Publications

November 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Social Salary Setting at Spiber

By: Ashley Whillans and John Beshears

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 920-050. The case tells the story of Spiber, a Japanese technology start-up company. To reflect the company’s values, the leadership team implemented a new and unique salary-setting process: each employee had the authority to choose their... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; General Management; Employee Benefits; Incentives; Motivation; Compensation and Benefits; Fairness; Motivation and Incentives; Management; Happiness; Negotiation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan

11 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Employers Favor Men

It’s not news that women are much less likely to get hired for jobs than men, even when the candidates have the exact same qualifications. Now, new research sheds light on why this happens. Employers favor... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Aug 2023
What Do You Think?

As Leaders, Why Do We Continue to Reward A, While Hoping for B?

they will influence performance. But the incentives are so small that employees ignore them. Forty-eight years after Kerr’s paper, you might think that leaders and managers would be getting better at shaping... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2020
Chapter

Foreign Direct Investment, Finance and Economic Development

By: Laura Alfaro and Jasmina Chauvin

Research has sought to understand how foreign direct investment affects host economies. This paper reviews the empirical literature, specifically addressing the question: How does FDI affect economic development of host countries and what is the role of local financial... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Condition; Development Economics

2012
Case

Qingdao TGOOD Electric Corporation

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming, Chen Hao and Hong Zhang

Founded in 2004, TGOOD is now the largest specialized developer and producer of cubicle-type transformation and distribution equipment in China, with the main products of outdoor cubicle-type power equipment supplemented by indoor switchgear cabinets, offered mainly to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Human Resource Management; Strategy; China; China

Web

Placement - Doctoral

Shaping Organizational Outcomes through Management Control Systems: Evidence from the Field Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Chair), Tatiana Sandino , and Susanna Gallani Jihwon Park Accounting & Management, 2020... View Details

November 2010
Case

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Esquel Group, leading manufacturer of quality shirts, sought to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. Seeking to secure a large supply of specialty cotton in an ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

Web

Strategy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

business. Yet until the 1980s, terms like strategic positioning and competitive advantage were absent from the corporate lexicon. Even today, many leaders and managers fail to grasp View Details

2021
Article

Internment as a Business Challenge: Political Risk Management and German Multinationals in Colonial India (1914–1947)

By: Christina Lubinski, Valeria Giacomin and Klara Schnitzer

Internment in so-called “enemy countries” was a frequent occurrence in the 20th century and created significant obstacles for multinational enterprises (MNEs). This article focuses on German MNEs in India and shows how they addressed the formidable challenge of the... View Details

Keywords: Internment; Political Risk; International Business; Multinational Firms and Management; Employees; War; History; Outcome or Result; India; Germany

Every new firm selects a legal form. Organizing as a corporation, a limited company, or a partnership shapes the firm’s access to capital markets, its governance arrangements and tax liabilities, and its treatment in bankruptcy. We use multinomial choice models... View Details

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

Co-Founder and Chair Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard Panelists Derek Ali Founder & CEO EngineEars Abbas “Bas” Hamad Recording Artist Digital Data Design Innovation Prize Ceremony – “The Cubies” Join us in honoring those who are View Details

March 2017
Article

Risky Business: When Humor Increases and Decreases Status

By: T. B. Bitterly, A.W. Brooks and M. E. Schweitzer

Across eight experiments, we demonstrate that humor can influence status, but attempting to use humor is risky. The successful use of humor can increase status in both new and existing relationships, but unsuccessful humor attempts (e.g., inappropriate jokes) can harm... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Behavior; Groups and Teams; Perception

September 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Scotty Smiley

By: Scott A. Snook and Doug Crandall

U.S. Army Lieutenant Scotty Smiley faces the biggest challenge of his young life. What will he do after learning that the wounds he received from a car bomb in Iraq have left him permanently blinded? On April 6, 2005, Lieutenant Scotty Smiley was grievously wounded by... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Personal Characteristics; Customization and Personalization; Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Performance Capacity; Planning; Employment Industry; United States; Iraq

June 2012
Article

Racial Colorblindness: Emergence, Practice, and Implications

By: Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton and Samuel R. Sommers

We examine the pervasive endorsement of racial colorblindness-the belief that racial group membership should not be taken into account or even noticed-as a strategy for managing diversity and intergroup relations. Despite research demonstrating that race is perceived... View Details

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Law; Practice; Race; Research; Social Issues; Diversity

October 2004
Article

Are Politicians Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?

By: Rafael Di Tella and Raymond Fisman

We provide the first empirical analysis of gubernatorial pay. Using U.S. data for 1950-90, we document substantial variation in the wages of politicians, both across states and overtime. Gubernatorial wages respond to changes in state income per capita and taxes. We... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Compensation and Benefits

March 2018
Article

Global Business over Time

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. It also shows how global firms, emerging out of industrialized Western economies, created and co-created markets and ecosystems... View Details

Keywords: Global; Multinational; Business History; Globalization; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economic Systems

Research Summary

Foreign Direct Investment, Finance, and Economic Development

Research has sought to understand how foreign direct investment affects host economies. This paper reviews the empirical literature, specifically addressing the question: How does FDI affect economic development of host countries and what is the role of local financial... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Development; Multinational Corporation; Finance

2012
Teaching Note

Qingdao TGOOD Electric Corporation (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming, Chen Hao and Hong Zhang

Founded in 2004, TGOOD is now the largest specialized developer and producer of cubicle-type transformation and distribution equipment in China, with the main products of outdoor cubicle-type power equipment supplemented by indoor switchgear cabinets, offered mainly to... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; China; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Strategy; China

November 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Background Note

China Rising: An Economic Snapshot

"China Rising: An Economic Snapshot" provides readers with an overview of China's economic transformation, relying on economic data from a variety of sources. It is organized into three sections: (1) "The Big Picture" explores macroeconomic indicators, as well as those... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Microeconomics; Local Range; Globalized Economies and Regions; Business and Government Relations; China