Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,168)
- Faculty Publications (593)
- February 2022 (Revised January 2023)
- Case
Huazhu: A Chinese Hotel Giant's Journey of Digital Transformation
By: Feng Zhu, Yulin Fang, Bonnie Yining Cao and Duan Yang
Based in Shanghai, China, Huazhu Group, the world’s third-largest hotel operator, was known for its standardized IT system. It helped the company boost efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Digital Officer Xinxin Liu also faced some longer-term challenges:... View Details
- January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
- Case
Envision Group
By: Gunnar Trumbull, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau
Based in China, Envision was one of the world’s leading Greentech companies. Chief Executive Officer Lei Zhang had set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality across the company’s global operations and supply chain by 2022 and 2028 respectively. As part of its... View Details
Keywords: Green Technology; Climate Change; Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Strategy; Management; Renewable Energy; Energy Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; China; United States; Japan; United Kingdom; France
- January 2022 (Revised October 2022)
- Case
Second Harvest Heartland: Ending Hunger Together
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han
In March 2020, Second Harvest Heartland, one of six Foodbanks serving Minnesota, was caught in the COVID-19 emergency with considerably more people exposed to hunger and food insecurity. Its management team led by CEO Allison O’Toole and COO Thierry Ibri alertly... View Details
- December 2021
- Article
The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: An Empirical Investigation of Firm Search Strategies
By: Dominika Kinga Randle and Gary P. Pisano
Breakthrough innovation has been an important topic of study for generations of scholars. Previous research in this domain has focused on exploring the way breakthroughs emerge from cumulative combination and recombination of prior technologies and knowledge components... View Details
- Article
Transparency as a Solution for the Hospital Capacity Problem
COVID dramatically clarified a shortcoming in our great healthcare system, but like everything in the world, it has its shortcomings. What we see through the apex of COVID is that many hospitals in hotspot areas cannot provide an adequate supply of beds. Although the... View Details
- November 2021
- Article
Corporate Strategy and the Theory of the Firm in the Digital Age
By: Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch, Julian Birkinshaw, David J. Collis, Nicolai J. Foss, Robert E. Hoskisson and John Prescott
The purpose of this article is to reinvigorate research in the intersection of corporate strategy and the theory of the firm in light of the rapid advancement of digital technologies. Using the theory of the firm as an interpretive lens, we focus our analysis on the... View Details
- October 18, 2021
- Article
To Regulate Network-Based Platforms, Look at Their Data
By: Chiara Farronato and Daniel Björkegren
Historically, antitrust authorities have taken a laissez-faire approach under the assumption that it is better to err on the side of not intervening when there is uncertainty. This has allowed companies like Google and Facebook to go on a shopping spree to acquire... View Details
- 2021
- Working Paper
The Business of K-12 Education in China
By: Geoffrey Jones and Yuhai Wu
This working paper examines the evolution of K-12 education in China, especially between 1985 and the present day, drawing extensive interviews with participants in the educational sector. China has been hugely successful in reaching almost 100 percent literacy,... View Details
- September 2021
- Case
Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance
By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni
The two vignettes within “Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance” (HBS No. 122-024) present various issues relating to governance in professional service firms (“PSFs”). In the first, the Managing Director of a U.S. consulting firm contemplates whether to... View Details
Keywords: Consulting Firms; Professional Services; Board Of Directors; Professional Service; Global Firm; Executive Leadership; Globalized Firms and Management; Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Global Strategy; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Leadership Development; Leading Change; Emerging Markets; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Service Industry; United States; India
- September 2021 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa
By: Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Francesco Tronci
Harambe was a non-profit organization whose mission was to build an ecosystem to identify promising young African entrepreneurs and provide them access to training, markets, capital, and support networks. From 2007 to 2021, Harambe had grown to a network of 367... View Details
- September 2021
- Article
Network Interconnectivity and Entry into Platform Markets
By: Feng Zhu, Xinxin Li, Ehsan Valavi and Marco Iansiti
Digital technologies have led to the emergence of many platforms in our economy today. In certain platform networks, buyers in one market purchase services from providers in many other markets, whereas in others, buyers primarily purchase services from providers within... View Details
- August 2021 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
The NCB Capital Turnaround: Waking the Sleeping Giant
By: Sandra J. Sucher, Gamze Yucaoglu, Shalene Gupta and Fares Khrais
The case opens in 2019, five years after, Sarah Al Suhaimi, CEO of NCB Capital (NCBC), the investment arm of Saudi’s largest bank, NCB, took the helm. Having successfully turned the business to make it the market leader, she was contemplating her next steps as... View Details
- 2021
- Book
The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta
Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees,... View Details
Keywords: Power; Corporate Culture; Future Of Work; Innovation; Technology Strategy; Automation; Stakeholder Engagement; Employee Attitude; Customer Behavior; Shareholder Value; Government And Business; Impact Investing; Corporate Change And Sustainability; Trust; Power and Influence; Globalization; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention; Human Resources; Information Technology; Strategy; Corporate Accountability; Asia; Europe; South America; Middle East; North and Central America
- Summer 2021
- Article
The Cost and Evolution of Quality at Cipla Ltd, 1935–2016
By: Muhammad H. Zaman and Tarun Khanna
This article examines the evolution of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla towards producing drugs that met the quality standards of European and U.S. regulators. It employs new research in Cipla’s corporate archives, the Creating Emerging Markets database, and... View Details
- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Oil and Gas Industry
By: Katie Panella, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the oil and gas industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary product impact estimates of... View Details
Keywords: Product Innovation; Impact; Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; Social Corporate Responsibility; Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Impact; Oil; Oil ＆ Gas; Oil And Gas; IWAI; Impact-Weighted Accounts; Product Design; Product Positioning; Society; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product
- Article
Birds of a Feather...Enforce Social Norms? Interactions Among Culture, Norms, and Strategy
By: Hongyi Li and Eric J. Van den Steen
Does culture eat strategy for breakfast? This paper investigates the interactions among corporate culture, norms, and strategy, in order to better understand this issue and related questions. It first shows, through microfoundations, how the forces that drive toward... View Details
- May 2021
- Case
Endeavor Kenya: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Shikhar Ghosh and Christian Godwin
In 2016, Fiona Mungai became Endeavor Kenya’s first managing director. In this role, she helped the organization build its inaugural board and select its first Endeavor entrepreneur, a fintech company called Cellulant. Throughout this process, Mungai observed the power... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Leading Change; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation; Economy; Markets; Emerging Markets; Network Effects; Relationships; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Shipping Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Kenya
- May 2021 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Accounting for Bitcoin at Tesla
By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Siyu Zhang
On February 8, 2021, Tesla revealed, through its 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that it had purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, totaling 7.5% of the company’s cash, and that it planned to accept payments in the cryptocurrency soon. These... View Details
- April 2021
- Background Note
HEAD vs. LEAD: Disruptions Originating at the High- vs. Low-End of the Market
By: Elie Ofek, Olivier Toubia and Didier Toubia
Twenty five years after it was initially proposed, Clay Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation continues to be a major reference for entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, and investors. However, the term “disruptive innovation” is often used in ways and contexts... View Details
- April 2021 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Social Media War 2021: Snap vs. Facebook vs. TikTok
By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
This case explores the competitive war between Snap, Facebook, and TikTok in 2021. The strategic focus is on Snapchat: how should it respond to the emergence of TikTok, and how should it compete with the dominant competitor in its space—Facebook. The case examines... View Details