Publications

14 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

A few years ago, DJ DiDonna seemed to have everything going for him. He had started a successful venture called the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, which used psychometric factors to help banks issuing microloans in the developing world... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

The Crisis at Tyco - A Director's Perspective

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Aldo Sesia

In 2002, Wendy Lane had been a member of the board of directors at Tyco International a little more than a year when the company's CEO Dennis Kozlowski and other top executives were accused of fraud, which ultimately led to resignations, imprisonments, lawsuits, and... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Reputation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crisis Management; Accounting Audits; Problems and Challenges; Risk Management; Finance; Managerial Roles; Lawsuits and Litigation; Service Industry; United States

2013
Book

Entrepreneurship and Multinationals: Global Business and the Making of the Modern World

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book examines the history of entrepreneurship and multinationals in the making of the modern world. In recent years economists, historians, and political scientists have written extensively on the history of globalization and patterns of global wealth and poverty,... View Details

Find at Harvard

01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

If that’s the case, there must be an educational treasure trove in the recent experiences at Wells Fargo, regarded as one of the best-managed banks in the world. A case about Wells Fargo might well contain some of the following. For... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

businesses, the question of whether it "controlled" them was more debatable. Some of the central issues related to the organization and performance of multinationals after the Second World War can be illustrated by studying the... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

06 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Mechanisms of Technology Re-Emergence and Identity Change in a Mature Field: Swiss Watchmaking, 1970-2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

27 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 27

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=972044 Corporate Governance at the World Bank and the Dilemma of Global Governance Authors:Ashwin Kaja and Eric Werker Publication:The World Bank Economic... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Jul 2016
HBS Case

How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers

New businesses often struggle finding their first customers. The challenge is even more difficult with startups in the sharing economy that launch as platforms connecting independent service providers with consumers. Take Uber. Its... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service; Transportation

July 2024
Case

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan

Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

to be the most efficient. The central insight of the theory is that each method offers a different way of aligning decision-making authority with valuable "specific knowledge" inside the organization. The theory suggests that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

by management layers, making independent decisions about everything from where to buy bandages to how to discipline a nurse who slacks off. “Working in an organization that trusts you and cares for you makes things possible you had not... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

American. I structured the book around trying to understand why business had come to have such a central place in America and to assessing the consequences of a society so shaped by business. Silverthorne: What one finding in your book is... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

12 Apr 2022
Book

Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

suit political needs. "The legacies Britain’s empire left behind have had significant bearings on a quarter of the world’s landmass where nations were born out of a cauldron of violence." What we do know is that all empires were violent. Coercion was View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

2008
Working Paper

The Internalization of Advertising Services: An Inter-Industry Analysis

By: Sharon Horsky, Steven C. Michael and Alvin J. Silk

The common perception appears to be that vertical integration of advertising services is more the exception than the rule in the U.S. advertising industry. This study investigates the extent of such outsourcing and examines inter-industry variation in the use of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Creativity; Perception; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; United States

Read Now

2021
Chapter

Business Continuity Insurance in the Next Disaster

By: Samuel Gregory Hanson, Adi Sunderam and Eric Zwick

This article draws lessons from the business support policies pursued in the COVID-19 pandemic to guide policy design for the next disaster. We contrast the performance of the Paycheck Protection Program to the Main Street Lending Program to illustrate how design... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Policy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financing and Loans; United States

Read Now

April 2010
Case

Bill Nichol Negotiates with Walmart: Hard Bargains over Soft Goods (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

CEO Bill Nichol must somehow negotiate a surprise ultimatum from Walmart, his largest customer, about his largest and most profitable product line: “We're dropping it.” Among its hosiery products, the Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. produces and sells a branded line of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Crisis Management; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; North America

13 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)

the product is gripped in the hand and in the choice of finish in the device's housing material. In the case of a personal care product, colors and scents known to be evocative of social bonding experiences can be used. In both cases, the basic idea of connection is... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

August 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt and Evan M.S. Hecht

NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018–2019 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to the NBA. He also did not know what he... View Details

Keywords: Career Decisions; Career Journey; ＂Sports Organizations,; Mentoring; Retirement; Sports; Performance; Training; Personal Development and Career; Sports Industry; United States

September 2020
Case

Keeping It in the Family at the Hayden Saw Company

By: V.G. Narayanan and John Masko

In 2019, Board Chair and third-generation shareholder Helen Fullerton was preparing for a meeting to discuss Ohio-based Hayden Saw Company’s (Hayden) future as a family business. As the company entered its fifth decade, the Hayden family was dealing with three distinct... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Construction Industry; Ohio; United States