Publications

03 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

April 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, Partners In Health in Haiti

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Bipin Mistry and Karla Bertrand

The case describes the application of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) at a new tertiary hospital, operated by Partners in Health in Mirebelais, Haiti. A project team mapped the clinical processes for use in estimating the direct costs of personnel,... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Haiti

May 2018
Case

Environmental Platform LEEDership at USGBC

By: Michael W. Toffel, Timothy S. Simcoe and Aldo Sesia

By 2018, it was clear that U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) had significantly contributed to the growth of green building and over its 25-year history had become a powerful brand in the construction sector with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Business Model; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Construction Industry; Green Technology Industry

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (C)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Biotechnology Industry; Construction Industry; Real Estate Industry; Green Technology Industry

March 2011 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Red Hen Baking Company

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient facility to a new facility. It had been in business about 8 years, and 2006 was the first year RHB realized a profit that was over $50,000. The added annual cost of the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Capital; Risk Management; Expansion

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

Harvard Business School visiting professor J. S. Nelson in her new book Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know, which will be released on April 21. Nelson, a Villanova University law and business faculty member, co-wrote the book... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

13 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Turning a Moment into a Movement: How the Anti-Racism Fund Co-Founders are Fighting Racism and Encouraging Other Companies to Do Their Part

process that educates and engages donors and anti-racism allies. By building a platform that explains how donors can make an impact through the ARF four Pillars of Purpose -... View Details

10 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

John Kotter’s Plan to Accelerate Your Business

change, speed, innovation or agility, go to the new agile network. Book Excerpt Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World John Kotter Read An Excerpt "The world is moving too fast," Kotter says. "You can't add on a... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

December 2020
Case

Urban Company

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Urban Company is an India-based market platform that helps customers book home services and at home beauty services. The company differentiated itself by investing heavily in building customer trust. Rather than merely positioning itself as a lead generating... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Service Delivery; Trust; Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

May 2008
Article

Coerced Confessions: Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

As part of a recent trend toward more cooperative relations between regulators and industry, novel government programs are encouraging firms to monitor their own regulatory compliance and voluntarily report their own violations. In this study, we examine how regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Power and Influence; Organizations; Decisions; Business and Government Relations; United States

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Rebecca Henderson is one of 25 University Professors at Harvard, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow of both the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also has more than twenty-five years of... View Details

Keywords: energy; information technology industry

December 2009 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Neoprene

By: Tom Nicholas and Felipe Tamega Fernandes

In 1931, during one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history, Du Pont announced the discovery of an innovative rubber synthetic product—neoprene. Yet at the time of the announcement, Du Pont did not have any neoprene to sell. Manufacturing facilities were still... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Business History; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Chemical Industry; United States

May 1968 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Graybar Syndications

By: William J. Poorvu

A potential investor evaluates a proposed offering—a major office building in downtown Manhattan. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Investment; Construction; City; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; New York (city, NY)

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Supplement

Mayhem on Madison (B)

By: A. Eugene Kohn and David Lane

Explains the approvals and construction process for a building to be constructed against neighborhood opposition above an operating bank branch in New York City. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Development Economics; Business and Community Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

Jul 03 2014
Testimonial

Appreciating the Science of Business

12 May 2023
News

Students Strive to Solve Climate Change

December 2011
Article

Did R&D Firms Used to Patent? Evidence from the First Innovation Surveys

By: Tom Nicholas

Matching 2,777 R&D firms in surveys conducted by the National Research Council between 1921 and 1938 with U.S. patents reveals that 59 percent of all firms and 88 percent of publicly-traded firms patented. These shares are much higher than those observed for modern R&D... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Patents; Surveys; Innovation and Invention; Geographic Location; United States