Publications

SSRN

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November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Hormel Foods

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2019, CEO Jim Snee is weighing how to shape the image of Hormel Foods, one of the largest U.S. meat and food companies, at a time when the industry faces unprecedented scrutiny. Based in the small town of Austin, Minnesota, the nearly 130-year-old firm is best known... View Details

Keywords: Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China

February 2013 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Phu My Hung

By: John Macomber and Dawn H. Lau

Privately held city development promoters decide whether to partner on next phase or go it alone in a 20-year, 4000-acre project. Set outside of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this decades-long project led by two Taiwanese families reshaped and built the economic... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Viet Nam

09 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 9

Working PapersSocial Influence Given (Partially) Deliberate Matching: Career Imprints in the Creation of Academic Entrepreneurs Authors:Pierre Azoulay, Christopher C. Liu, and Toby E. Stuart Abstract Actors often match with associates on a small View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Web

Actively Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting - Recruiting

is critical and can help to address unconscious bias head on by naming it. Another option – offer candidates the choice for a phone or online call with the video off in early interactions if that is most comfortable. Standardize the... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Social Influence Given (Partially) Deliberate Matching: Career Imprints in the Creation of Academic Entrepreneurs

By: Pierre Azoulay, Christopher C. Liu and Toby E. Stuart

Actors often match with associates on a small set of dimensions that matter most for the particular relationship at hand. In so doing, they are exposed to unanticipated social influences because counterparts have more interests, attitudes, and preferences than would-be... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Patents; Marketplace Matching; Mathematical Methods; Science-Based Business; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Biotechnology Industry

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15 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy

to create conditions where helping people might feel good for the actor.” Plus, setting up both corporate and private giving programs properly may lead people to donate their time and money more often, she notes. At a time when economic... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Breaking Through the Self-Doubt That Keeps Talented Women from Leading

this so much because it resonates with people, so we set out to do empirical work around that: Is this indeed the pattern we see in an experimental context? If it is, what might we be able to do about it?” she says. As it turns out,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

26 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

When Other Companies Compete Like Crazy, Dare to Be Different

ever to come by. Q: What is "hyper-maturity?" A: It takes a period of time before a category reaches the point that we begin to experience it as a blur. When a product category is nascent, it tends to be dominated by a much smaller View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

negative emotions at the collective level is often amplified, which may have adverse effects,” Goldenberg says. “In many cases, it can lead to suboptimal decisions, to irrational choices or, for example in the case of anxiety, to not... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

September 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Medtronic Vision 2010

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Describes the company's year-long efforts to transition from a medical device company selling products to physicians for use with patients suffering chronic end-stage disease, to a medical technology company providing life-long solutions for people with chronic... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Transition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Strategic Planning; Health Industry

26 Sep 2024
HBS Seminar

Garrett Van Ryzin, Columbia & Amazon

January 2007 (Revised July 2013)
Case

To JV or Not To JV? That Is the Question (for XTech in China)

By: Daniel J. Isenberg and Paul W. Marshall

XTech, a leading manufacturer of metal parts for the telecommunications industry, is being pushed by its large equipment vendor customers to establish a manufacturing operation in China. CEO Reinhold Hesse is debating several options: establishing a joint venture,... View Details

Rakesh Khurana is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School. He is also Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, co-Master of Cabot House at Harvard College, and the Danoff Dean of Harvard College.

Professor... View Details

Keywords: executive search

11 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Employers Favor Men

prejudice against women, so it’s not that people in this setting don’t like hiring women. Instead, employees are drawing on the information about average performance and are not hiring members of lower-performing groups.” Women are more... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

January 2025
Case

Davivienda Bank’s Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy in Colombia (Abridged)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Raffaella Sadun and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2022, this abridged case examines the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda— a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking sector and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian conglomerate—and the bank’s upskilling and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia

May 2022
Case

Executive Decision-Making at Zola

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Michael Roberto

In April 2020, Rachel Jarrett, President and COO of wedding technology company Zola, called a meeting with the organization’s key decision-makers. The company had previously launched three business expansions: a vendor marketplace, a wedding apparel division, and a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Voting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Skills; Management; Management Style; Organizations; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States