Publications

July 30, 2020
Article

How to Build a Life: ‘Success Addicts’ Choose Being Special Over Being Happy

By: Arthur C. Brooks

2020
Working Paper

How to Build Enduring Brands in the Digital Age

By: David J. Collis and William Collis

What makes a brand last? It’s a deceptively simple question, but its answer separates sustainable success from eventual obscurity. Almost every company devotes significant resources to defining their brand. But few ask the more important question: how to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Adaptation; Strategy

July 2020
Teaching Note

Shindigz

By: Frank Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-010. Shindigz sells party and celebratory items through its branded direct online channel, third-party retail and wholesale channels, and online marketplaces. Shindigz has for decades successfully executed a premium-priced branded... View Details

Keywords: Ecommerce; Pricing; Price; Strategy; Decision Making; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry

Article

The Importance of Being Causal

By: Iavor I Bojinov, Albert Chen and Min Liu

Causal inference is the study of how actions, interventions, or treatments affect outcomes of interest. The methods that have received the lion’s share of attention in the data science literature for establishing causation are variations of randomized experiments.... View Details

Keywords: Causal Inference; Observational Studies; Cross-sectional Studies; Panel Studies; Interrupted Time-series; Instrumental Variables

30 Jul 2020
Interview

Viral Marketing and Truth with Jeffrey Rayport

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Tim Love and Rick Tocquigny

July 2020
Background Note

Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway

By: Aiyesha Dey

The issue of gender diversity on boards has received increased attention in U.S markets over the past few years. In 2018, California introduced a law which required boards of U.S-listed firms with headquarters in California to include at least one female director by... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Decisions; Gender; Diversity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Norway; United States

July 2020
Teaching Plan

Girls Who Code

By: Brian Trelstad and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching plan serves as a supplement to HBS Case No. 320-055, “Girls Who Code.” Founded 2012 by former lawyer Reshma Saujani, Girls Who Code (GWC) offered coding education programs to middle- and high school-aged girls. The organization also sought to alter... View Details

July 2020
Case

The Shuanghui-Smithfield Acquisition (A)

By: Dante Roscini and Stacy Tan

Keywords: China; United States

July 2020
Supplement

The Shuanghui-Smithfield Acquisition (B)

By: Dante Roscini and Stacy Tan

Keywords: United States; China

July 28, 2020
Article

Economic Vulnerability of Households with Essential Workers

By: Grace McCormack, Christopher Avery, Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer and Amitabh Chandra

The label of “essential worker” reflects society’s needs but does not mean that society has compensated those workers for additional risks incurred on the job during the current pandemic. When an essential worker contracts severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus... View Details

Keywords: Essential Workers; Health Pandemics; Household; Financial Condition; United States

Find at Harvard

Article

The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Outcomes and Expectations

By: Alexander Bartik, Marianne Bertrand, Zoë B. Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca and Christopher Stanton

To explore the impact of COVID on small businesses, we conducted a survey of more than 5,800 small businesses between March 28 and April 4, 2020. Several themes emerged. First, mass layoffs and closures had already occurred—just a few weeks into the crisis. Second, the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Stimulus; CARES Act; Health Pandemics; Small Business; Surveys

July 2020
Case

CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (A)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko

This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("green field") energy service businesses that serve... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Renewable Energy; Business Model; Decision Making

July 2020
Supplement

CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (B)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko

This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("greenfield") energy service businesses that serve... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Renewable Energy; Decision Making

July 2020
Case

Mortgage Backed Securities and the Covid-19 Pandemic

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira and Dean Xu

In April 2020, global financial markets were still reeling as the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly across the world. Global equity markets had initially fallen by 30% in response to the pandemic, and high-yield credit markets had dropped by nearly 20%. In contrast,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mortgage-backed Securities; Health Pandemics; Financial Markets; Assets; Resource Allocation; Financial Instruments; Decision Making

July 2020
Technical Note

Digital Natives Growing Without a Sales Force

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Norris and Amram Migdal

This brief case describes the rise of so-called digital natives (also called born-in-digital) in the 2000s and 2010s that successfully grew without a sales force. The case highlights the emergence of business-to-business Internet and cloud-based companies and their... View Details

July 2020
Teaching Note

Hilton Hotels: What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been (A) and (B)

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sean Bracken

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 215-049 and 215-050. View Details