Standards - Publications - Faculty & Research

Raymond A. Kroc

Kroc capitalized on America’s “eat on the run” society. Believing in the real profits of fast food, he bought out the McDonald brothers and developed a restaurant empire. By the 1960s, he had 228 restaurants with annual sales totaling $37 million. Kroc emphasized View Details

Keywords: Restaurants & Lodging

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

people who meet the standards for great leadership described above? For example, both Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos are said to have challenged people to do their best work, but in somewhat demeaning ways. They, along with Bill Gates, threw... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Managing Web Advertising Affiliates

network, but pay only for those ads that entice a consumer to make a purchase. (This setup is different from other online advertising such as banner ads, where the seller pays for the placement when the consumer sees the ad, regardless if they click through or make a... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Advertising; Publishing

10 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Governance in India and Around the Globe

powerhouses and because India is generally very far from world standards in what constitutes good corporate governance. The success and generally positive reputation of India's software firms—in contrast to most of India's other... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu; Technology

25 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Hikma Health + HBS MBAs Crowdsource Largest County-Level COVID-19 Dataset

research seed funding to “double-code” all 1,320 counties in the dataset (the gold standard of data validation for crowdsourcing in which multiple people research the same outcome and reconcile any response differences). We also recently... View Details

05 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Fixing the ‘I Hate Work’ Blues

leaders who inspire in these roles. They should work alongside their employees, doing more than their fair share of the most challenging aspects of the work. Their leadership role is to champion the company's mission and values, and to challenge others to meet higher... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

04 Jun 2014
What Do You Think?

Does Internet Technology Threaten Brand Loyalty?

there was a sense that new information technology could exact a heavy toll on marketers not able to raise their standards and performance. Gerald Nanninga commented that if marketers have a great story to tell, "the Internet is your... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products; Technology

13 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Trust

black plumber. Some brochures included a line that TrapGuard was certified by the International Plumbing Code, a set of standards developed by the International Code Council. Others did not. A month later, the research team followed up... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Service

13 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Grolsch Brewing Company: Drink Sustainably

beer bottles at their local supermarket, which sends bottles back to brewers to be cleaned and refilled with new products. In this way, their standard bottling practices already reflect their ambitions to maximize circularity. Beyond this... View Details

18 Jun 2024
Blog Post

Alumni Career Journey: Ben Schutzman (MBA 2016) - Driving Positive Impact on Community and Climate

work out, I could always return to HBS and recruit for something different. What advice do you have for students pursuing careers at the intersection of business and climate change? The most interesting jobs that any classmate took didn’t come through the View Details

01 Jun 2014
News

Early Impact

talents and passions. Online Education HBS is developing highly differentiated online education offerings that will create a new standard for excellence in online business education and pedagogy. With leadership support from founding... View Details

Keywords: Construction of Buildings; Construction; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

06 Dec 2016
First Look

December 6, 2016

products offered to customers—has recently been used as a competitive advantage for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers. Fast-fashion retailers have differentiated themselves by rotating their assortment multiple times throughout a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Eyes Shut: The Consequences of Not Noticing

standards. Who is to blame? The owners of the factory, or the retailers that demand price levels that cannot be met if reasonable safety standards for factory workers are in place? Let's step back and consider this account of an... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman; Retail

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

learn if a standardized and institutionalized organizational learning process like SFP can enhance dynamic capabilities. The SFP model is illustrated with an application to Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division. 2006 Journal of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Best of HBS Working Knowledge 2009

companies batten down the hatches, we need leaders who don't compromise on standards and values that are essential in flush times. Fortunately, such leaders do exist. Their insights can help other organizations weather the current crisis,... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

attended various schools of experience. Managers who have successfully worked their way up the ladder of a stable business unit—for example, a division that manufactures standard high-volume electric motors for the appliance industry—are... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

24 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Building ’Brandtopias’—How Top Brands Tap into Society

they understand themselves differs from the standards society has set. These contradictions produce potent demands for what Holt terms utopian desires—the desire for imaginative constructions that will resolve the felt tensions. Brands... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

care SEC would have many issues to work out. It would have to establish standard definitions for specific quality measurements. Risk-adjusters would need to develop ways to compare providers’ performance at widely varying practices... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

established middle-market and even lower-market players." For example, she said, "eight years ago, Starbucks was a luxury game on the east coast. . . . Now, Starbucks is daily standard operating procedure—a mass business."... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

03 Nov 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Investors Have Too Much Accounting Transparency?

Section 404, which will become common knowledge from Wall Street to Main Street, as well as rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in recent years. This is not an issue of interest only to those of us in the... View Details