Theory - Publications - Faculty & Research

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial markets. Her book manuscript and working papers shed light on the evolution of securities markets and the relationship between finance, governance, and society. Some of the topics she pursues include:... View Details

Research Summary

Automotive Product Development

At present, my primary research focus is studying product development in the auto industry. I am working with Stefan Thomke (HBS) and Takahiro Fujimoto (University of Tokyo) on the 4th Round of the Global Automotive Development Study. The first round of this... View Details

19 May 2021
Op-Ed

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

education and training have too often reinforced barriers between working and learning, rather than bridging the worlds of education and employment. This is an opportune moment to re-evaluate the country’s fundamental approach to human capital development. To... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson

02 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

A Rare Find in Health Care: A Simple Solution to Racial Inequity

theories have been proposed to explain the gulf, including income and educational inequality, and bias—intentional or unintentional—among doctors treating patients of color. The new paper, Hospital Allocation and Racial Disparities in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

announcing that the disruptor's home market is a strategic priority is a clear signal of a growth-driven response. Our theories suggest co-option efforts will be fruitless when success requires different skills or motivation. But when... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

"It is the combination of theory and common sense that makes a great leader and decision maker." Jeremy Pooley asked, "Could it be that planning and testing helps us better understand the questions we need to be asking and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Technology Choice and Capacity Portfolios Under Emissions Regulation

Keywords: by David Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer & Luk N. Van Wassenhove

Research Summary

Overview of Research

My research examines approaches to improving the performance of our health care delivery system with a primary focus on health information technology. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of my program, my dissertation draws upon theories and insights from... View Details

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

real exchange rates and the fallacy of composition, Mark Setterfield (ed), Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Growth, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Canuto, Otaviano, Mona Haddad, Gordon Hanson (2010), Export-led Growth v2.0,... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

02 Apr 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Making the Move to General Manager

to address idiosyncratic development needs. While the program's core content address issues, ideas, and theories relevant to the typical new general manager, the program actually involves eighty individual general managers. "Our goal... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Research Summary

Supply Chain Inventory Planning

My work studies management decision-making in demand and supply planning contexts with a focus on forecasting and inventory planning decisions. I examine these decision-making processes from both a supply chain (i.e. across firm) and an... View Details

29 Jan 2021
Op-Ed

How Influencers, Celebrities, and FOMO Can Win Over Vaccine Skeptics

innovations—a theory that typically applies to new products—offers a framework for increasing the number of people who are willing, if not eager, to get vaccinated. Based on the traditional diffusion model, the number and types of people... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim

01 Jun 2022
What Do You Think?

Is Stakeholder Management Facing New Headwinds?

priorities of shareholder management are clear: shareholders have the loudest voice and the greatest influence. Some may argue that this notion became distorted by an element of agency theory that advocated outsized incentives for... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 1986 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Kentucky Fried Chicken (Japan) Ltd.

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the internationalization of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food chain, focusing on KFC's entry into Japan. An entrepreneurial country general manager, Lou Weston, battles numerous problems to establish the business and is eventually highly successful.... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Market Entry and Exit; Strategic Planning; Agency Theory; Perspective; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

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Research Summary

Models of optimal experience (flow)

Flow is a state of profound task-absorption, involvement, and intrinsic enjoyment that makes the person feel one with the activity. Csikszentmihalyi's Flow Theory states that flow is more likely to occur in situations in which the person feels that the activity is very... View Details

17 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Pro Basketball Coaches Display Racial Bias When Selecting Lineups

percent Latino and 0.6 percent Asian). When it comes to NBA coaches, however, the exact opposite is true: there are six black head coaches among 30 teams, or just 20 percent of the league. Research by Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Letian Zhang, who... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

15 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

This Workplace Certification Made Already Safe Companies Even Safer

existed, says Harvard Business School Professor Michael Toffel. “Management system standards require adopters to embrace best-practice processes, and the theory is that these processes will improve performance. Our study provides evidence... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Research Summary

Research Thrust

By: Rakesh Khurana

I am trained in organizational sociology and my main areas of interest lie in macro-organizational theory and the dynamics of executive labor markets. To date, my research has focused on two themes. The first revolves around understanding the forces that govern the... View Details

2016
Book

Strategy Beyond Markets

By: John de Figueiredo, Michael Lenox, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Rick Vanden Bergh

Strategy beyond markets has been an active area of research inquiry since the early 1990s. Since its inception, the scholarship emanating from this research stream has grown substantially in quantity, quality, and breadth. Likewise, firms across the world have... View Details

Keywords: Strategy