Publications

September 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mobil USM&R (C): Lubricants Business Unit

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a Lubricants Business Unit in Mobil's U.S. Marketing and Refining division launched a project to develop a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for his unit. The purpose was to provide focus for all employees of the unit, enabling it to operate on an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employees; Customization and Personalization; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Projects; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

Educators

2014
Working Paper

Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization and Microfinance Institutions

By: Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis and Sunny Li Sun

We examine the heterogeneous effects of globalization on the interest rate setting by microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. We consider MFIs as a mechanism to overcome the institutional void of credit for small entrepreneurs in developing and emerging... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Microfinance Institutions; Economic Globalization; Social Globalization; Microfinance; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies

SSRN

November 2012
Teaching Plan

The Langer Lab: Commercializing Science (TP)

By: Vicki L. Sato and Annelena Lobb

The Langer Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was a unique operation. Its head, Robert Langer, had always focused on selecting ideas to research that would have the greatest positive impact for humanity, and he encouraged an unusual... View Details

Keywords: Computers; Industry Evolution; Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Capital; R＆D; Technology Transfer; Patents; Research and Development; Massachusetts

January 2013
Article

'I'll Have One of Each': How Separating Rewards into (Meaningless) Categories Increases Motivation

By: F. Gino and S. Wiltermuth

We propose that separating rewards into categories can increase motivation, even when those categories are meaningless. Across six experiments, people were more motivated to obtain one reward from one category and another reward from another category than they were to... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

March 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Bank of America: Mobile Banking

By: Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman

In January 2010, Jen McDonald, head of Bank of America Corporation's (BAC) Digital Marketing group, was discussing the bank's mobile strategy with Douglas Brown, senior vice president, Mobile Product Development. BAC launched mobile banking in 2007 and within three... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Digital Marketing; Financial Services; Mobile Banking; Channels; Strategy; Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Banking Industry; United States

Educators

October 1997 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Transitional Infant Care Specialty Hospital

Transitional Infant Care Specialty Hospital (TIC) addresses the question of whether and how to maintain strategic focus in an industry that is calling increasingly for integrated service delivery. Despite providing high-quality, cost-effective care relative to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Pittsburgh

Educators

2008
Working Paper

International Financial Integration and Entrepreneurial Firm Activity

By: Laura Alfaro and Andrew Charlton

We explore the relation between international financial integration and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. We use a unique firm-level data set in a broad sample of developed and developing countries, which enables us to present both cross-country and... View Details

Keywords: International Financial Integration; Capital Mobility; Firm Entry; Capital Controls; Finance; Integration; Global Range; Capital; Entrepreneurship; Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies

08 Apr 2013
News

Career Vs. Family: A Continual Struggle For HBS Alumnae

04 May 2021
News

Hubert Joly from Best Buy

10 Oct 2018
News

How Many Women Does It Take to Change a Congress?

13 Feb 2024
HBS Seminar

Stijn van Osselaer, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

November 2021
Article

Ratings, Reviews, and the Marketing of New Products

By: Itay P. Fainmesser, Dominique Olié Lauga and Elie Ofek

We study how user-generated content (UGC) about new products impacts a firm's advertising and pricing decisions and the effect on profits and market dynamics. We construct a two-period model where consumers value quality and are heterogeneous in their taste for the new... View Details

Keywords: Online Reviews; Product Ratings; Social Networks; Word Of Mouth; Pricing; User-generated Content; Advertising; Product Marketing; Price; Consumer Behavior; Product Positioning; Social Media