Publications

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October 1993 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Measure of Delight: The Pursuit of Quality at AT&T Universal Card Services (A)

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Michael D. Watkins

AT&T's Universal Card Services (UCS) has been extremely successful during its short lifetime. Dedicated to improving service quality and customer satisfaction, chief quality officer Rob Davis and his quality team have designed and put into place an unusual measurement... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Policy; Compensation and Benefits; Performance Evaluation; Quality; System; Telecommunications Industry

March 2006 (Revised April 2015)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (B)- Timeline of Changes Relevant to the Chinese Renminbi

By: Laura Alfaro and Rafael M. Di Tella

On July 21, 2005 China revalued its decade-long quasi-fixed exchange rate of approximately 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar by 2.1% to 8.11% and, at the same time, introduced a more market-based exchange rate system. Many analysts and economists were disappointed with what... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Exchange Rate; China; Macroeconomics; Trade; Currency Exchange Rate; Governance Controls; Policy; China; United States

Web

Tulsa Massacre | Information Technology

honored with a silver Telly Award. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants believe the injustices should be addressed through reparations and have pushed the government of Tulsa to pay reparations for the massacre. The... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Webmunk: A New Tool for Studying Online Behavior and Digital Platforms

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Chris Karr

Understanding the behavior of users online is important for researchers, policymakers, and private companies alike. But observing online behavior and conducting experiments is difficult without direct access to the user base and software of technology companies. We... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Technology Adoption; Behavior; Research; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web

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2008
Working Paper

Accountability and Inequality in Single-Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China

Over the past two decades, no two economies have averaged more rapid economic growth than China and Vietnam. But while China's income inequality has risen rapidly over that same time frame, Vietnam's has only grown moderately. Structural and socio-cultural determinants... View Details

Keywords: Income Characteristics; Economic Growth; Policy; Government and Politics; Equality and Inequality; China; Viet Nam

29 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 29, 2008

housing option in the United States. Yet government policies and programs continue to grapple with widespread problems, including affordability, distressed urban neighborhoods, poor-quality housing stock,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Facing the New World Order

period. However, the Global Competitiveness Report does include an analysis of the short- or medium-term economic impact of these tragic events and it is cut with a number of specific policy recommendations. I wanted to draw your... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

like budgeting, should be part of the annual governance cycle. Whenever plans are changed at the enterprise or business unit level, executives likely need to realign the organization with the new direction. The alignment process, of... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

Web

Connections & Relationships | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

approaching a problem, that there are a lot of different tools at our disposal. Impact Prior to HBS, I was Special Assistant to the President at the Boston Foundation a local grantmaking and policy organization with major initiatives... View Details

April 1999
Case

French Pension System, The: On The Verge Of Retirement? (Abridged)

By: David A. Moss

Surveys the French pension system, its particular institutional characteristics, and some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing French reformers. Like almost every other industrialized country, France has a large pay-as-you-go public pension system that... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Economic Growth; Economics; Capital Markets; Wages; Public Administration Industry; France

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part One]

the Japanese model of government policy actually did not work, and does not explain the Japanese economic miracle. We show that, in fact, the reverse was the case: that the approach is actually at the root... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

06 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Where Do Workers Go When the Robots Arrive?

the economy at large absorb adverse economic shocks? Or does the local population decline, stuck in economic decay? The answers to those questions are vital for economists, policymakers, and local governments to decide as new waves of... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing

15 Sep 2016
News

US Competitiveness Report Sees ‘A Nation Divided’

for America and proposes federal policy priorities that can form the core of such a strategy. Further, it identifies corporate and personal tax reform as promising first steps in the strategy. However, the authors warn that it will be... View Details

11 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Non-competes Push Talent Away

non-compete status in Michigan, they discovered a natural test bed, thanks to an inadvertent policy change. In 1905, during the initial automotive industry boom, Michigan passed Public Act No. 329, which prohibited "all agreements and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

September 2009 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Novasys Medical

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

Novasys has developed a new medical device and procedure for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence that is cheaper and can be performed in doctors' offices. In spite of FDA approval, the American Medical Association has been unwilling to approve the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

resources in the ongoing accumulation of scientific knowledge. Publisher's link: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2478627 October 2014 Research Policy 'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Feb 2017
News

Growing and Competing at the Local Level

resources to identify what’s going to affect their particular business the quickest. And I want to be able to help them get on their feet. Also help national policy makers and state policy makers to say,... View Details

2021
Chapter

Digital Infrastructure

By: Shane Greenstein

What determines the supply of innovative digital infrastructure and how does variance in supply shape the performance of digital services? The essay reviews research into the economic impact of deployment, innovation, and adoption of digital infrastructure. It... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Infrastructure; Economics; Policy; Research; Analysis; United States

2009
Chapter

Small and Medium Firm Lending in Mexico: Lessons and Current Issues

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

Mexico is often cited as one of the world's most entrepreneurial countries in terms of the percentage of its population that has started or is in the process of starting a business venture. Yet Mexico does not seem to be very friendly to entrepreneurs, as confirmed by... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Competition; Mexico