Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(4,055)
- Faculty Publications (1,155)
- February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (A)
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu
This is the first of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming one... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Crypto Economy; Community; Decentralization; Decentralized Exchange; Decentralized Finance; Open Platforms; Open-source Innovation; Market Distruption; Stablecoin; Vampire Attack; Web3; Token; Digital Platforms; Entrepreneurship; Governance; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Financial Liquidity; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- February 2024
- Article
Pricing Power in Advertising Markets: Theory and Evidence
By: Matthew Gentzkow, Jesse M. Shapiro, Frank Yang and Ali Yurukoglu
Existing theories of media competition imply that advertisers will pay a lower price in equilibrium to reach consumers who multi-home across competing outlets. We generalize, extend, and test this prediction. We find that television outlets whose viewers watch more... View Details
- 2024
- White Paper
Skills-Based Hiring: The Long Road from Pronouncements to Practice
By: Matthew Sigelman, Joseph B. Fuller and Alex Martin
- January 2024
- Supplement
Winning Business at Russell Reynolds
By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco
In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting—and... View Details
- January 18, 2024
- Article
America's Top Talent Incubators Are Organizations Where People Want to Stay
By: Sarah Abbott and Boris Groysberg
Organizations like GE, IBM, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have long been touted as the classic "academy companies." Academy companies produce first-rate executives who populate their own senior ranks and also go on to lead other companies. We wondered if academy companies... View Details
- January 2024
- Case
Deion Sanders: The Prime Effect
By: Hise O. Gibson, Nicole Gilmore and Alicia Dadlani
In 2023, Deion Sanders, known as “Coach Prime,” became head football coach of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Sanders was tasked with leading CU’s struggling football program, which had only achieved one winning season in the last 15 years, back to glory. Many... View Details
- January 2024
- Case
Sprouts Farmers Market
By: Rajiv Lal, Forest L. Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred
Sprouts Farmers Markets (Sprouts) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based chain of 400-plus natural foods stores in 23 U.S. states and $6.4 billion in sales as of 2022. In its product assortment, brand image, and store environment, Sprouts emphasizes freshness, health, innovation,... View Details
- January 2024
- Article
Dog Eat Dog: Balancing Network Effects and Differentiation in a Digital Platform Merger
By: Chiara Farronato, Jessica Fong and Andrey Fradkin
Digital platforms are increasingly the subject of regulatory scrutiny. In comparison to multiple competitors, a single platform may increase consumer welfare if network effects are large or may decrease welfare due to higher prices or reduction in platform variety. We... View Details
- December 2023
- Case
Davivienda Bank's Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy in Colombia
By: Jorge Tamayo, Raffaella Sadun and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago
Set in 2022, this case describes the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda— a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian financial conglomerate—and the bank’s upskilling and reskilling... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia
- December 2023
- Case
Raízen: Helping to Decarbonize the World?
By: Gunnar Trumbull, Pedro Levindo, Daniel Tong and Rafaella Mazza
Raízen, the world’s largest sugar and ethanol producer, strived to find ways to expand the second-generation ethanol (E2G) market, which it pioneered. The company planned to invest R$24 billion (around $4.6 billion) in 20 production plants, with a total capacity to... View Details
- December 2023 (Revised July 2024)
- Case
Boortmalt: The Master Maltster
By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin, Lena Duchene and Emer Moloney
By May 2023, Boortmalt was the world’s leading producer of malt, with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes, 15% of global market share, and 27 malting plants across five continents. It had recently acquired a major competitor and had sustained an EBITDA growth of... View Details
Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Mergers and Acquisitions; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Values and Beliefs; Financing and Loans; Employee Relationship Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Knowledge Sharing; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Style; Resource Allocation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Environmental Sustainability; Organizational Culture; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Belgium; Europe
- December 2023
- Background Note
Organizational Learning
By: Willy Shih
This is a background note that surveys part of the extensive literature on organizational learning. The focus is on learning from experiences, how those learnings get translated into organizational routines and processes, and how that can also lead to getting stuck in... View Details
- December 8, 2023
- Article
What Makes a Company Great at Producing Leaders?
By: Sarah Abbott, Robin Abrahams and Boris Groysberg
GE is well known as an “academy company”—a talent incubator that exports effective leaders to other organizations and even industries. To better understand which companies are top talent incubators today, the authors worked with the Official Board, a firm that provides... View Details
- November 2023 (Revised December 2023)
- Background Note
Talent Incubator Rankings
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
In 2023, The Official Board surveyed 853 executives on the topic of talent incubators/academy companies. Executives were asked to list the top three academy companies within their function, industry, and country. They were also asked: what practices differentiate these... View Details
- November 2023
- Case
UST's Adoption of Open Talent
By: Christopher Stanton and Kristen Senz
This case details the 2020 launch and subsequent scaling of UST’s Open Talent initiative, a program to integrate freelancers from digital platforms into its workforce. The case highlights how the shifting post-pandemic world, including layoffs, wage inflation, and... View Details
- October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Fortinet: Cybersecurity Pioneer Ken Xie Considers the Long Game
By: Tsedal Neeley, Jeff Huizinga and Emily Grandjean
Ken Xie, cofounder of cybersecurity giant Fortinet, faced a critical decision that would validate his leadership. Fortinet became the industry’s second-largest pureplay cybersecurity firm by developing differentiated hardware and investing in R&D. However, after a... View Details
- October 2023
- Supplement
Making Progress at Progress Software (B)
By: Katherine Coffman, Hannah Riley Bowles and Alexis Lefort
In this case, the Human Capital team at Progress Software has identified that some employees have a hard time understanding how to advance within Progress. This realization leads the team to develop several major people-process innovations: the introduction of... View Details
- October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
ghSMART & Co: Building and Scaling a Time Smart Firm
By: Ashley Whillans and Sara Coronel Rodriguez
"For ghSMART, freedom is the first principle from which all good things flow”—Geoff Smart, Chairman and Founder, ghSMART. ghSMART was a leadership advisory firm that was grounded in the principle of freedom. Talented Consultants and Partners could work remotely from... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Trusting Talent: Cross-Country Differences in Hiring
By: Letian Zhang and Shinan Wang
This article argues that a society’s social trust influences employers’ hiring strategies. In selecting workers, employers could either focus on applicants’ potential and select on foundational skills (e.g., social skills, math skills) or focus on their readiness and... View Details
- September 2023 (Revised June 2024)
- Technical Note
Note on the Evolving Landscape of HR Tech
By: Joseph Pacelli and Alexis Lefort