Publications

December 2003 (Revised March 2005)
Background Note

Who is a Professional?

By: Ashish Nanda

Many occupations lay claim to professional status. Business executives, social workers, musicians, sportsmen, and academics describe their occupations as "professions". Office assistants call themselves "administrative professionals". Obviously, not all occupations... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Jobs and Positions; Service Industry

20 Feb 2006
HBS Case

Oprah: A Case Study Comes Alive

introduced Koehn to Gayle King, a close friend of Winfrey's and the editor-at-large of O, The Oprah Magazine. King was delighted by the case in progress, and arranged an introduction to Tim Bennett,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

21 Dec 2015
Op-Ed

Without Immigrants, We Wouldn't Have Google

In light of the tragedies in Paris and San Bernadino, a number of politicians, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump, have urged this country to respond by barring immigrants, refugees, and Muslims from our shores. Such a “solution”... View Details

Keywords: by Shane Greenstein; Information Technology

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

hundreds of the most used open source software projects—20 of which are detailed in the report. Call to action Tim Mackey, principal security strategist for SCRC, says commercial organizations can contribute to this project View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

Article

The Inpatient Discharge Lounge as a Potential Mechanism to Mitigate Emergency Department Boarding and Crowding

By: Brian Franklin, Sharif Vakili, Robert S. Huckman, Sarah Hosein, Nicholas Falk, Katherine Cheng, Maria Murray, Sheila Harris, Charles A. Morris and Eric Goralnick

Delayed access to inpatient beds for admitted patients contributes significantly to emergency department (ED) boarding and crowding, which have been associated with deleterious patient safety effects. To expedite inpatient bed availability, some hospitals have... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Delivery; Emergency Room; Operations Improvement; Operations Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Operations; Management; Performance Improvement; Service Operations

Find at Harvard

05 Nov 2014
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of Neuromanagement?

Summing Up: Where Do We Draw the Line on the Use of Technology in Hiring Practices? The idea of using brain scans in hiring, while it generated limited enthusiasm among respondents to this month's column, nevertheless was rejected by only... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Financial Meltdowns Are More Predictable Than We Thought

research by Harvard Business School Professors Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson begs to differ. Financial crises, even ones as calamitous as the 2007-2008 banking meltdown, are surprisingly predictable to those who know the warning... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

06 Apr 2007
What Do You Think?

Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?

Summing Up Debate on this month's questions occurred on at least three levels. Is global warming occurring? Do humans (primarily through CO2 emissions) have much to do with it? Should we rely on market forces to provide appropriate responses, or will this require... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

29 May 2013
Blog Post

A self-discovery journey

“Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breath, take a pen and start writing” – Tim Butler says. This is my future, 5, 10 years from now. I am in an office round table, with the team I am leading. 6 to 8 crucial people. We draw our... View Details

April 2020
Case

Promoting Land and Nature Jerky

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine B. Hartman

Kathy Ayers, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Land and Nature (L&N) Jerky Company, needs to make a recommendation about L&N's 2020 promotional spending. L&N's CEO, Tim Ryan, wants her to calculate different scenarios using historical data to determine... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Spending; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Nov 2022
What Do You Think?

Why Aren’t Business Leaders More Vocal About Immigration Policy?

gets lost in this conversation is the extent to which the US needs immigrants. We need their youth, their willingness to work at any job, their productivity, their contributions to a social security system being weighted down by the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Student Success at Georgia State University (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Robin Mendelson and Julia Kelley

Georgia State University had developed a reputation for driving student success by nearly doubling its graduation rate for students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It did so while growing its student body and the proportion of Black/African... View Details

03 Oct 2005
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of Globally Organized Labor?

of 'we're all in the same lifeboat' is a useful one, both for management . . . and for unions . . . " Tim Pinel is more optimistic. He says "Perhaps the lack of legal and cultural uniformity on a global basis is what will... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2017 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: Unilever and the Kraft Heinz Takeover Bid (A)

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case describes Kraft Heinz Company’s (KHC) February 2017 unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer to acquire Unilever. The offer was made to Unilever CEO Paul Polman by KHC chairman Alexandre Behring, who was also co-founder and CEO of Brazilian-based 3G Capital... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions