Publications

Find at Harvard

17 Nov 2015
First Look

November 17, 2015

Societal and Political Dimensions of Innovation Innovation and Business Growth By: Kerr, William R. Abstract—Innovation and the pursuit of new business opportunities are essential for growth at the firm... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

MobSquad

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, William R. Kerr and Susie L. Ma

Irfhan Rawji (MBA 2004) launched MobSquad in October 2018 to help American tech start-ups retain hard-to-find talent, many of whom struggled with U.S. work visa issues, such as software engineers with experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, or data... View Details

Keywords: Work Visas; H1-B; Business Ventures; Business Startups; Labor; Human Capital; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Employment Industry; Canada; United States

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

raise funds from outside investors. The relationship appears not to be causal but instead driven by selection effects across heterogeneous teams with varying degrees of inequality aversion. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 21, 2023
Article

When Scenario Planning Fails

By: Kalle Heikkinen, William R. Kerr, Mika Malin, Panu Routila and Eemil Rupponen

How can organizations perform scenario planning when they are hit by shocks outside of leaders’ field of vision? Interviews with Nordic executives, who experienced both the Covid-19 pandemic and were in close proximity to Russia as the country invaded Ukraine, can... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Forecasting and Prediction; System Shocks; Organizational Change and Adaptation

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

would expand the number of diseases covered from 19 to over 3,500. Is it the right move, and what does PLM need to do to make it a success? Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/511093-PDF-ENG Financing New Ventures View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 10

Pekkala Kerr, and William R. Kerr Abstract—Measures of entrepreneurship, such as average establishment size and the prevalence of start-ups, correlate strongly with employment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 29

Transitions for STEM Workers Authors:Pekkala Kerr, Sari, and William R. Kerr Publication:American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings Abstract We analyze the career... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 19

intangibles. Read the paper: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=913363 Cases & Course MaterialsInternet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2011 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Home Essentials: Building a Global Service Business with Local Operations

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and David Lane

Chris Exline founded Home Essentials, a furniture rental business targeted toward expatriates, in Singapore but rapidly moved the base of operations to Hong Kong. The company was highly successful in Singapore and Hong Kong and then pursued rapid global expansion.... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Renting or Rental; Corporate Governance; Global Strategy; Failure; Singapore; Hong Kong

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

November 2023
Case

Swanson Health: Becoming a Super Seller

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Paige Boehmcke

Founded in 1969, Swanson Health sold vitamins, supplements, natural health products, and organic foods. Over the years, the company had successfully navigated multiple industry transitions as it expanded from a print catalog to sell products on its own... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Transition; Growth Management; Distribution Channels; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

12 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 12, 2019

that hold back progress in resource mobilization research. We then propose a path ahead for future research guided by two overarching goals. First, we advocate for a process perspective, focusing attention on how an individual actor’s... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

07 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 7

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/512039-PDF-ENG INNOVA-MEX's Bid for ENKONTROL Ramana Nanda, William R. Kerr, and Carin-Isabel KnoopHarvard Business School Case 812-008 In their second year, two... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 29, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=507077 PublicationsThe Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Orthopaedics Authors:Kevin J. Bozic, Amanda R. Smith, Sanaz Hariri, Sanjo Adeoye, John T. Gourville, View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2012
Case

Blink Booking

By: William R. Kerr, Magnus Thor Torfason and Alexis Brownell

Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure.... View Details

Keywords: Clones; Cloning; Rocket Internet; Start-up; Equity Split; Arbitrage; Incubator; Mobile App; Expansion; Spain; Europe; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry; Accommodations Industry; Travel Industry; Spain; Europe

05 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 5

supplement:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/112067-PDF-ENG Location Choice for New Ventures: Choices within Cities William R. Kerr and Alexis BrownellHarvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2014
Article

The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying

By: William R. Kerr, William F. Lincoln and Prachi Mishra

We study the determinants of the dynamics of firm lobbying behavior using a panel data set covering 1998–2006. Our data exhibit three striking facts: (i) few firms lobby, (ii) lobbying status is strongly associated with firm size, and (iii) lobbying status is highly... View Details

Keywords: Lobbying; Political Economy; H-1B; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Policy; Immigration

2013
Working Paper

The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying

By: William R. Kerr, William F. Lincoln and Prachi Mishra

We study the determinants of the dynamics of firm lobbying behavior using a panel data set covering 1998–2006. Our data exhibit three striking facts: (i) few firms lobby, (ii) lobbying status is strongly associated with firm size, and (iii) lobbying status is highly... View Details

Keywords: Lobbying; Political Economy; H-1B; Business Ventures; Policy; Government Legislation; Immigration; Business and Government Relations; Research; Prejudice and Bias

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