Publications

November 1989
Case

IBM Corp.: The Full Employment Practice (Condensed)

By: D. Quinn Mills and G. Bruce Friesen

Keywords: Employment; Management Practices and Processes; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

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19 Jul 2016
First Look

July 19, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51341 Beyond Symbolic Responses to Private Politics: Examining Labor Standards Improvement in Global Supply Chains By: Hugill, Andrea R., Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract—Worker... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

state police powers to control competitive practices and price outcomes for ordinary goods and services was nothing less than a constitutional revolution, which would also affect labor standards, wage legislation, and consumer prices.”... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Health; Legal Services

June 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

AFL-CIO: Office of Investment and Home Depot

By: Rakesh Khurana and James Weber

Describes the AFL-CIO: Office of Investments activities in their campaign to improve governance at Home Depot by calling attention to Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation package and the company's poor performance. The AFL-CIO Office of Investments advocates... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Shareholder Relations

04 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

From Crowds to Collaborators: Initiating Effort and Catalyzing Interactions Among Online Creative Workers

Keywords: by Kevin J. Boudreau, Patrick Gaule, Karim R. Lakhani, Christoph Riedl & Anita Williams Woolley

December 8, 2022
Article

What Companies Still Get Wrong about Layoffs

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Research has long shown that layoffs have a detrimental effect on individuals and on corporate performance. The short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Employment; Selection and Staffing; Performance

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May 2019 (Revised February 2022)
Background Note

The Gig Economy: Leasing Skills to Pay the Bills

By: Joseph Fuller, William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

This primer provides a comprehensive exploration into the gig economy and how it is reshaping global business. It shows how the Uber driver, the freelancing programmer in India, and the independent corporate consultant are all different variants of the modern-day gig... View Details

Keywords: Gig Economy; COVID-19 Pandemic; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Labor; Strategy; Management; Globalization; North America; Europe; United States; United Kingdom

January 2010
Article

Clusters of Entrepreneurship

By: Edward L. Glaeser, William R. Kerr and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across industries within cities, but there is little consensus on why this relationship exists. Traditional economic explanations emphasize factors that reduce entry... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Entrepreneurship; Cost; Employment; Market Entry and Exit

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01 Apr 2019
What Do You Think?

Does Our Bias Against Federal Deficits Need Rethinking?

huge deficits stretching back and forward for a decade,” according to Kautz. “I believe that an emerging disinflationary era, driven by more intelligent machines and continuing globalization, is why they are right. Most importantly for me, the era of ‘human View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Handicapping the Best Countries for Business

labor policies. As to foreign direct investment, any American business person contemplating an investment elsewhere must take into consideration all of the policies mentioned above, as well as for the foreign country into which the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

1995
Chapter

The Role of Dominant Identity and Experience in Organizational Work on Diversity

By: R. J. Ely

Keywords: Working Conditions; Identity; Experience and Expertise; Diversity

2014
Report

Bridge the Gap: Rebuilding America's Middle Skills

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Jennifer Burrowes, Manjari Raman, Dan Restuccia and Alexis Young

The market for middle-skills jobs—those that require more education and training than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree—is consistently failing to clear. That failure is inflicting a grievous cost on the competitiveness of American firms... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Human Capital; Education; Competency and Skills; Macroeconomics; United States

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November 1975 (Revised October 1976)
Case

Cross River Products

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes production task of meeting peak seasonal demands in a light manufacturing plant. Information is provided for evaluating the options of overtime, second shift, second production line, and inventory buildup. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Information; Labor; Demand and Consumers; Production; Supply Chain

January 2003
Article

Women Entrepreneurs Who Break Through to Equity Financing: The Influence of Human, Social and Financial Capital

By: Myra M. Hart, Nancy M. Carter, Candida G. Brush, Patricia G. Greene and Elizabeth Gatewood

Keywords: Human Capital; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Gender; Capital; Equity

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September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Supplement

Charles Veillon, S.A. (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Howard Reitz

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Rights; Organizations; Working Conditions; Social Issues; Management Practices and Processes; Service Industry

August 1997 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Harassment at Work?

By: Lynn S. Paine and Dale Coxe

Presents three scenarios involving behavior that could arguably be called sexual harassment. The first scenario is set in a medical supply company in an unnamed emerging market region. The second is set in a New York-based securities firm. The third is set in a U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Groups and Teams; Crime and Corruption; Attitudes; Behavior; Labor and Management Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY); United States

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

their nations' labor force, or that some countries have infant mortality rates more than ten times our own. Indeed, access to a computer, well enough access to sanitation or a telephone, can be very limited around the world. The lists go... View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

September 2020 (Revised February 2023)
Teaching Note

Uber: Competing Globally

By: Alexander J. MacKay

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 720-404. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Geography; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Strategy; Globalization; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Law; Management; Growth and Development; Growth Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Design; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Supply and Industry; Industry Structures; Planning; Strategic Planning; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Networks; Adaptation; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Transportation Networks; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Ghana; Asia; China; Shanghai; Shanghai Shi; India; New Delhi; Europe; United Kingdom; London; England; Latin America; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); South America; Colombia