by William Kerr - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Aug 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution

Keywords: by N. Gregory Mankiw & Matthew Weinzierl

30 Jun 2020
Book

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

The book Capitalism at Risk first appeared in 2011. The problems it identified with social inequality, global trade strife, and environmental degradation have only accelerated by 2020. The new edition of Capitalism at Risk, subtitled How Business Can Lead, is expanded... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Mentoring—Using the Voice of Experience

top-notch athletes from Venus Williams on the tennis court to Tiger Woods in golf, they still have coaches. Coaches do have a place, but there are certain limits. I think both projects have converged on this understanding that you can... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

How to Design a Better Customer Experience

Click HereHarvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke describes how his Executive Education students use LEGO blocks to design customer experiences. (Video by Executive Education) Why do some product or service experiences have enough... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Entertainment & Recreation

05 Sep 2012
What Do You Think?

Will Business Management Save US Health Care?

Summing Up What Role Will Management Play in Saving US Health Care? The verdict is in, according to respondents of this month's column: Problems confronting health care in the US are much larger and broader than those that can be solved View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

07 Aug 2009
What Do You Think?

Why Can’t Americans Get Health Care Right?

care providers such as doctors and hospitals placing profits before client needs (David Stahl, John Van Slyke, Roger Chen, Jan Fersing, Hugh Quick, among others); the agency problem separating payers such as individuals, businesses, and the Government from users (Adam... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

By 1910, however, with the new name Madam C.J. Walker, Breedlove had accrued a sizable fortune and considerable influence. This daughter of adversity was now well known and respected among the nation's African Americans as a savvy... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

30 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies

It's not often that a best seller inspires academic research. If anything, it's usually the other way around. But Harvard Business School Associate Professor Diego A. Comin was motivated by reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond's... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Bridges: New Dimensions in Negotiation

what set of no-deal alternatives face the participants. Its most familiar element involves what each party will do if there is no deal — in other words, "the best alternative to negotiated agreement" or BATNA (a term coined by... View Details

Keywords: by Anita M. Harris

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Want to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part I]

by networks of other people who can supply the thousand things it takes to fuel a business. Here is how William Sahlman, business educator and scholar, began a paper, "Some Thoughts on Business... View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround

Congress's wheels in approving the Panama route for the canal, William Cromwell, convinced Stevens to take the job. Stevens accepted on condition that he "was not to hampered or handicapped by anyone,... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Transportation

October 1989
Case

Exxon Corp.: Trouble at Valdez

Discusses the events leading to and repercussions following the 11 million gallon oil spill in Prince William Sound off the Alaskan coast. This was the largest spill in U.S. history. Examines the response to the spill by Exxon management, government agencies, and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Crisis Management; Energy Sources; Shipping Industry; Energy Industry; Alaska

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31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Why These Business School Professors Oppose Trump's Executive Order on Immigration

The tech industry has thrived by capturing our best students—regardless of origin—and giving them exciting jobs, which helps make America one of the most innovative countries in the world. Restricting the free movement of talent does not... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

June 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Coach Roy Williams: What Next? (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Christoper Chang and Scott Schweitzer

Roy Williams, head coach of the Kansas University Men's Basketball Team, was facing a major decision. The recent resignation of the coach at the University of North Carolina (UNC) had lead to speculation that Williams, a UNC alumnus, would be named as its new coach.... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Job Offer; Leading Change; Management Succession; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Sports; Kansas; North Carolina

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Find at Harvard

28 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: The Good Struggle: Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World

book excerpt Evolving Committments From The Good Struggle: Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World By JOSEPH L. BADARACCO In a turbulent, sometimes dangerous world, responsible leaders need a broader view of critical decisions.... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Badaracco

15 Nov 2004
Research & Ideas

Solving the Health Care Conundrum

services. Health plans will eliminate their restrictive networks, allowing members to choose in a competitive (and regional or even national) marketplace the providers that offer the best value for their condition. Plans will help patients make the best decisions View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It

Back in the early 1990s, managers of U.S. companies were justifiably proud of the well-oiled machines they'd made of their supply chains. Over the previous fifteen to twenty years, they'd wrung costs from the mechanisms and processes by... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

September 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Pershing Square 2.0

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel Hanson and David Biery

In June 2015 William A. Ackman, the CEO and founder of New York hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, reflects on the success of the fund he has spent over a decade building. Since its inception in 2004, Pershing Square's assets under management had grown from $500... View Details

Keywords: Activism; Value Investing; Portfolio Management; Management; Investment Portfolio; Investment Activism

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07 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

The Business of Biotech

heralding the start of National Biotechnology Month, as January 2000 had been designated by the U.S. Senate. For biotech, in fact, the party had begun months earlier, when hundreds of millions of dollars had poured into promising... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

September 1988
Case

Vicks Health Care Division: Project Scorpio (D)

Reveals that Vicks chose a multi-condition positioning for the product. Describes testing of name and concept, and extensively reports on a four-city test market. Students are expected to evaluate both the design and results of the test, and face options ranging from... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Health Industry

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