17, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Sustainable businesses need to think beyond their supply chains," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, September 13, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Why business is locked into unsustainable and carbon-heavy cycles," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, September 7, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Why saving the planet is no longer the work of political leaders," in The Guardian Sustainable Business, August 13, 2012
  • Roger Martin and Alison Kemper on "Saving the Planet: A Tale of Two Strategies" in Harvard Business Review, April 2012.
  • Roger Martin, Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL (Harvard Business Review Press; May 2011).
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin, "The CEO’s Dilemma," Criticaleye.net, March 2010.
  • Roger Martin, "Building Better Decision Makers: The 3D MBA," Rotman Magazine (Winter 2010).
  • Alison Kemper, "Observer effects in corporate ratings". Presentation, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. Niagara Falls, 2009.
  • Alison Kemper, "Corporate Social Responsibility," article in Q-Finance, Encyclopedia Bloomsbury Publications. 2009.
  • Rod Lohin, "Corporate citizenship: trends in corporate engagement in social innovation," presentation at the Social Innovation for a Better World in Our Time conference, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Rome, October, 2009
  • Rod Lohin and Alison Kemper, What’s a CEO to Do? Toolkit: a corporate citizenship strategy development guide for executives, Michael Lee-Chin Institute for Corporate Citizenship Monograph #1, February 2009, re-released 2010.
  • Alison Kemper, "Performativity Effects in Corporate Rankings," Poster at the SIM Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, 2008.
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin, "Evading self-fulfilling prophecies: rebuilding the social dimensions of the MBA," Presentation at EABIS, Cranfield, UK, 2008.
  • Alison Kemper and Roger Martin, "Rethinking our self-fulfilling prophecies: rebuilding the social dimensions of the MBA," Presentation at Biennial Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, Humboldt University, Berlin 2008.
  • Alison Kemper, "Making markets, changing organizations," Presentation at Energizing Markets – Making and Breaking Boundaries for The Regimes of Value, Copenhagen Business School, 2008.
  • Roger Martin interviewed in India’s Effective Executive September 2007 special issue on Corporate Social Responsibility
  • "Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition" by Roger Martin and Sally Osberg (Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2007)
  • Roger Martin, "Creating a Virtue Matrix Strategy" in Conference Board of Canada Corporate Social Responsibility Review (Winter 2006)
  • "A process for developing a CSR strategy for your organization" by Roger Martin and Rod Lohin in Canadian Business, August 29, 2005
  • "What's a CEO to Do?" by Roger Martin in Canadian Business April 11, 2005
  • "Where to Begin: A Framework for Developing Your CSR Strategy" by Roger Martin in Canadian Business Summer 2005
  • "What’s a CEO to do?" draft paper by Roger Martin
  • "What's a CEO to do?" draft presentation by Roger Martin
  • Roger Martin, "The Virtue Matrix: Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility," Harvard Business Review, March, 2002 and Rotman Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003
  • Alison Kemper, Rotman PhD Candidate, "Managing the Chaotic Interface," Rotman Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003