Publications

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27 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Voting Democrat or Republican? The Critical Childhood Influence That's Tough to Shake

American political candidates are forecast to spend as much as $12 billion by next November to put ads on airwaves, texts on phones, and signs on lawns. Yet new research from Harvard Business School finds... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

29 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

How Companies Benefit When Employees Work Remotely

Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School, and fellow researchers compared the outcomes of flexible work arrangements at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

volatility. This paper presents evidence that movements in both the short-term nominal interest rate and the yield spread are positively related to changes in subsequent realized bond risk and bond return... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2021
Technical Note

SPAC Space

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2020, over half of all initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United States were special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), blank-check companies that typically had two years to find a business to take public, usually through a reverse merger. Together, 248... View Details

Keywords: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies; SPACs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Strategy

05 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Reflecting on Work Improves Job Performance

around. "Now more than ever we seem to be living lives where we're busy and overworked, and our research shows that if we'd take some time out for reflection, we might be... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2011
Article

Zoom In, Zoom Out

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Zoom buttons on digital devices let us examine images from many viewpoints. They also provide an apt metaphor for modes of strategic thinking. Some people prefer to see things up close, others from afar. Both perspectives have virtues. But they should not be fixed... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cognition and Thinking; Perspective; Leadership; Opportunities; Decisions

Find at Harvard

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

company that resorted to inhumane means of reducing its workforce, according to a trio of case studies co-written by Cynthia Montgomery, the Timken Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2024
Case

Continuity & Change at Boston Consulting Group

By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and David Lane

As the new CEO of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) since autumn 2021, Christoph Schweizer had big shoes to fill—his predecessor, Rich Lesser, had tripled the partnership’s total revenues and created digital initiatives that contributed 40+% of 2021 revenues, more than... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Governance; AI and Machine Learning; Environmental Sustainability; Leading Change; Risk Management; Organizational Culture; Partners and Partnerships; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Consulting Industry

June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Kvadrat: Leading for Innovation

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2013, Anders Byriel, CEO of the family-owned Danish textiles company, Kvadrat, considered the firm's strategic plan. In 2000, Byriel and Mette Bendix, Kvadrat's Product Director, had taken over management of the company from their fathers, who had founded Kvadrat... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Organizational Behavior; Strategy; Performance Management; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Human Resources; Denmark; Europe; Asia

June 1998 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Wells Fargo Online Financial Services (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Nicole Tempest

Wells Fargo, the industry leader in electronic banking, has implemented a Balanced Scorecard in its online financial services group (OFS) to track and measure performance. The OFS group develops and supports services that allow existing and future banking customers to... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Finance; Change; Situation or Environment; Measurement and Metrics; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

Program

The HR-Executive Suite Connection

management to engage fully in every aspect of senior leadership discussions. As you analyze the core business challenges and opportunities that arise in typical executive committee meetings, you will improve... View Details

September 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Global Health Strategy

By: Mark R. Kramer and Sarah Mehta

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) was a medical technology firm headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, with 43,000 employees and 2016 revenues of $12.5 billion. For several years, the company had pursued developing products that created shared value, defined as... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Creating Shared Value; Odon Device; Medical Technology; Value Creation; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Emerging Markets; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Africa; Asia; Middle East

July 1976
Article

Effects of Externally-Imposed Deadlines on Subsequent Intrinsic Motivation

By: T. M. Amabile, W. DeJong and M. R. Lepper

Studied the effects of externally imposed deadlines on individuals' task performance and their subsequent interest in the task. In 1 deadline condition, 20 male undergraduates were given an explicit time limit for solving a series of initially interesting word games.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Time Management; Social Psychology; Situation or Environment

Find at Harvard

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

too little influence to structural and situational factors. We examine whether this tendency leads even experienced professionals to make systematic mistakes in their selection decisions, favoring alumni from academic institutions with... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

22 Apr 2013
News

Earth Day: Recent Research on Sustainability

2009
Working Paper

Taking a 'Deep Dive': What Only a Top Leader Can Do

By: Howard H. Yu and Joseph L. Bower

Unlike most historical accounts of strategic change inside large firms, empirical research on strategic management rarely uses the day-to-day behaviors of top executives as the unit of analysis. By examining the resource allocation process closely, we introduce the... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Resource Allocation; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

SSRN

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February 2010
Supplement

Valuing Visa? Priceless (CW)

By: Peter Tufano

Students must determine whether or not Visa, which had an IPO one month prior, is a good investment. The case provides an overview of multisided platform businesses and the payments industry in general. Visa's business model and economics are reviewed. View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Microeconomics