Publications

March 2024
Background Note

Physical Climate Risk

By: Michael W. Toffel, Spencer Glendon and Alison Smart

This note describes how managers can identify their company’s physical climate risks, which can heighten the risk of business disruption, change the costs of operations and supply chains, and affect the demand for their goods and services. The note also provides a... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Maps; Climate Risk; Climate Impact; Modeling And Analysis; Climate Change; Risk Management; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruption

2020
Discussion Paper

Acting Now While Preparing for Tomorrow: Competitiveness Upgrading Under the Shadow of COVID-19

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Peter Clinch

This paper aims to provide policy makers, especially those focused on the longer-term growth potential of their countries, with an initial framework to think about their action priorities in the context of the overall COVID-19 response. Our focus is on the... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; COVID-19 Pandemic; Competition; Government Administration; Health Pandemics; Economy; Supply Chain; Safety

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July 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-055. When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique... View Details

March 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli

When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique product. Fifteen years later, the... View Details

02 Feb 2016
First Look

February 2, 2016

privatized by the Romanian state in 2004 and acquired by Austrian oil company OMV, with the state retaining a 20.6% stake in the company. The situation was particularly challenging for the foreign investor since the sector in which the company View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Mar 2019
Blog Post

What I Learned in the Africa Rising Short Intensive Program

perhaps the most cited rationale by investors and firms seeking to explain their ambitions for operations on the Continent. Yet in the intervening decade since The Economist published its namesake issue, many investors and firms have... View Details

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

are operating in competitive markets where someone is trying to leapfrog us or steal our customers,” Simons says. “The more there’s risk of disruption in your industry, the more there’s a danger that someone... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

12 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 12

employees, rather than simply issuing orders, leaders can promote operational flexibility, employee engagement, and tight strategic alignment. Groysberg and Slind have identified four elements of organizational conversation that reflect... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Managing the Future of Work

Joseph B. Fuller & Manjari Raman Dec 2022 To close America’s chronic middle skills gap, U.S. employers have to partner much more actively than in the past with local community colleges. Due to waves of disruptive automation, the nature of... View Details

Web

Digital Transformation

Today's dynamic digital environment presents compelling opportunities for companies. These start with reimagining your business, understanding your customers, and engaging them using digital technology. Prepare for digital disruption... View Details

11 Nov 2014
First Look

First Look: November 11

to lead to improvements in dealing with the problem of economic benchmarking. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2517496 The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors By: Teixeira, Thales S., and Peter Jamieson Abstract—While the Internet's first wave of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

The Effects of Inconsistent Work Schedules on Employee Lateness and Absenteeism

By: Caleb Kwon and Ananth Raman

Problem Definition: Employee lateness and absenteeism pose challenges for businesses, particularly in the retail industry, where punctuality is vital for optimal store operations and customer service. This paper relates employee lateness and absenteeism with... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Employees; Human Capital; Retail Industry

SSRN

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2003
Conference Paper

Follow the Money: What Really Drives Technology Innovation in Construction

By: John D. Macomber

Technology enthusiasts, academics, and software companies remain concerned about the slow pace of innovation in the construction industry. Tools are widely available that seem to provide eminently sensible and clearly apparent improvement to the process of design and... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Technological Innovation; Construction; Design; Performance Improvement; Motivation and Incentives; Knowledge Management; Adoption; Business Model; Capital Structure; Supply Chain

2020
Working Paper

Reverse Information Sharing: Reducing Costs in Supply Chains with Yield Uncertainty

By: Pavithra Harsha, Ashish Jagmohan, Retsef Levi, Elisabeth Paulson and Georgia Perakis

Supply uncertainty in produce supply chains presents major challenges to retailers. Supply shortages create frequent disruptions in terms of promised delivery times, quantity and quality delivered. To alleviate these challenges, dual sourcing--a strategy in which... View Details

Keywords: Information Sharing; Yield Uncertainty; Ration Gaming; Blockchain; Supply Chain; Risk and Uncertainty

SSRN

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August 2019
Case

The Allstate Corporation, 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In July 2019, Allstate, the United States’ number-three property and casualty (P/C) insurer, released its second-quarter earnings, which reported first-half revenues of $22.1 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year. Shareholders cheered the top-line growth, but P/C premiums... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Companies; Strategic Analysis; Strategic Change; Insurance; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America