Publications

SSRN

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January 2020
Case

Freelancer, Ltd.

By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Jin Hyun Paik and Nina Cohodes

Over the course of the 2010s, the rapid advancement of mobile technologies and the rise of online freelancing platforms seemed to portend a radical transformation of labor markets into on-demand, flexible talent pools. Even though several Fortune 500... View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Platforms; Digital Labor; Labor; Human Resources; Management; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Industry; Australia; United States; Philippines

November 2020
Teaching Note

Unilever's Response to the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr and Bailey McAfee

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 820-104. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Transformation; Human Resources; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

January 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

AT&T Managing Technological Change and the Future of Telephone Operators in the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and William R. Kerr

By the 1930s, AT&T dominated the American phone industry, serving 10 million telephones and employing over 100,000 switchboard operators. But beginning in the mid-1910s, the company began changing from manually operated switchboards to mechanical switching systems that... View Details

Keywords: AT＆T; Bell Telephone; Phone Lines; Phone Operators; Mechanical Switching; Layoffs; Technological Change; Transition; History; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Disruption; Change Management; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Kevin Borders and Joe Golden, co-founders and co-CEOs of Collage.com, must decide how to grow their custom photo-products startup in the face of fierce competition. From 2011 through 2016, the business evolved from a hobby to a startup with $22 million in revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

1 Dec 2021
Interview

Hubert Joly on Humanizing the Profit Motive

By: Hubert Joly, William Kerr and Joseph Fuller

Can businesses afford to see employees in terms other than unit labor cost? How do you factor the Golden Rule into a profit and loss statement? Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly explains how unlearning business orthodoxies helped him prove that a human-centered approach... View Details

May 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Background Note

Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

In the face of a rapidly-changing economy, organizations that wish to compete in the future of work must develop strategies for acquiring, retaining, and developing talent for their organizations. This primer reviews the major trends shaping jobs, workplaces, and... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Demographics; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Supply Chain

31 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 31, 2018

and financial technology, the digital health ecosystem is in its nascent stages and has been waiting for a catalyst to seed the system. This National Health Protection Scheme is expected to provide just this impetus for widespread... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective By: Altman, Elizabeth J., and Michael Tushman Abstract—Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2018 (Revised March 2021)
Background Note

Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

This primer is meant to be a field guide to the late 2010s' surge in business use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), or enterprise software based in machine learning. First, it provides an overview of the key trends—digitization, connectivity, the continuation of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Digitization; Connectivity; Computing; Future Of Work; Automation; AI and Machine Learning

2022
Chapter

The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms

By: Mercedes Delgado, J. Daniel Kim and Karen G. Mills

Over the last few decades, the U.S. economy has exhibited a significant shift from manufacturing towards services. This transition has been particularly prominent in an important subcategory of services industries that drives innovation and employs many high-wage... View Details

Keywords: Servicification; Supply Chain Industries; STEM Labor; Innovation; Growth; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth; Policy; Service Industry; United States

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14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

have to pay attention to the fact that there are real differences in the ecosystems of each sector. Ebrahim: Mario raises a crucial distinction. In the for-profit world, we tend to see individual firms as the central unit of analysis.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

23 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 23

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211092-PDF-ENG Purchase this supplement (B):http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211102-PDF-ENG The Sandbox: Creating a Bottom-Up Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Shikhar Ghosh, Lynda M. Applegate,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

attempt to incorporate a social purpose frequently have to deal with competing market demands that still push them to focus exclusively on financial performance. We must take action to create an ecosystem within which companies are... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

03 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Facebook’s Future

device is a part of a greater Nike+ ecosystem that has attracted over 18 million users who happily share their athletic achievements with others. Just do a search on #nikeplus on Twitter, and you will discover a Nike-related tweet every... View Details

Keywords: by Mikolaj Piskorski

November 22, 2021
Article

Manage Your Talent Pipeline Like a Supply Chain

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Sigelman

In supply-chain management, you get what you plan for. Companies understand that principle when it comes to the goods that they consume and produce, but not when it comes to the people they hire and train. For decades, companies have adopted a short-term, ad hoc... View Details

Keywords: Talent Management; Talent and Talent Management; Labor; Strategic Planning

Find at Harvard

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11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

colleagues highlights the pivotal role played by such gatherings in creating winners and losers in the platform world. “Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem Emergence,” published in Strategic... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

29 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Hunting for a Hot Job in High Tech? Try 'Digitization Economist'

Luca, whose research focuses on user review ecosystems and online platforms, points to a study he did on Airbnb’s design choices that unintentionally led to discrimination on the platform as hosts rejected potential guests. “When we... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Technology; Education

17 Sep 2024
HBS Case

The Climate Targets Leaders Need to Know as Regulations Loom

Already Safe Companies Even Safer Getting to Net Zero: The Climate Standards and Ecosystem the World Needs Now When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

May 2019
Supplement

Amazon's HQ2 (C): Choices

By: Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin

This supplement discusses Amazon’s 2018 decision to split its HQ2 between two locations--Long Island City in New York and National Landing outside Washington, DC—as well as the ensuing response from local politicians and the public. View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Headquarters; Local Government; Incentives; Business Headquarters; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics