Publications

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

"Self-regulation" increasingly rings like a mantra in business. Just think of topics in the news over the past couple of months, such as the Italian fashion industry's move toward self-regulation to discourage the hiring of dangerously thin models. Or the Group of 7... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Mar 2013
News

The Harvard Professor Who Wants to Transform Capitalism

17 Mar 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

November 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Background Note

Understanding Economic Value Added

By: Mihir A. Desai, Fabrizio Ferri and Steve Treadwell

Explores the concept of economic value added (EVA) and its practical applications as a management control system for performance measurement and incentive compensation. Explains how EVA is measured and explores some of the adjustments to financial statements that are... View Details

Keywords: Value

February 2000 (Revised April 2003)
Case

InSite Marketing Technology (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Genevieve J.S. Feraud and Sheila L Marcelo

Introduces students to products and services that improve customers' online shopping experience. Also discusses the challenges of marketing new product concepts and finding funding for start-up ventures. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Financing and Loans; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Service Industry; Web Services Industry

December 1992 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Note on Organizational Effectiveness

By: Michael Beer

Discusses what is meant by organizational effectiveness. First, the concept of organizations as social systems is introduced. Second, a model of organization effectiveness is introduced and discussed. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Performance Efficiency

20 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Blind Spots: We’re Not as Ethical as We Think

Think back to recent events when people making unethical decisions grabbed the headlines. How did auditors approve the books of Enron and Lehman Brothers? How did feeder funds sell Bernard Madoff's invesments? We would never act as they did, we think. We operate under... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2007
Book

A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics: What Managers, Executives, and Students Need to Know

By: David A. Moss

Now more than ever before, executives and managers need to understand their larger economic context. In The Concise Guide to Macroeconomics, David Moss leverages his many years of teaching experience at Harvard Business School to lay out important macroeconomic... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Money; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

Find at Harvard

March 2004
Background Note

An Introduction to Work-Life Balance

An overview of issues relating to and factors affecting the concept of balance between work and personal life including the history of work-life balance and employer/employee perspectives. View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

In trying to secure financial backing for a new product, independent innovators generally face the question of how much to invest in development before showing it around. Should they create, say, a working prototype (and maybe even generate sales) or pitch the idea for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

Negotiate 1-2-3

Drawing on my book, The Art of Negotiation, the Negotiation 1-2-3 web project provides business practitioners, MBA students, and other learners, an interactive, online resource for improving their negotiation skills. The site’s numeric name reflects three... View Details

04 May 2016
News

Every Company Is a Health Company

15 Aug 2016
Video

FIELD Global Immersions

February 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Background Note

Responsibility Centers and Performance Measurement

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Introduces the concepts of responsibility centers and performance measurement. Expense centers, financial responsibilities such as profit centers, and investment centers are introduced, defined, and illustrated with simple examples. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Management Systems

December 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Where do successful strategies come from?

By: Jan W. Rivkin

The second of four module notes for students taking an advanced course on competitive strategy. Presents concepts and techniques to help students understand the origins of effective strategies. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

April 1996 (Revised December 2011)
Background Note

Responding to Market Failures

Broadly defines the concept of market failure and explores options for responding to it. It pays particular attention to the role of business leaders in addressing market deficiencies. View Details

Keywords: Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

Entrepreneurship in the world's two most populous nations, China and India, has through modern times been somewhat asleep. But now, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna in a new book, both societies "have woken up," and the results could reshape business,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2000
Case

greatEntertaining.com

By: Myra M. Hart and Nicole Tempest

GreatEntertaining.com is the result of years of planning, testing, and adapting the concept before committing to launch the business. Focus, value creation, and productive partnerships are key issues. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Adaptation; Value Creation; Web Services Industry