Publications

2015
Working Paper

Discretion in Hiring

By: Mitchell Hoffman, Lisa B. Kahn and Danielle Li

Who should make hiring decisions? We propose an empirical test for assessing whether firms should rely on hard metrics such as job test scores or grant managers discretion in making hiring decisions. We implement our test in the context of the introduction of a... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Management Practices and Processes

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June 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Alibris (B)

Takes place more than two years after the (A) case. Alibris has weathered the storms and has built a popular, growing business. As the Christmas season of 2000 approaches, the company is confronted with two IT projects that both seem urgent and important. The first is... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Service Operations; Competitive Advantage; Information Management; Service Industry

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

School Case 207-084 Following a successful model in Europe, JP Morgan has introduced a set of five U.S. retail mutual funds with an investment philosophy and marketing strategy grounded in behavioral finance. The asset management group... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture

By: Ranjay Gulati

Customer centricity has been an important part of the culture at Cisco Systems since its inception. While part of this is attributable to values put in place by the founders and retained by subsequent management, it is also closely interwoven with its organizational... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employees; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Business Units

July 24, 2019
Editorial

How to Make Even the Most Mundane Tasks More Motivating

By: Jaewon Yoon, A.V. Whillans and Ed O'Brien

People want purposeful work, and managers know it. That’s why companies try to inspire employees with mission statements about the impact their work can have. Ikea tells employees they’re “creating a better everyday life”; Microsoft says they’re “empowering every... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Perspective

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

How to Demotivate Your Best Employees

productivity. More than 80 percent of companies dole out work-related awards like "employee of the month" or "top salesperson." Managers often view these awards as inexpensive ways to improve worker performance; many believe that when... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Service

December 2002
Case

National Economic Accounting: Past, Present, and Future

By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan

Presents the fundamentals of GDP accounting (including definitions, etc.), examines the history of national accounting, and surveys the international debate over "Green GDP." The first section explains the basic rules and definitions of national economic accounting and... View Details

Keywords: History; Natural Environment; Quality; Accounting; Forecasting and Prediction; Environmental Sustainability; Economy; United States

June 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Teaching Note

Mark43

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Mitchell Weiss and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-016. The founders of Mark43, an early-stage startup that provides software for law enforcement agencies, must decide whether to bid on a request for proposals (RFP) from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). On the one hand, LAPD would... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Customers; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Making; Technology Industry; District of Columbia; Los Angeles

01 Dec 2023
News

The Exchange: Help Wanted

Image by John Ritter The path to a job in the C-suite isn’t what it used to be. For many years, companies could lean on financial expertise and industry connections when recruiting candidates, but HBS professors Raffaella Sadun and Joseph Fuller say that so much has... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

November 2001
Supplement

Staples

By: Myra M. Hart

Provides information on the development of the office superstore concept, including building partnerships, creating the business plan, and recruiting a management team. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Recruitment; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Operations; Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Complexity; Retail Industry

30 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim, and Byoung G. Park

12 Sep 2023
Book

Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

they’re leading a whole bunch of other people. So emotional management is even more important.” Brooks says the country, and maybe the world, is in a happiness slump. This epidemic predates the COVID-19 pandemic (though lockdowns and... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

July 2013 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Say on Pay: Qualcomm, Inc. Shareholders Vote 'Maybe'

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and Kelly Baker

This case centers around Qualcomm shareholders' 2012 Say-on-Pay vote and the dispute between the Institutional Shareholder Services and management regarding the appropriateness of the CEO's compensation plan. Was ISS right that Qualcomm's CEO's pay was inflated and... View Details

Keywords: ISS; Proxy Advisor; Investor Communication; Investor Relations; Peers; Say-on-Pay; Benchmarking; Peer Group; Compensation Committees; Board Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Telecommunications Industry

2021
Book

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business--and business family. Though "family business" may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Family and Family Relationships; Outcome or Result; Business Model; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Culture

2014
Working Paper

Making the Business Case for Environmental Sustainability

By: Rebecca Henderson

Can a business case be made for acting sustainably? This is a difficult question to answer precisely, largely because there is no generally accepted definition of the term "sustainability". Is it acting sustainably to protect the human rights of the firm's workforce?... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability

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September 2006 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco

Engaging local stakeholders and building strong relations has become a strategic imperative for multinational firms in the often politically charged mining, oil, and gas sectors. For BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining company, its Tintaya copper mine in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mining Industry

14 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

Keywords: by Andrew Hill & David Thomas; Sports

January 2001 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Novartis Pharma: The Business Unit Model

By: Srikant M. Datar, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In June 2000, Novartis reorganized its pharmaceutical business to form global business units in oncology, transplantation, ophthalmology, and mature products. The remaining primary care products continued to be managed within global functions (e.g., R&D and marketing).... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Recruitment; Product Marketing; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

2025
Working Paper

Generative AI and the Nature of Work

By: Manuel Hoffmann, Sam Boysel, Frank Nagle, Sida Peng and Kevin Xu

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology demonstrate a considerable potential to complement human capital intensive activities. While an emerging literature documents wide-ranging productivity effects of AI, relatively little attention has been paid... View Details

Keywords: Generative Ai; Digital Work; Open Source Software; Knowledge Economy; AI and Machine Learning; Open Source Distribution; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Labor