Publications

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25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

soon it’ll do the same kind of matching throughout much of the world.” Temu announced its presence in a Super Bowl ad in early 2023 with two spots costing an estimated $14 million. The ads told Americans to... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

September 2023 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Mohamed Salah

By: Anita Elberse and Taher El Moataz Bellah

In June 2022, Mohamed Salah, one of the world’s best soccer players, and his lawyer and advisor Ramy Abbas Issa were in ongoing discussions with top English Premier League club Liverpool FC about a new playing contract for Salah. Arguably the Arab world’s biggest... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Superstars; General Management; Sports; Entertainment; Media; Marketing; Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Sports Industry; England

October 2016
Case

Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Sarah Mehta

The case is used to illustrate the place of ‘Purpose’ versus financial risk and returns in a founder’s objectives. It also addresses personal risk profile of different founders, and when paired with the Risk Tolerance Exercise, it enables evaluating one’s own appetite... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicle; Solar Power; Vision; Trade-offs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Risk and Uncertainty; Entrepreneurship; Failure; United States; North America

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

When Rights of First Refusal Are a Bad Deal

in your study, agree to these arrangements? A: Contracts are big, complicated things with lots of clauses, some of which get exercised rarely if at all. So it's sometimes hard for bad clauses to be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Construction; Real Estate; Entertainment & Recreation

March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Culture at Google

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Amy Klopfenstein and Sarah Mehta

Beginning in 2017, technology (tech) company Google faced a series of employee-relations issues that threatened its unique culture of innovation and open communication. Issues included protests surrounding Google’s contracts with the U.S. government, restrictions of... View Details

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

NFL-Network Television Contracts, 1998-2005, The

By: Stephen A. Greyser

The National Football League (NFL) is negotiating its next round of national television contracts with its broadcast and cable TV partners. The revenues from these contracts constitute a major source of income for the individual NFL teams. The case provides information... View Details

Keywords: History; Rights; Contracts; Business Earnings; Negotiation; Partners and Partnerships; Budgets and Budgeting; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2013 (Revised March 2017)
Teaching Note

Luotang Power: Variances Explained (Brief Case)

By: Robert Simons and Craig Chapman

The primary objective is to explore the concepts of variance analysis in performance from one year to the next and the predictability of contracting counterparts to extract value from contract positions where they can. The general manager of a coal-fired power plant... View Details

Keywords: Variance Analysis; Strategy And Execution; Profitability Analysis; Management Control Systems; Contracts; Valuation; Energy Generation; Accounting; Performance Evaluation; China

Research Summary

Working Papers

By: Dennis A. Yao

Lewis, Tracy R. and Dennis A. Yao. (2001, revised 2006). "Innovation, Knowledge Flow, and Worker... View Details

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

How Economics May Lead to Better Football Games

game. The best match is one between the teams ranked first and second in the coaches' or sportswriters' polls. If those two teams play each other, the winner can claim to be the national champion. But for many years, athletic conferences... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value

April 2024
Article

Pay-As-You-Go Insurance: Experimental Evidence on Consumer Demand and Behavior

By: Raymond Kluender

Pay-as-you-go contracts reduce minimum purchase requirements which may increase market participation. We randomize the introduction and price(s) of a novel pay-as-you-go contract to the California auto insurance market where 17 percent of drivers are uninsured. The... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Consumer Behavior; Price; Personal Finance; Insurance Industry; California

2002
Case

Southwest Airlines

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Julie Lang

Southwest used its short-haul and point-to-point strategy to achieve the lowest operating cost structure in the domestic airline industry. Flexible contracts and a rigorous peer recruiting process aligned its 35,000 employees with this strategy. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Air Transportation; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

2024
Working Paper

Intrinsic Motivation and Referrals Within Firms: Evidence from a Large Microfinance Institution

By: Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

Many organizations rely on internal referrals between employees with differing comparative advantages. Yet when an employee encounters a lucrative opportunity, they may be motivated to retain it even when doing so harms efficiency. We develop a framework that... View Details

Keywords: Loan Officers; Strategic Behavior; Strategic Disclosure; Microfinance; Financial Institutions; Financing and Loans

Read Now

January 1994 (Revised April 2011)
Background Note

Note on Private Equity Partnership Agreements

By: Josh Lerner

Venture capital by necessity is a long-run investment. Consequently, since the mid-1960s virtually all venture financing has been raised through private partnerships with a ten-year or longer life span. To govern these investments, complex contracts have sprung up... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Investment; Governance; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships

Career Coach

David Woodman

David (HBS '92) uses his experience in starting and running media companies to assist students in matching their skills and interests with opportunities in the Media, Sports, and Entertainment sectors.Work... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media; Publishing / Communications / Advertising; Sports

2009
Working Paper

Social Influence Given (Partially) Deliberate Matching: Career Imprints in the Creation of Academic Entrepreneurs

By: Pierre Azoulay, Christopher C. Liu and Toby E. Stuart

Actors often match with associates on a small set of dimensions that matter most for the particular relationship at hand. In so doing, they are exposed to unanticipated social influences because counterparts have more interests, attitudes, and preferences than would-be... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Patents; Marketplace Matching; Mathematical Methods; Science-Based Business; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Biotechnology Industry