Publications

28 Oct 2024
Blog Post

It Takes a Village: Global Field Courses at Harvard Business School

team is assessing potential locations and travel-related information across the organization, and the IFC team is heading out for domestic and international assessment visits to source the content for the courses. IFCs are an elective... View Details

19 Jan 2022
News

Untethering the Remote Workforce with 5G

20 Jun 2021
News

After the Pandemic, Expect More Work for Freelancers

14 Mar 2016
News

GE is huge, but its future headquarters will be anything but

February 1999 (Revised October 2009)
Background Note

Debt v. Equity: Definitions and Consequences

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

Explores the location of the somewhat imprecise line between debt and equity. Identifies the primary business contexts that give rise to problems, the alternative tax consequences attending the debt versus equity determination, and the most prominent tests used to... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Interest Rates; Taxation; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry

May 2003 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Ice-Fili

Designed as an overview of all aspects of the strategy process: industry analysis, positioning, dynamics and sustainability, and scope issues of corporate strategy, including vertical integration, horizontal diversification, and location issues. Ice-Fili is the largest... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Russia

03 May 2012
News

Panel: U.S. must find way to get ’mojo‘ rising again

17 Jan 2013
News

Reshoring manufacturing: Coming home

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

We explore the impact of geographically bounded intra-firm spillovers (internal agglomeration economies) and geographically bounded inter-firm spillovers (external agglomeration economies) on firms’ location strategies. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal... View Details

August 2006
Article

Extending the Faultline Concept to Geographically Dispersed Teams: How Colocated Subgroups Can Impair Group Functioning

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Brad Crisp, Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa and Jerry W. Kim

We theorize that in geographically dispersed teams, members' geographic locations are likely to activate "faultlines" (hypothetical dividing lines that split a group into subgroups) that impair team functioning. In a study of 45 teams comprised of graduate students... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Nationality; Groups and Teams; Trust; Conflict and Resolution

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February 2024
Module Note

Collaborate on the Core, Compete on the Edges

By: Frank Nagle

In the rapidly evolving environment of modern business, the digitization of economic activity and the ubiquitous integration of technology across industries are fundamentally altering how companies develop and implement strategy. The rise of digital technologies has... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Competition; Cooperation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

May 2020
Teaching Note

Baskits Inc.

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 217-001. Robin Kovitz (MBA 2007) acquired Baskits, a Canadian gift basket company, in October of 2014. The business was highly seasonal with two-thirds of its sales occurring in November and December. Baskits dealt with its seasonality... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Performance Improvement; Canada

Article

The Tipping Point of Animacy: How, When, and Where We Perceive Life in a Face

By: Christine E. Looser and Thalia Wheatley

Faces capture humans' attention; yet, beyond aesthetic appreciation, it is presumably not the face itself that interests people but the mind behind it. Minds think, feel, and act in ways that have direct consequences for well-being, but despite their importance, how... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Mind Perception; Face Perception; Identity; Cognition and Thinking

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Today's business leaders are so obsessed with all things global and virtual that they risk neglecting the critical impact of physical place. It's a paradox of the Internet age: now that it's possible for businesses to be everywhere at once, they need to focus on... View Details

February 2013
Article

Exceptional Boards: Environmental Experience and Positive Deviance from Institutional Norms

By: Judith Walls and Andrew J. Hoffman

This paper explores the phenomenon of positive organizational deviance from institutional norms by establishing practices that protect or enhance the natural environment. Seeking to explain why some organizations practice positive environmental deviance while others do... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Networks; Organizational Culture; Governing and Advisory Boards; Environmental Management

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06 May 2016
Blog Post

Make Social Media Work For You Abroad

acquaintances. This vast network can be located all over the world, but social media has the potential to bring everyone together and help you in your international search. It’s a lot easier today to find potential contacts and weaker... View Details

29 Sep 2017
Working Paper Summaries

International Business and Emerging Markets: A Long-Run Perspective

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

QuikTrip

QuikTrip, a large convenience store chain with over 500 stores, was known for its outstanding labor practices and fast, reliable, and friendly customer service. In November 2010, the CEO Chet Cadieux, had to decide how many new locations to open when QuikTrip entered a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Service Delivery; Performance Effectiveness; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States