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- All HBS Web (217)
- 19 Oct 2017
- Research & Ideas
How Charitable Organizations Can Thwart Excuses for Not Giving
(Photo source: Catherine Lane) Giving to charity is the ultimate act of selflessness. We offer our own hard-earned money to those in need, with no thought of return. The reality of altruism, however, is much more complicated, as Harvard Business School Assistant... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 17 Apr 2017
- HBS Case
This Turkish Debt Collector Is Customer-friendly
Debt collectors aren’t perceived as providing great service to debtors.Source: BrianAJackson On the list of industries known for great customer service, debt collection is far from the top—and may not even be on the list at all. “It’s usually a business that is very... View Details
- 30 Jan 2017
- Research & Ideas
Vanguard, Trian And The Problem With 'Passive' Index Funds
On August 31, 2016, many investors celebrated the 40th birthday of one of the world’s most successful financial instruments: the mutual index fund, created by Vanguard founder John C. Bogle. Index funds, which automatically track an index of stocks such as the S&P... View Details
- 28 Nov 2016
- Research & Ideas
Challenging the Belief that Liability Laws Kill Medical Device Innovation
Doctors are afraid of getting sued. According to some accounts, 75 percent of them perform more tests and procedures than necessary to avoid potential lawsuits over medical malpractice. The phenomenon of “defensive medicine” has been examined exhaustively by... View Details
- 19 Oct 2016
- Book
Three Critical Mistakes Digital Businesses Make With Content
- 17 Feb 2016
- Research & Ideas
Man vs. Machine: Which Makes Better Hires?
Some companies have begun relying more on computer-administered tests than human interviewers to find the best applicants. New research by Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Danielle Li and colleagues suggests that in this case, we may have to score one for... View Details
- 29 Feb 2016
- HBS Case
Bigbelly's Big Bet on the Digital Trash Can
Q: When is a trash can not a trash can? A: When it’s a Wi-Fi hotspot, air-purity monitor, and advertising billboard—all in one. Bigbelly solar-powered trash cans have been street corner fixtures in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and other cities around the world for... View Details
- 17 Feb 2015
- HBS Case
HBS Cases: The Battle for San Francisco
San Francisco has always been a beacon for people who want to change the world. From beat poets to hippies to gay activists, each wave of counterculture immigration has put its stamp on the city, creating a unique blend that has set it apart from any other in America.... View Details
- 17 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions
"Goodbye tension, hello pension!" That used to be the triumphant cry of millions of new retirees. For decades, Americans assumed a good job came with a good pension, guaranteeing them regular monthly payments from their parent company until the day they died.... View Details
- 22 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
Not Your Father’s State-Run Capitalism
Once upon a time, there were two kinds of businesses. On the one hand, there were public and privately owned companies such as those that existed in Western-style democracies, which had boards of directors and accountability to shareholders, and competed openly in the... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 07 Dec 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries
Vietnamese manicurists, Korean dry cleaners, Haitian cab drivers, Gujarati motel owners. Anyone who lives in an American city can see how immigrants tend to cluster in industries along ethnic lines. Is this because they are forced to by circumstance or because they... View Details
- 09 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
These Employers Pay Higher Salaries than Necessary
Imagine you walk into a shop where you don’t know the prices. Maybe it’s a Turkish souk, redolent with smells of saffron and turmeric. Or maybe it’s a New Hampshire antique store, full of dusty shelves of enticing oddities. You pick out your silk scarf or ceramic... View Details
- 22 Jul 2015
- Research & Ideas
Name Your Price. Really.
Years ago, when I was a student in New York (and like many students, perpetually broke), I would often go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for entertainment. The museum had a policy that visitors could pay whatever they wanted, so for as little as a penny, I could... View Details
- 29 Apr 2015
- Lessons from the Classroom
Use Personal Experience to Pick Winning Stocks
Let's face it: in most cases, the stock market knows what it's doing. With millions of people performing their homework and investing money in stocks they hope will pay off, it's hard for any one person to beat the market in a big way. "Markets are efficient. You... View Details
- 29 Oct 2014
- Research & Ideas
Inventing Products is Less Valuable Than Inventing Ideas
In a well-marked line from the movie The Social Network, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg turns to the Winklevoss twins, who are suing him for stealing their invention, and says: "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." The... View Details
- 19 Nov 2014
- HBS Case
Marketing Marijuana
On Tuesday, the family of deceased musician and celebrated marijuana user Bob Marley announced what it claimed will be the first global cannabis brand, Marley Natural. Suddenly, marijuana is a growth industry—and increasingly, a legal one. When the smoke cleared after... View Details
- 24 Nov 2014
- Research & Ideas
Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes
In a 2012 Harvard Business School case on corruption at German conglomerate Siemens AG, Peter Solmssen —brought in to clean house —reflects on how people approach a business bribe. "The stupid ones say, very simply, what are you going to do for me?" says Solmssen,... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 25 Mar 2014
- Research & Ideas
China’s Economic System has Difficult Road Overcoming its Political System
One need only look as far as the bookshelf to see the optimism attached to China's ascension as a world economic and political power. Titles like The Dragon Awakes; The Rise of China; and When China Rules the World predict an inevitable, if not entirely welcome, rise... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 22 Aug 2011
- Research & Ideas
Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity
We tend to think of the moment of insight and creativity in sudden and shocking terms: the bathtub overflowing (Archimedes), the apple beaning off the head (Newton), the bolt of lightning shivering the key at the end of a kite (Franklin). In the common imagination,... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 23 May 2011
- Research & Ideas
Corporate Sustainability Reporting: It’s Effective
Editor's note: Please see related story, Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society. Although companies are increasingly reporting on their corporate sustainability responsibility (CSR) performance, there has been scant evidence that such... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding