Publications

10 Jul 2014
News

How Harvard Medical School Uses Open Innovation To Solve World-Class Scientific Problems

November 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Ava Labs: Navigating the Next Blockchain

By: Marco Di Maggio and Wenyao Sha

John Wu, President of Ava Labs, the primary developer of the Avalanche blockchain, and Emin Gün Sirer, the software company’s Founder and CEO, team up to develop a lending and borrowing protocol that would jumpstart the Decentralized finance (DeFi) economy on... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Decentralized Finance; Alternative Assets; Financial Instruments; Assets; Decisions; Financing and Loans; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry

August 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Teaming at Disney Animation

By: Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg and Natalie Bartlett

Jonathan Geibel, Director of Systems at Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter referred to as Disney Animation), walked through the workspace occupied by the group he had been tasked to lead. Geibel knew he was part of a creative and magical environment. The Disney... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Creativity; Organizational Structure; Animation Entertainment; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

May 1994
Background Note

Reorienting Channels of Distribution

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Traditionally, distribution channels have been viewed as vertical marketing systems where responsibility was transferred from one layer to the next, like passing a baton in a relay race. Distribution channels in the future are likely to look more like horizontal... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Customers; Supply and Industry; Alliances; Performance Efficiency; Performance Effectiveness; Change; Distribution Industry

November 2015
Article

Influence of Experience and the Surgical Learning Curve on Long-term Patient Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery

By: Bryan M. Burt, Andrew W. ElBardissi, Robert S. Huckman, Lawrence H. Cohn, Marisa W. Cevasco, James D. Rawn, Sary F. Aranki and John G. Byrne

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that increased post-graduate surgical experience correlates with improved operative efficiency and long-term survival in standard cardiac surgery procedures.

METHODS: Utilizing a prospectively collected retrospective database,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Experience and Expertise; Health Industry

07 Dec 2015
HBS Seminar

Antonio Moreno-Garcia, Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

February 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Sealed Air China

By: Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty

With a 10-year history of doing business in China, Sealed Air was now betting on the country to help propel its growth as a global company. The company identified China as one of the initial investments in the company's Global Manufacturing Strategy that aimed to... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Shanghai

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 07 May 2015
Webinars: Trending@HBS

The Low Risk Anomaly: Implications for Investment, Asset Allocation, and Corporate Finance

One of the basic principles of finance is that, in competitive and efficient markets, investors earn higher average returns only by taking greater risks. Asset classes follow this pattern: Stocks have returned more than bonds, and bonds have returned more than cash.... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Non-Adherence in Health Care: A Positive and Normative Analysis

By: Mark Egan and Tomas J. Philipson

Non-adherence in health care results when a patient does not initiate or continue care that a provider has recommended. Previous research identifies non-adherence as a major source of waste in US health care, totaling approximately 2.3% of GDP, and have proposed a... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Behavior; Economics; Analysis; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

May 1994 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation 's Leveraged Recapitalization (A)

Less than a year after Sealed Air embarked on a program to improve manufacturing efficiency and product quality, the company borrowed almost 90% of the market value of its common stock and paid it out as a special dividend to shareholders. Management purposefully and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry

December 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

FIRA: Confronting the Mexican Agricultural Crisis

By: James E. Austin, Michael Chu and Cate Reavis

In fall 2003, Mexico's agriculture sector was facing a crisis brought on largely by a surge in cheap U.S. imports resulting from NAFTA and inaccessible and/or expensive terms of credit for Mexican agricultural producers. It was getting harder for Mexican producers to... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Public Sector; Trade; Financial Instruments; Crisis Management; Markets; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

07 Sep 2021
News

Automated Hiring Systems Are Rejecting Qualified Candidates

2021
Working Paper

Deep Learning for Two-Sided Matching

By: Sai Srivatsa Ravindranatha, Zhe Feng, Shira Li, Jonathan Ma, Scott Duke Kominers and David Parkes

We initiate the use of a multi-layer neural network to model two-sided matching and to explore the design space between strategy-proofness and stability. It is well known that both properties cannot be achieved simultaneously but the efficient frontier in this design... View Details

Keywords: Strategy-proofness; Deep Learning; Two-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Balance and Stability

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Summer 2016
Article

Motivated Bayesians: Feeling Moral While Acting Egoistically

By: Francesca Gino, Michael I. Norton and Roberto A. Weber

A growing body of research yields ample evidence that individuals’ behavior often reflects an apparent concern for moral considerations. Using a broad definition of morality—to include varied non-egoistic motivations such as fairness, honesty, and efficiency as... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Ethics

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March 2011 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Red Hen Baking Company

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient facility to a new facility. It had been in business about 8 years, and 2006 was the first year RHB realized a profit that was over $50,000. The added annual cost of the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Capital; Risk Management; Expansion

22 Oct 2013
News

How to Really Jump-Start 'Made In America'

September 2019
Supplement

Adaptive Platform Trials: The Clinical Trial of the Future? (B)

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

This case provides an update to the (A) case, which introduces students to adaptive platform trials, an ambitious, more efficient type of clinical trial that increases access to therapies. The (A) case centers on Dr. Brian Alexander’s efforts to launch an adaptive... View Details

Keywords: Clinical Trials; Drug Trials; Drug Testing; Cancer Trials; Glioblastoma; Platform Trials; Adaptive Trials; Adaptive Platform Trials; Health Testing and Trials; Health Care and Treatment; Financing and Loans; Business Strategy; Health Industry; United States

August 2008 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Consumer Payment Systems — United States

By: Benjamin Edelman and Andrei Hagiu

In 2008, the U.S. consumer payments landscape was characterized by the ongoing prevalence of credit and debit card networks, the decline of checks, the rise of stored value cards, and the growth of new payment methods such as PayPal, Bill Me Later, and decoupled debit.... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Personal Finance; Digital Platforms; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; United States