Publications

September 2001
Background Note

Financial Reporting Environment, The

By: Paul M. Healy, Amy P. Hutton, Robert S. Kaplan and Krishna G. Palepu

Provides a framework for understanding the role of financial reporting and various intermediaries as mechanisms for reducing both adverse selection and moral hazard problems in capital markets. Financial reports reduce adverse selection by providing basic information... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Corporate Disclosure; Conflict of Interests

25 Oct 2019
HBS Seminar

SBBI Seminar: Some Executive Views of Technology on the Future of Work

May 2013
Case

Bridgewater Associates

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Heidi K. Gardner

Bridgewater Associates was the world's largest hedge fund with approximately $120 billion in assets under management in mid-2012, and its leaders attribute its record-beating performance to the firm's culture of "radical transparency." The founder, Ray Dalio, was... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance; Leadership Style; Investment; Financial Services Industry

February 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Teaching Note

Making stickK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics

By: Leslie K. John and Michael Norton

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

This Teaching Note explains the theory of the case and teaching plan for the case: Making sticK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics (514019). The case focuses on a... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Behavior Change; B2B Vs. B2C; Human Resource Management; Marketing Of Innovations; Health ＆ Wellness; Weight Loss; Charitable Giving; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Health; Business Model; Sales; Human Resources; Health Industry; United States

10 Jul 2023
Video

Leadership

September 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Lifefont: The Case for RetailDriver

Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer packages goods company, develops a system to manage and measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets. View Details

Keywords: Framework; Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Cost vs Benefits; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Customer Relationship Management; Product Marketing; Salesforce Management; Advertising; Management Systems; Information Technology; Retail Industry

June 2005 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Corey Robinson at Sprint Corporation (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Anthony Mayo and Lisa Pode

Corey Robinson is promoted to a new position at Sprint during a time of much internal change within the company. Asks readers to consider how he sets the tone to his new management team and how effective he is in building credibility in his new leadership role. A... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Management Skills; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Effectiveness; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Telecommunications Industry

2010
Article

Corporate Governance at the World Bank and the Dilemma of Global Governance

By: Ashwin Kaja and Eric Werker

Most major decisions at the World Bank are made by its Board of Executive Directors. While some countries enjoy the opportunity to serve on this powerful body, most countries rarely, if ever, get that chance. This gives rise to the question: does board membership lead... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Decisions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Voting; Globalized Economies and Regions

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June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Verizon Communications, Inc.: Implementing a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard

By: Srikant M. Datar, Marc J. Epstein and Jeremy Cott

In early 2000, Verizon Communications implemented a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard to evaluate the effectiveness of and payoffs from human resource management. This case describes the benefits of the scorecard and the challenges of measurement and implementation.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Human Resources; Telecommunications Industry

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

perverse effect of perpetuating the problem. Drawing on a case study of a professional service firm, we develop a multilevel theory to explain why organizations are caught in this conundrum. We present data... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2007
Working Paper

Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops a theory of the firm in which a firm's centralized asset ownership and low-powered incentives give a manager 'interpersonal authority' over employees (in a world with differing priors). The paper derives such interpersonal authority as... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Motivation and Incentives; Boundaries; Theory

SSRN

2023
Article

Exploiting Discovered Regression Discontinuities to Debias Conditioned-on-observable Estimators

By: Benjamin Jakubowski, Siram Somanchi, Edward McFowland III and Daniel B. Neill

Regression discontinuity (RD) designs are widely used to estimate causal effects in the absence of a randomized experiment. However, standard approaches to RD analysis face two significant limitations. First, they require a priori knowledge of discontinuities in... View Details

Keywords: Regression Discontinuity Design; Analytics and Data Science; AI and Machine Learning

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Article

Why Compliance Programs Fail: And How to Fix Them

By: Hui Chen and Eugene Soltes

Firms spend millions of dollars annually on whistle-blower hotlines, training, and other efforts to ensure adherence to laws, regulations, and company policies. Yet malfeasance remains entrenched in the corporate world. Why? Too many firms treat compliance as a... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Programs; Employees; Training; Performance Effectiveness; Measurement and Metrics

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19 Sep 2011
News

Redefining the middle manager's job

Michael E. Porter

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; internet; nonprofit industry; service industry; state government

2007
Chapter

Collaborative R&D in Management: The Practical Experience of Fenix and TruePoint in Bridging the Divide Between Scientific and Managerial Goals

By: Michael Beer and Niclas Adler

The gap between theory and practice has been of concern to both practitioners and academics, yet other than pleas to close the gap with more accessible writing by academics and more interest in research by practitioners few systematic efforts have been made to close... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Knowledge Management; Management; Goals and Objectives; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Improvement; Practice; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Theory; Value; United States

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Video

Meet Raymond Porch

October 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Cottle-Taylor: Expanding the Oral Care Group in India

By: John A. Quelch and Alisa Zalosh

Brinda Patel, director of oral care products for the India division of a consumer home-care product company, develops a data-driven marketing plan for toothbrushes. She believes her plan can support a 20% increase in unit sales based on rising demand for modern... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Budgeting; International Marketing; Product Planning ＆ Policy; Sales Promotions; Marketing Plans; Products; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Emerging Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Advertising; Product Launch; Budgets and Budgeting; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; India