Publications

May 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Case

AES Global Values

By: Lynn S. Paine

Members of the development team for the AES Corp.'s power plant project in India must decide what plant technology to specify in their application for techno-economic clearance from the government of India's Central Electric Authority. Their choice is between more... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Generation; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; India; United States

2013
Working Paper

Punctuated Generosity: How Mega-events and Natural Disasters Affect Corporate Philanthropy in U.S. Communities

By: Andras Tilcsik and Christopher Marquis

This article focuses on geographic communities as fields in which human-made and natural events occasionally disrupt the lives of organizations. We develop an institutional perspective to unpack how and why major events within communities affect organizations in the... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Situation or Environment; Balance and Stability; Organizations; Business and Community Relations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

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2023
Working Paper

When Insurers Exit: Climate Losses, Fragile Insurers, and Mortgage Markets

By: Pari Sastry, Ishita Sen and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva

This paper studies how homeowners insurance markets respond to growing climate losses and how this impacts mortgage market dynamics. Using Florida as a case study, we show that traditional insurers are exiting high risk areas, and new lower quality insurers are... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Natural Disasters; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Insurance Industry; Florida

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2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Torsten Thiele and the Global Ocean Trust

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Brian Hoffstein

Following a successful career in finance, Torsten Thiele devoted himself full-time to the challenging cause of ocean conservation and stewardship. In August 2015, Thiele had already come a long way in spearheading initiatives towards the protection of the ocean: from... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Social Enterprise; Leadership

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

18 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 18, 2008

usable by consumers so that they are empowered to make healthier decisions. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-082.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsItaly: If Not Now, When? Harvard Business School Case 707-051... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

To Buy Happiness, Spend Money on Other People

Video directed and produced by Joanie Tobin In their book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, authors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton draw on years of quantitative and qualitative research to explain how money can buy... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

stories. Indeed, all of these intermediaries are in the business of matching consumers with products. Trouble is, prior to visiting an intermediary, consumers are interested only in some products, which may not necessarily be the ones... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Background Note

Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall and Rachel Gordon

PIavix, one of the world's best selling drugs in 2010, appears to have a limited future. Its patent was due to expire soon, and recently new data had been discovered that indicated that a small subset of the population would be at risk for stroke, heart attack, or even... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Positioning; Business and Government Relations; Genetics; Competitive Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

Article

Crowdsourcing City Government: Using Tournaments to Improve Inspection Accuracy

By: Edward Glaeser, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers and Michael Luca

The proliferation of big data makes it possible to better target city services like hygiene inspections, but city governments rarely have the in-house talent needed for developing prediction algorithms. Cities could hire consultants, but a cheaper alternative is to... View Details

Keywords: User-generated Content; Operations; Tournaments; Policy-making; Machine Learning; Online Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; City; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Government and Politics

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29 Apr 2020
Book

The Key to Powerful Social Change: Small Villages

Who will solve the great problems facing humanity, a list of critical issues that only begins with the current pandemic? In the interview below, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses her recent book, Think Outside the Building, and her view that solutions are most likely to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October – December 1998
Article

The Evidence Does Not Speak for Itself: Expert Witnesses and the Organization of DNA Typing Companies

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

Keywords: Genetics; Business Ventures

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26 Mar 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Disaster!

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered How does disaster change leadership goals? What signals should leaders send... View Details

08 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Is That Really Your Best Offer?

will emerge. 2. Listen All The Time Science writer Malcolm Gladwell interviewed two Los Angeles policemen who staked their own lives on their ability to read other people's intentions. One of the officers chose not to shoot a wild-eyed... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler

21 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 21

learning among lower-level employees. We exploit a field-research setting in which business units vary in the "tightness" with which they monitor employee decisions. We find that tighter monitoring gives rise to implicit... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2010
Teaching Note

Swire Beverages: Implementing CSR in China

By: Christopher Marquis, Alison Comings and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [410021]. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Health; Organizational Design; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Safety; Natural Environment; Brands and Branding; Interests; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; China

02 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 2

growth countries also tended to show worse performance on a number of business environment and governance indicators. From this analysis, lessons are drawn for Liberia. We conclude that with a continued inflow of aid, foreign direct... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

05 Nov 2014
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of Neuromanagement?

our choice(s) in life." Henry Kwok commented, "The field of neuroscience and brain scanning will only get more advanced, and thus we can expect better reading However, the job of managing and leading will be evolving in a fast changing View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 1992 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Acid Rain: The Southern Co. (A)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

The Southern Co., an electric utility, is planning its compliance with the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. The Act established a system of tradeable permits for sulfur dioxide emissions. The company must decide whether to install pollution control equipment and... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Business Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Management; Strategic Planning; Investment Return; Government Legislation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United States