Going Private - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Dissent in Decision-Making

beliefs that foam strikes incurred during the launch of the space shuttle Columbia posed no risk to its fuselage. This propensity to maintain silence, a flaw at once personal and organizational, is "widespread and problematic" in both the public and the View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

solo travelers or small groups. You step inside, press a button for your destination, the door closes, and off you go down a narrow track. Two minutes later—presto, the door opens again and you alight at your destination. You've arrived... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

17 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 17

of intermediaries create safe "money-like" claims, they go about this in different ways. Traditional banks create money-like claims by holding illiquid fixed-income assets to maturity, and they rely on deposit insurance and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

Incubators: The New Venture Capitalists?

staffing, services, physical space, strategic guidance and more — are popping up in the private sector almost as fast as the dot.com companies they hope to hatch. They're pulling in veteran entrepreneurs and established Internet players... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

the defining characteristic of the best ones is courage to make bold moves that transform their businesses. Courageous leaders take risks that go against the grain of their organizations. They make decisions with the potential for... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

be forgotten.” So, if someone asks a company to delete their records because they don't want to be part of any data analysis or algorithms, the company needs to act fast and get it done. Sticking to the usual way of doing things isn't a good idea. Regulations are only... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

01 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Dying to Lead: How Reaching the Top Can Kill You Sooner

then-headquarters in Schenectady, New York. He relied heavily on GE’s employee directories, which listed all the managers within the company’s organizational structure. He also used US Census data, and other public and private documents... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

26 May 2022
HBS Case

Apple vs. Feds: Is iPhone Privacy a Basic Human Right?

championing privacy as controversy was swirling around an extensive US government surveillance program that had been disclosed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden had leaked information indicating that the government was collecting... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

04 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Need to Solve a Problem? Take a Break From Collaborating

structures change over time," Shore says. "To complicate matters, in longer-term projects you're going to be iterating between information gathering and solution generating. So the organizational structure needs to switch back... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Video Game; Web Services

September 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Epic: The Future of Health Information Technology

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Brian L. Walker

How should the founder and leadership team of a health IT company with more than 45 years of market leadership prepare for the future, while navigating founder transitions and industry changes? Founded by Judy Faulkner in the late 1970s, Epic pioneered electronic... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Private Ownership; Customer Focus and Relationships; Information Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Health Industry; Electronics Industry; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

24 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 24

institution was able to successfully restructure and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, challenging conventional views that a financial firm could not survive bankruptcy proceedings as a going concern. A diverse group of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

15 Podcast Episodes That Grabbed Listeners in 2023

products company decided to set a real zero climate goal instead of net zero, and how they plan to achieve it. She also describes how Seventh Generation is going beyond a carbon footprint to measure its carbon fingerprints that touch... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

13 Mar 2023
Op-Ed

How Leaders Should Leave

compete for advancement. With the career clock ticking, moving on may be the best option to grow. “No one likes a surprise exit, so don’t walk into the boss’s office, declare you’ve had enough, and announce you are leaving in two weeks for a competitor.” Of course, not... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

Abstract—Researchers have long hypothesized that research outputs from government, university, and private company R&D contribute to economic growth, but these contributions may be difficult to measure when they take a non-pecuniary... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

private employer in the United States, with 1.5 million workers (2.2 million worldwide). But that size and dominance doesn’t make Walmart immune to pressures faced by any other retail operation. In the second-year Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

18 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?

Is the globe’s thirst for oil finally topping out? A major international energy watcher says yes, predicting last month that demand for global oil for transport will peak around 2026, plateau for all uses by 2028, and possibly hit a zenith by the end of the decade.... View Details

Keywords: by Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette; Energy; Industrial Products; Auto; Green Technology

23 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 23, 2019

for the development and the smooth functioning of capital markets. At the same time, they are often motivated by their own private incentives. This, along with the trade-offs they face and the at-times unintended consequences of the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Apr 2020
What Do You Think?

What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis?

public and private sectors learn from the events of the past few months? In the public realm, Sandeep Yadav concluded, “It is only by sharing resources globally that we can distribute the burden of fighting the next Black Swan.” The... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Dec 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is Quality of Labor? And How Is It Achieved?

low-cost labor but rather fearing high-quality labor that comes at low cost." Regarding the migration of labor, Tayyab Rashid said, "High-paying work is knowledge work. That is not going anywhere." Hemant Rachh agreed,... View Details

Keywords: by by Jim Heskett

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

What Makes a Good Leader?

the way to go forward is a true test of leadership," he asserts. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, has said that one of the key elements of being a good business leader is the capacity to tell the hard truths. "Leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg & Susan Young

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