article thumbnail

Excess Inventory Wastes Carbon and Energy, Not Just Money

Harvard Business Review

For those of us not in operations, supply chain, or logistics, it's a vaguely familiar line item we learned about in finance class. As I learned at the conference, according to Terra Technology's benchmarking study , the error rate for CPG companies on estimated vs. actual sales is shockingly high. I was wrong.

Energy 11
article thumbnail

Should Big Companies Give Up on Innovation?

Harvard Business Review

The model involved an innovative combination of direct marketing through billboards and leaflets; diagnostic camps where technicians would screen scores of patients in an afternoon; changes to the supply chain to lower the cost of the pacemaker for selected hospitals; and the world’s first loan program for an implantable medical device.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

The Scale of the Climate Catastrophe Will Depend on What Businesses Do Over the Next Decade

Harvard Business Review

The report’s beginnings trace back to 2009, when the annual UN global climate conference resulted in an agreement that the world should hold warming to 2.0°C ” We will need to cut CO2 emissions by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, the report says, and get to no emissions by 2050. °C (3.8°F) Getting to 1.5

article thumbnail

Sustainable Business Will Move Ahead With or Without Trump’s Support

Harvard Business Review

The cost to build and produce solar and wind power, for example, has dropped 60%–80% since 2010 , making it cheaper than grid electricity in most states. All of the signatories are meeting right now at the UN climate change conference in Morocco, and they’re making it clear that they are powering on.