Publications

December 2010 (Revised June 2018)
Case

The Pecora Hearings

By: David Moss, Cole Bolton and Eugene Kintgen

In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, the Senate Banking Committee began a much-publicized investigation of the nation's financial sector. The hearings, which came to be known as the Pecora hearings after the Banking Committee's lead counsel Ferdinand Pecora,... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Fairness; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Institutions; Debt Securities; Stocks; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; History; Financial Services Industry; United States

22 Feb 2022
News

Breaking News

The decline of the community newspaper in the United States has been steep and severe. A quarter of American papers have folded in the last 15 years, and industry-wide consolidation has eviscerated the newsrooms of those that are left,... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; illustration by Dana Smith; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

November 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Scott Tucker (A): Race to the Top

By: Aiyesha Dey and Amram Migdal

The case tells the story of the rise and fall of Scott Tucker, an entrepreneur, businessman, passionate race car driver, competitor, and owner of a professional racing team. From 1997 to 2012, Tucker built a nationwide network of payday lending businesses, becoming a... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Fairness; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Governance Controls; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2017 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying to political activism. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must... View Details

06 May 2021
HBS Case

How Four Women Made Miami More Equitable for Startups

1990s to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that could harness its business-minded immigrant population. Strategic investment had given rise to creative events and spaces, like the international Art Basel fair in Miami, new performing... View Details

Keywords: by Carolyn DiPaolo

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

present over the future in a manner inconsistent with an endowment's fundamental purpose of maintaining intergenerational equity. The University executes on this obligation in determining each year's endowment payout rate—that is, the percentage of the endowment's... View Details

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

relevant. In fact, basic research can help to predict—or even to prevent—real-world events years before they happen. Case in point: In 1996, Max H. Bazerman and several colleagues published “Egocentric Interpretations of Fairness in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

July 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Trouble at Basecamp: Managing Politics, Polarization, and Conflict in the Workplace (A)

By: Nour Kteily, Deepak Malhotra and David Lane

As founders of the software company Basecamp, Jason Fried and David H. Hansson were used to being the subjects of social media attention. Both maintained active and dedicated Twitter followings for their unique perspectives on management and life. But on April 26,... View Details

25 Aug 2022
News

Up on the Corner

and wealth creation. Though prohibited by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, redlining had lasting implications—as did related real estate practices such as blockbusting, which encouraged white flight by playing on fears of racial integration,... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Melissa Golden; Real Estate

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

endowment’s fundamental purpose of maintaining intergenerational equity. The University executes this obligation in determining each year’s endowment payout rate—the percentage of the endowment’s fair market value withdrawn and... View Details

Web

Commercialization of the Polarizer - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

World's Fair of 1939, a showcase of new American technology, visitors donned 3-D Polaroid spectacles to view a stereoscopic Polaroid motion picture, produced by the Chrysler Corporation. Entitled In Tune with Tomorrow , the film was shot... View Details

September 2020
Case

Uber at a Crossroads (2017)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its... View Details

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

December 2019
Case

Steemit: A New Social Media?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Alexander White and Karen Elterman

This case discusses the alternative social media site Steemit, including the principles it was founded on in 2016 and the challenges it faced in 2019. Steemit was a blockchain-based platform that aimed to differentiate itself from other social media companies by... View Details