Publications

December 2, 2021
Article

Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: Empowering Workers to Create ‘Magic’

By: Hubert Joly and Adi Ignatius

Hubert Joly was behind an amazing turnaround at Best Buy. While everybody was saying he should lay people off to solve the company’s problems, Joly instead listened to the people working for him and found solutions that didn’t involve people losing their jobs.... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Meaningful Work; Employee Empowerment; Mission and Purpose; Employees; Organizational Culture; Leadership

July–August 2021
Article

SPACs: What You Need to Know

By: Max Bazerman and Paresh Patel

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, have been around in various forms for decades, but during the past two years they’ve taken off in the United States. In 2019, 59 were created, with $13 billion invested; in 2020, 247 were created, with $80 billion... View Details

Keywords: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies; SPACs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Investment

Teaching Interest

Harvard Business Analytics Program

By: Michael L. Tushman

The Harvard Business Analytics Program is offered through a collaboration between Harvard Business School (HBS), the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

Designed for... View Details

2013
Report

Competitiveness at a Crossroads: Finding of Harvard Business School's 2012 Survey on U.S. Competitiveness

By: Jan Rivkin, Michael E. Porter and Rosabeth M. Kanter

Harvard Business School gleaned responses from nearly 7,000 alumni and more than 1,000 members of the general public. The survey not only provides an updated view of the U.S. business environment, but also illuminates specific actions that business leaders and... View Details

Keywords: PK - 12 Education; U.S. Competitiveness; Competition; Education; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; United States

2011
Working Paper

From Social Control to Financial Economics: The Linked Ecologies of Economics and Business in Twentieth Century America

By: Marion Fourcade and Rakesh Khurana

As the main producers of managerial elites, business schools represent strategic research sites for understanding the formation of economic practices and representations. This article draws on historical material to analyze the changing place of economics in American... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Practice; Business Education; Labor and Management Relations; Decision Making; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Finance; Knowledge; Production; Business Conglomerates; Education Industry; United States

04 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

From Social Control to Financial Economics: The Linked Ecologies of Economics and Business in Twentieth Century America

Keywords: by Marion Fourcade & Rakesh Khurana; Education

April 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

UNext: Business Education and e-Learning

By: Michael G. Rukstad, David J. Collis and Tyrell Levine

UNEXT has signed agreements with Columbia, Stanford, Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, and the London School of Economics to create online business courses. The company is backed by Michael Milken and Larry Ellison and has four Nobel laureates on its advisory board. Describes... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Competition; Disruptive Innovation; Performance Efficiency; Higher Education; Learning; Education Industry

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

15 Feb 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Black Business Leaders Series: John Rogers and the Importance of Hiring Minority-Owned Services Firms

Keywords: Financial Services

September 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mobil USM&R (C): Lubricants Business Unit

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a Lubricants Business Unit in Mobil's U.S. Marketing and Refining division launched a project to develop a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for his unit. The purpose was to provide focus for all employees of the unit, enabling it to operate on an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employees; Customization and Personalization; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Projects; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

Educators

27 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Building Businesses in Turbulent Times

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal, says Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Staff

June 2017
Case

MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid

By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

Educators

2007
Casebook

Managing School Districts for High Performance: Cases in Public Education Leadership

By: Stacey Childress, Richard F. Elmore, Allen S. Grossman and Susan Moore Johnson

Managing School Districts for High Performance brings together more than twenty case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the... View Details

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Leadership; Public Sector; Organizational Design; Education; Performance Improvement

Article

Professionalism, Fiduciary Duty, and Health-Related Business Leadership

By: Joshua D. Margolis

Expanding fiduciary duty to leaders of health-related businesses can help leaders meet the challenges of caring for not only the corporation and shareholders but also the patients and medical professionals. How should leaders of health-related businesses weigh the... View Details

17 Jan 2020
In Practice

6 Traits That Set Top Business Leaders Apart

clarify the complex "They can communicate very clearly and succinctly—usually with short words and short sentences—and even on complex issues. They've developed the skills necessary to really get to the heart of things." Joseph L.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

2008
Working Paper

From Social Control to Financial Economics: The Linked Ecologies of Economics and Business in Twentieth Century America

By: Marion Fourcade and Rakesh Khurana

As the main producers of managerial elites, business schools represent strategic research sites for understanding the formation of economic practices and representations. This article draws on historical material to analyze the changing place of economics in American... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Business Education; Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business History; Chicago

10 Feb 2020
In Practice

6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy

involving artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and the Internet of Things are changing the way business leaders think about strategy. Here’s what they said: 1. Talent and data are more critical than... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

2013
Book

Business and the Environment: Critical Perspectives in Business and Management

By: Susse Georg and Andrew J. Hoffman

Over the past four decades, the concept of corporate environmentalism has passed through multiple iterations. Prompted by landmark environmental events such the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), the Santa Barbara oil spill, the Cuyahoga River fire,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Management; Natural Environment