Sustainable Business Insights: Research Briefs for Practitioners

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business is committed to sharing its affiliated faculty’s intellectual capital. Written with the needs of practitioners in mind, these research briefs translate cutting-edge academic research into an easy-to-read format emphasizing business insights.

We invite our industry partners to contact the authors to discuss the implications of the research for their company.

Social Performance and Human Rights Series

Latest Briefs

January 24, 2018

Research Brief: How Did Markets React to the Rana Plaza Disaster?

Authors: Brian W. Jacobs, Vinod R. Singhal. How did stock markets react to the Rana Plaza disaster, which killed more than 1,200 garment workers and injured another 2,400 in Bangladesh in 2013?

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Circular Economy Series

Latest Briefs

April 24, 2018

How Optimized Remarketing and Refurbishment Can Help Grow Revenue and Improve Circularity

How should manufacturers allocate refurbished consumer returns between remarketing and warranty fulfillment to extract maximum value for the manufacturer? How does the optimal allocation of returns to remarketing and warranty fulfillment change over the product life cycle? How do return rates, remarketing potential, refurbishing costs, failure rates, and product pricing affect optimal allocation?

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March 23, 2018

Research Brief: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): What are the Design Implications on Durable Products?

Authors: Atalay Atasu, Natalie (Ximin) Huang, L. Beril Toktay How should manufacturers of durable goods design products in response to EPR-based takeback legislation? What options do they have, and how do different policy requirements influence strategic design choices? How can policymakers set requirements to achieve desired results, while avoiding unintended consequences?

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February 24, 2018

Research Brief: Operational Strategies to Match Surplus with Humanitarian Needs

Authors: Can Zhang, Atalay Atasu, Turgay Ayer, L. Beril Toktay How can medical surplus recovery organizations (MSROs) overcome a challenging supply chain—limited supply, high and varied demand, and limited information about recipient needs—to deliver the right medical product to the right recipient healthcare facility? Can MSROs simultaneously provide information about their inventory levels and obtain accurate need information from recipients?

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