labor - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Jan 2016
News

If You’re Loyal to a Group, Does It Compromise Your Ethics?

21 Dec 2015
News

Turns out hiring talented jerks isn't good business after all

01 Jun 2018
News

Up by the Roots

encouraging labor market mobility. “Setting the table in terms of creating an environment that is attractive to entrepreneurship is one of the most important things that government can do,” he says—and differences in incentives and... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; illustrations by Dan Page

2023
Article

Let's Coordinate! The Reinforcement of a ‘Liberal Bastion’ within European Industrial Federations, 1978-1987

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focuses on the establishment in the 1970s of a new international private governance forum, the so-called ‘Interlaken Conferences’, which gathered together the leading figures of the Industrial Federations of the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria,... View Details

Keywords: Business Interest Association; Lobbying; Neo-Liberalism; Neocorporatism; Coordination; Economic Policy; Business and Government Relations; Labor Unions; Economics; Policy; Europe

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05 May 2020
News

“Walking a Tightrope”

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes “Who's actually putting those groceries on the shelves still and who's driving the truck to get that food that gets put on those grocery shelves? It's the working class. We depend upon them far more than... View Details

22 Feb 2016
News

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

December 2001
Case

Van Bolton: Resolving a Labor-Management Dispute

Describes the challenges facing Van Bolton, the head of a large airline, as he works with the head of the company's pilots' union to negotiate issues relating to the acquisition of a smaller airline. Bolton must find ways to surmount a history of adversarial... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Labor Unions; Acquisition; Air Transportation Industry

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November 1994
Case

Navistar International

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott

As a consequence of laying off half its workforce in a massive downsizing program, the company--a large manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks--struggles with a huge ($2.6 billion) liability for retiree medical costs. Although the company has promised its retirees... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Wages; Labor Unions; Legal Liability; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring

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November 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

The Big 3 Roar Back

By: William W. George

The "Big 3"—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler—were all headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Born between 1903 and 1928, they dominated the automobile industry in the U.S. for decades until they became complacent. In the 1970s they started losing share to... View Details

Keywords: Production; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Industry Clusters; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

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01 Sep 2010
News

A Day’s Pay

FLOREZ: Back to his roots. Before term limits force him out of office, California State Senate majority leader Dean Florez (MBA ’93) has one final bill he wants to get through the legislature: extending overtime benefits to hundreds of thousands of California... View Details

Keywords: overtime pay; Crop Production; Agriculture

10 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Homers: Secrets on the Factory Floor

perspective, the illegality of the practice and its misalignment with official organizational goals might be most salient. Thus, the topic of homer making puts the person disclosing it in a position of vulnerability, one in which hasty judgment is likely. The unusual... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

May 2019
Teaching Note

Universal Basic Income, Job Guarantees, or None of the Above?

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-035. View Details

Keywords: UBI; Job Guarantee; Public Policy; EITC; Employment; Labor; Social Issues; Income; Governance; Policy; Welfare

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01 Dec 2005
News

Trillion-Dollar Fixer-Upper

The commercial real estate business was in a shambles fifteen years ago, but just look at it now. After a complete rehab, the industry has become the darling of investors eager for alternatives to lackluster stocks and bonds. But will the good times last? Illustration... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Real Estate

02 Oct 2000
What Do You Think?

What Lies Beyond NAFTA?

economies. The conclusion is that it has created jobs on both sides of the border while sharpening the ability of Mexican companies to compete. The Mexican business community is learning to cope not only with foreign competitors, but also with rising View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

What Brands Can Do to Monitor Factory Conditions of Suppliers

their own reputations. At the same time, by helping shine a light in these areas, Toffel says he hopes this research might help overseas labor conditions improve, either by rewarding the factories that treat workers better, or by helping... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

25 Mar 2008
News

Whistling Past the Graveyard

The experts are finally seeing the light: most now agree we are in a recession. Harvard professor Martin Feldstein (http://www.nber.org/feldstein), former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, says it could be the worst since World War II. But this belated... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance