Publications

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (B)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (A) case. View Details

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details

February 2019
Case

Halliday's OASIS

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

Wade Watts has won control of the OASIS – a futuristic, immersive virtual reality game world. He must decide on rules, rights, and marketplace design, balancing the founding principles of the OASIS with the platform’s potentially negative externalities. View Details

Keywords: Managing Markets; Corporate Responsibility; Virtual Reality; Digital Platforms; Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Media; United States

March 2014
Teaching Note

The Weather Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

New CEO David Kenny transformed The Weather Company in less than two years from a primary identity as a cable television channel to a multi-platform digital company innovating in the uses of weather data. He assesses progress and considers strategic choices and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Strategic Change; Technology; Digital; Weather; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Change Management; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

22 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity

surveyed over 70 media professionals about their social networks, and then asked each to brainstorm about the future of the newspaper industry. When their ideas were ranked on the basis of creativity by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

27 May 2020
Research & Ideas

What South Korea Teaches the World About Fighting COVID

In a world devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) has been able to effectively combat the disease without ever imposing a full lockdown of its economy. How did the country accomplish its success, and what... View Details

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung; Health

2013
Chapter

Capturing History: The Case of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927

By: David Moss and Jonathan Lackow

In the study of regulation (and political economy more generally), there is a danger that historical inferences from theory may infect historical tests of theory. It is imperative, therefore, that historical tests always involve a vigorous search not only for... View Details

Keywords: Capture; History By Inference; Economic Theory Of Regulation; Federal Radio Commission; Theory; Economics; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

21 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Are Crummy Products Your Next Growth Opportunity?

explored how great companies often lose their ability to innovate and eventually fail at the hands of much smaller, "disruptive" competitors. "Basically any stock you wish you have owned started out as a disruptive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 Jul 2001
What Do You Think?

Built to Last or Bought to Sell?

preclude considering the option of knocking down and starting all over again if that's what is best for the business ... (but) Kaplan & Foster [authors of the book] seem to be recommending destruction for its own sake." Readers... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

managers can team with creative talent in six "culture industries": Fashion, publishing, art/architecture/design, film, music, and food. Her subjects include fashion pioneer Chanel, publishers... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing; Publishing; Publishing; Publishing; Publishing

June 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

ProPublica

By: Michel Anteby, Philippe Bertreau and Charlotte Newman

Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica's managing editor, entered the organization's newsroom located in lower Manhattan on September 16, 2008. He knew a historical financial debacle was happening at his doorstep, yet none of his journalists were covering that beat. It would... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry; New York (city, NY)

22 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Recessions Push Some Entrepreneurs to Launch Too Soon

paper was published in 2019. "We find that startups founded by individuals most sensitive to labor market conditions display lower financial and innovative performance than startups founded by... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

Professor Robert Simons’ research encompasses three areas of management accountability that are the foundation for successful strategy execution: organization design, performance measurement and control, and risk management. In addition, Simons is interested in the... View Details

01 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Keeping Track: Performance Measurement, Control & Strategy

Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy, published by Prentice Hall. Q: What's the context for the development of this book? Simons: My colleagues and I in the School's Accounting View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons

18 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Use Free Shipping as a Competitive Weapon

media creator for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Related Reading: Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores? Behavioral Economists Can Make You a Healthier Consumer View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

published in the Academy of Management Journal. Behavioral psychologists typically divide decision-making processes into two types. Type 1 is characterized by impulsive, instinctual, emotional reactions, often made quickly View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

March–April 2020
Article

Avoid the Pitfalls of A/B Testing

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Guillaume Sait-Jacques and Martin Tingley

Online experiments measuring whether “A,” usually the current approach, is inferior to “B,” a proposed improvement, have become integral to the product-development cycle, especially at digital enterprises. But often firms make serious mistakes in conducting these... View Details

Keywords: A/B Testing; Experiment Design; Social Networks; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Measurement and Metrics; Social Media