Publications

May 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Hakluyt: from Corporate Intelligence to Trusted Advisors

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Lena Duchene

"Established in 1995 by a group of ex-British intelligence officers, Hakluyt & Company (Hakluyt) was a corporate advisory firm that generated insights by leveraging a unique blend of internal expertise and a global network of well-connected individuals. Since 2019, the... View Details

31 May 2004
Research & Ideas

How Team Leaders Show Support–or Not

not appropriate for the team member); not providing enough clarity about an assignment; changing assignments or objectives too frequently; giving assignments that conflict with other management instructions); and (3) dealing with problems... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

23 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Board Games: Timing of Independent Directors’ Dissent in China

Keywords: by Juan Ma & Tarun Khanna

17 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

Confined to specialist journals and books, business history research too often lacks the impact it should have on the research and practice of business management and the social sciences, according to the editors of the newly published... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

30 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 30, 2008

environmental performance of several common biopolymers. However, for some biopolymers the relative performance depends on the functional unit. Management Accounting in India... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 8

investigates the effect of pay for performance in firms, yet less is known about the effect of non-financial rewards, especially in organizations that hire individuals to perform tasks with positive social... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 22, 2020
Article

Making Honest Conversations the Norm

By: Michael Beer

Much admired companies like Boeing and Wells Fargo sacrifice their competitive advantage. Some make huge ethical blunders. As a result, shareholders suffer huge losses in value while employees, customers, and society lose trust and confidence in the institution. Based... View Details

Keywords: Honesty; Interpersonal Communication; Framework; Organizational Culture; Trust; Performance Effectiveness

Read Now

26 Apr 2022
Book

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

that empowerment and collaboration are not just aspirations but achieved reality. Purpose goes from being a slogan to a set of lived principles. In the video below, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson explains the enormous challenge he faced in 2018 when a View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

avoidable ways. This article is based on the analysis of hundreds of work diaries from professionals describing everyday events that involved high-level managers in their companies. The analysis uncovered four major types of actions that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

October 1991 (Revised April 1992)
Case

Honda Today

By: Marco Iansiti

Describes a situation in which the manager in charge of a major development project at Honda needs to make a decision about the technical specification of the product. The decision has profound implications for the product concept and strategy, as well as for the... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Product Design; Organizational Design; Performance Consistency; Projects; Auto Industry

01 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 1

http://www.people.hbs.edu/liyer/BCCI_JEBO_Final_Sept2013.pdf August 2013 Contemporary Accounting Research The Role of Performance Measures in the Intertemporal Decisions of Business Unit Managers By:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

organization during “bad times”? Using two large micro datasets on firm decentralization from U.S. administrative data and 10 OECD countries, we find that firms that delegated more power from the Central Headquarters to local plant View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

in their competition against p2p. Other differences are related to the "packaging" of content. Digital rights management (DRM) technologies, for example, are used to limit the playback of music purchased on iTunes, while music... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

May 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Lowe’s: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

Publications August 2013 MIT Sloan Management Review The Surprising Benefits of Nonconformity By: Bellezza, Silvia, Francesca Gino, and Anat Keinan Abstract—This research demonstrates that, under certain circumstances, people wearing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2022
Case

Arcos Dorados’ Quest for the Digitalization of Last-Mile Delivery in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In 2018, Francisco Staton, Managing Director of Arcos Dorados in Colombia had to decide on the company’s strategy to expand its food ordering and delivery business in the country. Arcos Dorados stood as McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, and Colombia was one of... View Details