Publications

September 2008
Case

Israeli Special Forces: Selection Strategy

By: Boris Groysberg, Tal Riesenfeld and Eliot Sherman

Ron Guntz, commander of recruiting for Israel's Special Forces, had been instructed by his superiors to evaluate the process by which he selected solders for a 20-month-long training program. Was the Army conducting this process in an ideal manner? The case examines... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Training; National Security; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Public Administration Industry; Israel

January 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Background Note

Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings: Scales and Process

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Describes Standard & Poor's sovereign credit ratings scales and the credit rating process. In particular, describes the role and function of the rating committee and the analytical categories considered in arriving at a final sovereign credit rating. View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Credit; Bonds; Policy; Risk and Uncertainty; Measurement and Metrics; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Services Industry

03 Nov 2015
First Look

November 3, 2015

private-sector innovations. Second, we take advantage of idiosyncratic rigidities in the rules governing NIH peer review to generate exogenous variation in funding across research areas. Our results show that NIH funding spurs the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2017
Case

Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Nikolaos Trichakis

The case explores the challenges facing Massachusetts General Hospital concerning the adoption of a new infection control policy, which promises to improve operational performance, patient safety, and profitability. The new policy requires coordination between... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Health Industry; Boston

14 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Thriving in the Turbulence of Emerging Markets

in India. During the 1990s, she recalled, "we had coalition governments, no stability in politics, high inflation and a high interest rate environment." In 2001, she added, "the entire banking system collapsed." Yet these were exactly the years when the Sabancı Group,... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Manufacturing; Auto

January 2024
Supplement

Accounting Red Flags or Red Herrings at Catalent? (B)

By: Joseph Pacelli, ZeSean Ali and Tom Quinn

GlassHouse Research identified accounting red flags at Catalent. Fiat Lux Partners countered most of GlassHouse’s claims. Who was right? This update explores the aftermath of the short seller duel. View Details

2011
Article

Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia

By: Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between group size and incentives to contribute in the setting of Chinese Wikipedia, the Chinese language version of an online encyclopedia that relies entirely on voluntary contributions. The group at Chinese Wikipedia... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Sharing; Behavior; Satisfaction; Size; Government and Politics; Economics; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Singapore

Find at Harvard

09 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

Warring Algorithms Could Be Driving Up Consumer Prices

The widespread use of pricing algorithms is reshaping the nature of competition in online markets and potentially driving up the prices of retail goods, according to recent research. These automated, price-adjusting software programs may also be catching the eye of... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

07 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 8, 2018

induced by World War I and the Immigration Acts of the 1920s and instrument immigrants’ location decision relying on pre-existing settlement patterns. Immigration increased natives’ employment and occupational standing and fostered View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 1998 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Brazil Confronts an Interdependent World

By: George C. Lodge and Cate Reavis

Discusses the politics of change and how Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, elected in 1994, has fought to promote systemic change in Brazil. While his Real Plan has stabilized inflation and attracted foreign investment, the nation's deficit continues to... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Government and Politics; Inflation and Deflation; Foreign Direct Investment; Equality and Inequality; Change; Social Issues; Public Administration Industry; Brazil

01 Jun 2015
News

Higher Ground

than $50,000. Prieto would share conducting duties that night with the previous music director. “Carlos had the absolute right to walk,” says Hugh Long, president of the LPO governing board. Prieto’s contract stipulated that if either... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

16 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

The Times Captures History of American Business

felt around the world. As some of the dust from this extraordinary moment begins to settle, we can see that it has cleared away a range of old products, organizations, structures, perspectives, and behaviors. As this book is being published, consumers, investors,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Journalism & News

06 Dec 2021
News

What's the Word?

particularly women of color, were more likely to be employed by the industries hardest hit by shutdowns, including leisure, hospitality, and retail. “The gender pay gap, in aggregate, has shifted 8 cents in 25 years, which is pathetic.”... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustrations by Martha Rich; Manufacturing; Finance; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

March 2001 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Venture Capital Vignettes

By: G. Felda Hardymon

Presents three fictionalized but realistic situations in which a venture capitalist may find himself. One situation requires crisis intervention to quell a dispute between a vice president of sales and a CEO; another poses the problem of working out the composition of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Crisis Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Executive Compensation; Situation or Environment; Employee Relationship Management; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry

May–June 2023
Article

Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail

By: Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu and Antonio Moreno

The impact of delays has been widely studied in various offline services. The focus of this study is online services, and we explore the impact of in-process delays—measured by website speed—on customer behavior. We leverage novel retail and website speed data to... View Details

Keywords: Online Retail; Quasi-experiments; Abandonment; Synthetic Control; E-commerce; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Policy; Retail Industry

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January 2013 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Chorus and Telecom: Building the Boards (A)

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2011, Sarah Naudé and Matt Stanley sat down with the chairman of Telecom New Zealand, Wayne Boyd. Telecom, a publicly listed company and the largest telecom provider in New Zealand, was being divided into two publicly traded companies, Chorus, a telecom... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Women's Empowerment; Governance; Leadership; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Human Resources; Diversity; Telecommunications Industry; New Zealand

August 2008
Case

Progressive Corporation: Variable Dividends

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Brenda W. Chia

In 2006, Progressive Corporation announced a change in its dividend policy. Henceforth, dividends would be paid annually rather than quarterly and, more importantly, would be set according to a formula that would result in considerably greater year-to-year variability... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Policy; Goals and Objectives; Performance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Insurance Industry