Publications

February 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Quanta Computer and the One Laptop Per Child Initiative

By: Willy Shih, Chintay Shih and Jyun-Chen Wang

When Quanta Computer, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of laptop computers, first joined the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, it faced a challenge trying to balance the cost objectives of a laptop computer targeted at children of the developing world with... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Disruptive Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Hardware

September 2010 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Gone Rural

By: Andre F. Perold

Gone Rural employs 750 women in rural communities across Swaziland to produce handwoven baskets and other hand-crafted items. The women are mostly grandmothers caring for children orphaned as a result of the country's high AIDS-related death rate. The company has a... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Swaziland

November 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Background Note

Note on School Choice in U.S. Public Education

This note surveys school choice in the United States. School choice characterizes the school assignment of approximately 56% of U.S. school-aged children and, in order of popularity, can be categorized into seven types: residential choice, private schools, intra- and... View Details

Keywords: Education; United States

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22 Sep 2016
News

Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego

19 Sep 2016
Video

Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego

06 Mar 2019
HBS Seminar

Adam Isen, U.S. Department of the Treasury

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

school tend to have higher academic achievement and experience greater acceptance by their peers in adolescence. Despite this positive influence on educational outcomes, it is still unclear why some children are more prosocial than others... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Article

Optimal Taxation When Children's Abilities Depend on Parents' Resources

By: Alexander Gelber and Matthew Weinzierl

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare

November 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Digital Angel

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Digital Angel is considering the appropriate marketing plan for the launch of its new locator device. The device, a watch and pager worn in combination, provides GPS location information and monitors heart rate and body temperature via body sensors. Parents of young... View Details

Keywords: Information; Safety; Rights; Market Entry and Exit; Ethics; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Product Development

28 Jul 2019
News

6 Vacation Habits That Defend From Future Burnouts

Unanticipated Gains

Social capital theorists have shown that some people do better than others in part because they enjoy larger, more supportive, or otherwise more useful networks. But why do some people have better networks than others?

Unanticipated Gains argues... View Details

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Balancing Act: Deborah Lovich (A)

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

Deborah Lovich, Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to join the firm's Executive Committee as its youngest member and only current woman, as well as just the second woman in its history. Encouraged by her mentors,... View Details

Keywords: Work/life Balance; Work/family Balance; Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships; Personal Development and Career

January 1986
Article

Social Influences on Creativity: The Effects of Contracted-For Reward

By: T. M. Amabile, B. A. Hennessey and B. S. Grossman

Three studies, with 195 5–11 yr olds and 60 female undergraduates, tested the hypothesis that explicitly contracting to do an activity in order to receive a reward would have negative effects on creativity, but receiving no reward or only a noncontracted-for reward... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Situation or Environment

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George A. Riedel is the Henry B. Arthur Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit, where he currently teaches TEM (The Entrepreneurial Manager) and acts as a Section Chair in the Required Curriculum (RC). He has also taught TOM (Technology and... View Details

2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Junko Yoda and Her Collaboration to Address Sex Trafficking in Asia

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

n 2011, Junko Yoda with Pam McCambridge launched CLinked, a venture aimed to reduce human trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation. Since incorporation, they launched several different pilot programs in partnership with local non-governmental... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Crime and Corruption; Gender; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Leadership; Change Management; Public Administration Industry; Indonesia; Asia

11 Dec 2013
News

Learn How to Spot Portable Talent

20 Jan 2016
News

Engaging the Business Community in Collective Impact

March 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Buzz Lightyear strolled down Main Street at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disney in the fall of 2005, pausing to snap selfies with enthusiastic children in Mickey Mouse ears. Bob Iger, newly appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company,... View Details

Keywords: Franchise Management; Brand Management; Culture Change; Business Units; Acquisition Strategy; Technological Change; Disney; ESPN; Cord-cutting; Bob Iger; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Integration; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Consumer Products Industry