Publications

24 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

The Trick of Balancing Business and Government

Asked which institutions must be in place in order for African countries to grow, experts on a panel at the Africa Business Conference had no shortage of suggestions. One... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

Business School professors—former Medtronic chairman and CEO Bill George, economist and entrepreneurship expert Bill Sahlman, and innovation and strategy authority Rosabeth Moss Kanter—to offer their thoughts on some of the year's most... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

April 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Ping An: Pioneering the New Model of ‘Technology-driven Finance’

By: Feng Zhu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai

In mid-December 2018, Peter Ma, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. was considering whether the company should grow a fifth ecosystem of Smart City Services. Established in 1988, Ping An was one of the top 10 global financial... View Details

Keywords: Business Ecosystems; Fintech; Finance; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

09 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

How Business Leaders Can Strengthen American Schools

as improved teaching and leadership talent, the use of technology in personalized learning, the Common Core State Standards Initiative, wider school choice, and a dramatic upgrade View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Anthology: Pivoting the Business Model

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In July 2014, after 18 months and eight unsuccessful product launches, the CEO of Yabbly has agreed to sell his company to a larger, well-funded startup, providing a return of capital for his investors and a home for his team. Two weeks prior to the scheduled closing,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Fairness; Valuation; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; North America; United States; Seattle

01 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Dissent in Decision-Making

beliefs that foam strikes incurred during the launch of the space shuttle Columbia posed no risk to its fuselage. This propensity to maintain silence, a flaw at once personal and organizational, is "widespread and problematic"... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

2013
Book

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making

By: Max Bazerman and Don A. Moore

Is your judgment influenced by personal biases? In situations requiring careful judgment, we're all influenced by our own biases to some extent. But, with Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, you can learn how to overcome those biases to make better... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Prejudice and Bias

September 2004
Article

Trust in Agency

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Existing models of the principal-agent relationship assume the agent works only under extrinsic incentives. However, many observed agency contracts take the form of a fixed payment. For such contracts to succeed, the principal must trust the agent to work in the... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Agency Theory; Relationships; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Contracts; Business Model; Emotions; Forecasting and Prediction; Ethics; Standards; Risk and Uncertainty

30 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Professional Networks in China and America

valuable business contact is also a close friend. Unlike their Chinese counterparts, American managers are much more likely to keep personal concerns and business separate.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2010
Book

Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face--and What to Do About It

By: Richard S. Tedlow

This book deals with two of the biggest problems in business: Why do sane, smart leaders often refuse to accept the facts that threaten their companies? And how do they find the courage to resist denial when facing new trends, changing markets, and tough new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Personal Characteristics; Competition

2016
Chapter

Wrong Paths to Right: Defining Morality With or Without a Clear Red Line

By: Ryann Elizabeth Manning and Michel Anteby

The extensive literature on organizational wrongdoing tends to assume that a clear red line divides the moral terrain. However, many organizations function not as moral orders, but as moral pursuits in which there is intentionally no explicit definition of right and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Organizational Theory; Sociology Of Ethics And Morality; Morality; Organizational Culture; Culture; Ethics; Africa; North and Central America

Read Now

September 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?

By: Willy Shih

Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team... View Details

14 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Getting Down to the Business of Creativity

business world. Yet any entrepreneur can attest to the creative power required to build an organization where none existed before. "Look, I made a hat /Where there never was a hat," sings Georges Seurat View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Entertainment & Recreation

08 May 2006
Research & Ideas

The Cost of Cutting in Line

the person to cut in but most wouldn't accept the money in return. (Students and women were more likely to pocket the cash.) Oberholzer-Gee took this to mean that people will... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1996 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Digital Imaging in 1995: Opportunities in the Descent to the Desktop

The dramatic shifts of the imaging industry from analog to digital technology is creating emerging markets in 1995. How can a competitor position itself to enter the market successfully? This case describes the key technologies, market segments, competitors, and... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

September 2019
Supplement

pymetrics (B)

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In March 2013, pymetrics CEO Frida Polli visited Harvard Business School to listen to a section of MBA students from the class of 2013 discuss her business plan and provide feedback on the tests they had taken to identify career opportunities. Polli had developed a... View Details

Keywords: BrainTech; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Recruiting; Personality; Personality Traits; Startup; Start-up; Startups; Start-ups; Employment; Strategic Evolution; Psychodynamics; Psychology; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Business Startups; Strategy; Personal Characteristics

June 2003
Case

Judo in Action

Contains four short stories about small firms challenging large firms. Illustrates some of the ideas that have been termed "judo strategy." In each case, one can argue that the small firm attempts to use the large firm's size and incumbency to constrain the large firm... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Competitive Advantage

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Family Matters at ProLab

By: Noam Wasserman and Yael Braid

Hillary Mallow, founder-CEO of ProLab, learns that her health-services company is two months shy of bankruptcy. She needs to act—immediately—but isn't sure where to begin. Prolab's client list and geographic presence have grown steadily over the years, so the recent... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry