Publications

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01 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Who Runs the International System? Power and the Staffing of the United Nations Secretariat

Keywords: by Paul Novosad & Eric Werker

Research Summary

Overview

By: Boris Vallee

Professor Vallée focuses on financial innovation, investigating it from different angles. This research thread has led him to relate the methods and insights of corporate finance and banking with those of other subfields, including household finance, public finance,... View Details

Article

The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk

By: Linda A. Hill and George Davis

As firms scramble for competitive advantage, boards—once the cautious voices urging management to mitigate risk—are now calling for breakthrough innovation. Indeed, avoiding risk is now seen as the riskiest proposition of all. In speaking with CEOs and board members... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Governance

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28 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

Earth Day Reflections

What's more, since going green is now red hot, a growing number of companies—especially in Europe and Japan—are also starting to issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Sustainability reports. Sometimes these are mailed with the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

Eric J. Van den Steen

Eric Van den Steen is a Professor of Business Administration at HBS, where he teaches strategy. He holds the Roy Little chair, established in honor of the founder of Textron.

Professor Van den Steen's research studies the fundamentals of strategy and... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

It Came in the First Ships: Capitalism in America

In most capitalist economies today, it is embedded in the intricate law of contracts enforced by governments through courts. Still another English corporation instrumental in populating the New World was the... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

August 2008
Case

Progressive Corporation: Variable Dividends

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Brenda W. Chia

In 2006, Progressive Corporation announced a change in its dividend policy. Henceforth, dividends would be paid annually rather than quarterly and, more importantly, would be set according to a formula that would result in considerably greater year-to-year variability... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Policy; Goals and Objectives; Performance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Insurance Industry

November 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

South Pole Carbon Asset Management-Going for Gold?

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Jost Hamschmidt and Mikell Hyman

In late 2008, Christoph Sutter, CEO of South Pole Carbon Asset Management, reflects on his firm's early success at originating carbon credits in developing nations and selling them to governments and firms that seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Non-Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Strategy

23 Nov 2021
Book

What It Takes to Build an Organizational Culture That Wins

including how to lead with passion and how to create an inspirational mission. In this excerpt from the book, Heskett takes on the corporate adage that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” Culture and strategy don’t have to be in conflict,... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

29 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 29

PublicationsOvercoming Resistance to Organizational Change: Strong Ties and Affective Cooptation Authors:Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro Publication:Management Science (forthcoming) Abstract We propose a relational theory of how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 May 2022
HBS Case

Apple vs. Feds: Is iPhone Privacy a Basic Human Right?

issues like privacy. The authors of the case offer a suggestion for CEOs: Few corporations can expect to steer clear of the lightning-rod issues of the day, so perhaps it’s best to meet them head on as part of the job. “What is new is the... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

Edward B. Berk

Ted Berk is the Barry and Teri Volpert Fellow and a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches Private Equity Finance in the elective curriculum and Finance I & II in the required curriculum.

Ted... View Details

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

School experts discuss the current quandary and potential policy and corporate solutions. William Kerr: Untangling migration and employment The immigration system to the United States is very complex. We have many people coming at many... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

January 1989 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Du Pont Freon Products Division (A)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

In 1988, the Du Pont Co. is abruptly confronted with solid scientific evidence that chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the earth's ozone shield. Du Pont, with its Freon brand product line serving markets for foam insulation, electronics solvents, and especially... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Policy; Management; Brands and Branding; Production; Service Operations; Natural Environment; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Sustainability

Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads, shipping delays on clogged railways, and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent... View Details

August 2010 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Rupert Murdoch: The Last Tycoon

By: Geoffrey Jones and Hari Balkrishna

The case examines the entrepreneurial career of Rupert Murdoch and the growth of News Corporation from a small Australian newspaper to a global media giant. It shows how he expanded geographically to Europe, the United States, and Asia and from newspapers to the film... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Media; Globalized Firms and Management; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Europe; United States; Australia