Publications

November 1992 (Revised May 1993)
Case

American Mobile Satellite Corporation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

American Mobile Satellite Corp. (AMSC) has a license to provide wireless mobile communications via satellite throughout the United States and 200 miles of coastal waters. The first satellite launch is scheduled for 1994 and, in the interim, AMSC is providing limited... View Details

Keywords: Wireless Technology; Decisions; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Sales; Emerging Markets; Resource Allocation; Performance Capacity; Communications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

05 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 5

significantly reduces dishonesty. When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance Authors:L.P. Tost, F. Gino, and R. Larrick Publication:Academy of Management... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 May 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Thinking About Global

Friedman, managers who believe the hype of a flat world do so at their own risk, says HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat. National borders still matter a lot for business strategists. While identifying similarities from one place to the next... View Details

02 Jul 2001
What Do You Think?

Built to Last or Bought to Sell?

investors the only measure of performance for an organization, or is it one of many ways of measuring value creation? (3) Assuming Foster and Kaplan are right, how do we prepare and motivate people to lead and View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Feb 2007
What Do You Think?

Is There Too Little “Know Why” In Business?

purpose itself evolutionary? Does it change as organizations grow? Does it change from one generation of management to the next? How can it be made as tangible to employees as profit? Can we aspire to a strong sense of "know... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

June 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together

By: Boris Groysberg, Tricia Gregg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-048. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Communication; Cooperation; Decision Making; Leadership

October 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Microsoft: Launching the Smart Watch

By: John T. Gourville and Christina L. Darwall

Microsoft is on the verge of launching its Smart Watch technology, which will allow specially designed watches to receive up-to-date information on sports, business, traffic, news, etc. After several years of effort and millions of dollars spent, the questions now... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Information Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Performance Effectiveness; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology Industry

28 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 28, 2008

months after the initial filing. We show that firms that are targeted by activists are more likely to get acquired than those in a control sample. Finally, we show that the portfolios managed by activist investors View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2010
Teaching Note

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

Teaching Note for 310011 and 310017. View Details

Keywords: Projects; For-Profit Firms; Networks; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Evaluation; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Poverty; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

23 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Businesses Need a 'Catalyst' to Make CSR Practices Stick

Many companies follow a tried-and-true approach to pursuing corporate social responsibility practices. They set aside a certain amount per year to fund a CSR office, which then tries to help clean up the environment or improve the quality of life of people in the areas... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

April 2012
Article

The Changing Ecology of Teams: New Directions for Teams Research

By: Ruth Wageman, Heidi K. Gardner and Mark Mortensen

The nature of collaboration has been changing at an accelerating pace, particularly in the last decade. Much of the published work in teams research, however, is still focused on the archetypal team that has well-defined membership, purposes, leadership, and standards... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Research; Change Management; Leadership; Standards; Performance Effectiveness; Theory; Civil Society or Community

June 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (A)

By: Anita L. Tucker and Jillian Alexandra Berry

Brigham and Women's Hospital challenged a team of physicians to improve patient flow from the Emergency Department to Intensive Care Units (ICUs). One of the team members, Selwyn Rogers, Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at Brigham and Women's... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Conflict and Resolution; Health Industry; Massachusetts

September 2006 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Supergrid

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Supergrid is a mammoth wind-power development scheme for Europe, recently proposed by Airtricity. This firm, founded in 1997, is a fast-growing power-development company focused on wind. Already having built about 600 megawatts of wind turbines in Scotland and Ireland,... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Performance Capacity; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Europe; United States

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

Dow, General Motors, Nestlé, and Petrobras) and smaller entrepreneurial firms (such as the U.K.'s AIFS and China's BabyCare) undertake critical financing, investment, risk management, and incentive management issues to take full advantage... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

05 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

It’s Alive! Business Scholars Turn to Experimental Research

whether people will let him cut in line at the airport for a $10 bribe. These experiments are proving integral in learning not only what makes people tick but also how that matters for business. "Over the last decade, scholars and View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

October 2007
Article

Grist: A Strategic Approach to Climate

By: Michael E. Porter and Forest Reinhardt

Climate change will affect everything businesses do, as government efforts to mitigate carbon emissions cause their prices to rise steeply. This special edition of Forethought takes a hard-nosed look at the risks and opportunities of climate change. Michael E. Porter... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Leadership; Logistics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Improvement; Climate Change; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel

the importance of risk management and oversight. Robert C. Merton, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor, similarly expressed concern about the unintended consequences of change on Wall Street, closing with the assertion that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Friendly Fenway Program, The: The Value of Experience Enhancement

By: Stephen A. Greyser

The marketing head of the Boston Red Sox is reviewing the team's "Friendly Fenway" fan satisfaction program. The program is described in the context of the team's on-the-field performance, the ballpark's character, and team marketing and fan-building in general. The... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Revenue; Framework; Management; Marketing Reference Programs; Performance; Boston

September 2004
Article

Rational Overoptimism (and Other Biases)

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

Rational agents with differing priors tend to be overoptimistic about their chances of success. In particular, an agent who tries to choose the action that is most likely to succeed, is more likely to choose an action of which he overestimated, rather than... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Decision Choices and Conditions; Performance Expectations; Outcome or Result; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Failure; Success; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Personal Characteristics; Values and Beliefs; Ethics