Publications

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December 2024
Article

Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany

By: Nicholas Goedeking and Jonas Meckling

California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Coordination; Technology Adoption; Infrastructure; Transportation; Government and Politics; Energy; Utilities Industry; Germany; California

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November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Colbún and the Future of Chile's Power

By: Forest Reinhardt and Shon R. Hiatt

This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Chile; Environmental Protection; Energy Generation; Energy Industry; South America; Chile

20 Jan 2017
News

Bringing Power to the People

Xavier Barbaro (MBA 2006) is CEO of Neoen, a French firm that generates electricity from renewable sources, operating in multiple countries. In this interview, he talks about how the View Details

12 May 2011
News

Powerlessness is as corrupting as power

12 May 2020
News

The Surprising Power of Business Experiments

01 Apr 1996
News

Stewards of the Seventh Generation

heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide that are released into the atmosphere when coal and petroleum products are burned. That same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that in California and Arizona, General Motors would this year... View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso, Garry Emmons, Linda Goodspeed, and Elaine Gottlieb

30 Sep 2015
News

The Power of Service

positive change,” says Reilly, who did both in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rallying City Year contacts from across the country, she founded City Year Louisiana to help with critical relief and recovery efforts just 100 days after the storm hit. “For many in... View Details

December 1987 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program

Describes a major electric utility's highly successful effort to institute a comprehensive quality improvement program throughout the organization. Designed to be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement effort described in Paul Revere Insurance Co.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Performance Productivity; Utilities Industry; Florida

01 Apr 2002
News

How-To Book for General Managers

Effective implementation often comes down to how well executives design, direct, and influence their organization's critical processes. HBS professor David Garvin's new book, General Management: Processes and Action (McGraw-Hill),... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

after that. How should entrepreneurs starting a company approach creating a culture? “Cultures develop with or without conscious effort” A: Cultures develop with or without conscious effort. They generally reflect the beliefs and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 May 2021
Blog Post

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

creative and inspired. I’ve been conducting research on the psychology of nostalgia for almost 20 years. Based on what I’ve learned, I believe managers can use the power of nostalgia to help their organizations thrive. Nostalgia Is a... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

June 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

General Electric: Reg Jones and Jack Welch

By: Francis Aguilar and Christopher A. Bartlett

When GE's retiring Reginald Jones turned the job of CEO over to Jack Welch on April 1, 1981, the Wall Street Journal reported that GE had "decided to replace a legend with a live wire." Some wondered if the young dynamo could fill the elder statesman's very large... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Change Management; Leading Change; Restructuring; Investment; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Succession

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In June 2020, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) presented its report to the California Energy Commission indicating that its proof of concept project to demonstrate its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™, had been a success. While conventional... View Details

Keywords: Geothermal Electricity; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

August 2011 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Boardroom Battle Behind Bars: Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings—A Corporate Governance Drama

By: William C. Kirby and Tracy Yuen Manty

Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current... View Details

Keywords: China; Legal Aspects Of Business; Corruption; Risk; Corporate Governance; Crime and Corruption; Power and Influence; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Ethics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Values and Beliefs; Private Equity; China

There is a growing belief that scalable and low-cost AI assistance can improve firm decision-making and economic performance. However, running a business involves a myriad of open-ended problems, making it hard to generalize from recent studies showing that generative... View Details

01 Dec 2017
News

The Power of Cultural Understanding

companies and governments is vitally important, he observes, not just for the School and its students but also for the regions themselves. “It is an extremely powerful way to influence the next generation of... View Details

September 2007
Article

Collaborative Brokerage, Generative Creativity, and Creative Success

Analyzing data on utility patents from 1975 to 2002 in the careers of 35,400 collaborative inventors, this study examines the influence of brokered versus cohesive collaborative social structures on an individual's creativity. We test the hypothesis that... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Patents; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks