by Bill Kirby - Publications - Faculty & Research

13 May 2019
Research & Ideas

The Unexpected Way Whistleblowers Reduce Government Fraud

more risk in projects by limiting their use of “cost-plus” agreements, which make it easier to overcharge government agencies, according to researchers. This renegotiation of contractual terms allows the agency to hedge its bet with a... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Service; Construction

08 Jan 2014
What Do You Think?

Do Productivity Increases Contribute to Social Inequality?

once was considered thinking and will increasingly do so." Bill Barker agreed, in the process offering his solution: In the past, he wrote, the portion of the working population employed in agriculture dropped from 50 percent to less... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

cause serious problems for customers and create a strong reason not to purchase. Confusing or inaccurate billing causes customer annoyance. Simply eliminating the reasons for someone not to purchase, however, does not create a reason for... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

04 Apr 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why Private Investors Must Fund 'New Nuclear' Power Right Now

Drbouz In June 2016, I gave a TED Talk called We Need Nuclear Power to Solve Climate Change. The talk discussed the world’s realistic options for reducing fossil CO2 emissions soon enough to contain climate change’s more severe effects. To my surprise, that talk has... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Lassiter; Energy; Green Technology

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Economic System has Difficult Road Overcoming its Political System

the rest of their years." In fact, China has a history of private enterprise and entrepreneurship that predates the West. "This was a freer economy in 1800 than any part of Western Europe," Kirby argues. Since the takeover View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

02 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories 2007

Here are the 20 most popular stories from 2007. How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater? Summing up the many responses, Jim Heskett says that the mix of control, delegation, and theater employed by successful... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

Earth Day focuses the world's attention on the both the dangers and opportunities facing the planet. But sustainability and the intersection between business and the environment are issues that need to be addressed all the time, as cities grow, resources diminish, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

19 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

How to be Extremely Productive

to-dos, and who's going to do them?" Senior executives tend to think that they can accomplish this by just telling people what to do. But there's a big difference between assigning a task to be completed View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

08 May 2006
Research & Ideas

The Cost of Cutting in Line

waiting in line at the airport. Later, he decided to conduct a field experiment to explore the question. He and a team of experimenters equipped with small bills approached 500 people in lines and offered a cash payment of up to $10 to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

14 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Understanding Users of Social Networks

do not hold for one network: Twitter. Looking at who uses Twitter, which restricts users to 140-character messages, Piskorski and student-researcher Bill Heil (HBS MBA '09) found that 90 percent of Twitter posts were created View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising; Publishing

24 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

The FDA: What Will the Next 100 Years Bring?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which was created by the passage of the 1906 Federal Food and Drugs Act, regulates companies and industries accounting for one-quarter of all consumer spending, roughly $1.5 trillion worth of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Health

02 Nov 2016
What Do You Think?

Are Employees Becoming Job 'Renters' Instead of 'Owners'?

is: job ownership: nature or nurture? What do you think? Original Column There’s an age-old question: “Does anyone ever take a rental car to the car wash?” For years, Bill Marriott instinctively has picked up trash as he walks through... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Apr 2014
What Do You Think?

Has the Post-Capitalist Economy Finally Arrived?

as the ones cited in the article is because they are exceptions. There is no question that brilliant, strongly mission-driven founders can inspire people to follow them, despite personality flaws Once the excitement fades, a different type of leadership is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

16 Aug 2024
In Practice

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

Kamala Harris was part of an administration that passed the largest climate combat bill in history, and Governor Tim Walz led Minnesota to declare a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2040. The other side... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

29 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Entrepreneurial Venture: A Conversation

changing corporate world beset by reorganization, downsizing, and recession. Of that group, the Bulletin asked four members of the class to share some of their views on sizing up and seizing opportunity. Their discussion gives insights... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

24 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

How Kayak Users Built a New Industry

from these standards. By the same token, the dominant design of rodeo kayaks (as of about 2000) involves a short, center-buoyant, planing hull made of molded plastic. Bill Abernathy of HBS and Jim Utterback... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Entertainment & Recreation

11 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

Fixing Price Tag Confusion

box, and the remote. Your breakfast-included hotel bill still features separate prices for bed and for breakfast. Partitioning should only be used by those sellers who want to sensitize people to a secondary... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

In order to garner the capital necessary to foot the bill for social change, nonprofits need to think less about traditional grants and more in terms of innovation--and so do the organizations that fund them. This was a key message from... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

brave new world. The transformation ignited by the Internet is creating a new paradigm in the financial services industry, characterized by surprising business structures. "The competitive landscape is... View Details