Publications

Research Summary

Wearing a Red Hat ¨C The Impact of Activist Industrial Policy on Software Development in China

The idea that the government should steer economic development by strategically hand-picking and managing certain industries is controversial but appeals to many developing countries that are eager to upgrade their industries. In this paper, I study China's recent... View Details

03 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Managing Web Advertising Affiliates

better to manage these programs in-house or to use outside experts. . Power Of The Network Affiliate networks slash the cost of buying ads for sellers through the use View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Advertising; Publishing

April 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Reaganomics: Impact and Legacy

By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble

During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and his administration instituted several far-reaching economic policies that had both near- and long-term impacts on such aspects of the U.S. economy as monetary policy, inflation, the tax structure, and the role of... View Details

Keywords: Wealth and Poverty; Business and Government Relations; Leadership; Taxation; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Inflation and Deflation; Money; Economy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; United States

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

The Congressional Oversight Panel's Valuation of the TARP Warrants (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The Congressional Oversight Panel wants to value the warrants issued to the government in connection with the TARP investments of 2008, in order to increase the transparency of options repurchases. The case describes the methodology used to value the warrants. This... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Public Opinion; Valuation; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

19 Jan 2021
In Practice

Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

US business interests. If you put aside feelings about partisanship and individuals, there were a number of things the Trump administration did that were supportive of business... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 Sep 2007
What Do You Think?

Are Elite Business Schools Fostering the Deprofessionalization of Management?

capitalism"? The effect on the elite business school was, in Khurana's view, substantial. The forces described above have led to the hiring of faculty well-trained in economics and math, ready to do... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

industries looking for ways to manage markets. Many states in the early 1930s created administrative boards to control competitive practices, wages, and retail prices industry by industry. “The crisis of the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Health; Legal Services

28 Aug 2014
Op-Ed

Government Can Do More to Unfreeze Small Business Credit

Act)-leveraged effective federal programs that already existed, while also taking action in some new areas. With the Recovery Act, the federal government significantly expanded its role as a guarantor of... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

immigrants are responsible for a lot of great companies,” says William Kerr, the Dmitri V. D’Arbeloff — MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Braddock Industries, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan

This case examines the drivers of economic value creation for shareholders, and how these drivers are reflected in various incentive compensation programs for management. The case also looks at how the economic performance of business units can be evaluated using... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Investment; Executive Compensation; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value Creation

December 2014 (Revised March 2018)
Case

John D. Rockefeller: The Richest Man in the World

By: Tom Nicholas and Vasiliki Fouka

By the late nineteenth century scale and managerial hierarchies had extended to several major industrial sectors of the U.S. economy. Although the precise mechanisms often varied, this process mainly involved horizontal integration, some form of legal or administrative... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Wealth; Business History; Vertical Integration; Consolidation; Personal Development and Career; Energy Industry; United States

10 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Celebrating 'The Men and Women of the Corporation' 40 Years Later

inequality in the workplace. In particular, the book makes clear how organizational roles and structures shape unequal access to opportunities, resources, and advancement. In a wide-ranging conversation, Robin Ely, the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor View Details

Keywords: by Robin J. Ely

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Deflategate and the Sustained Success of the New England Patriots

discussions that we’ve had” The case study, written by HBS’s Marco Iansiti, the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration and head of the Technology and Operations... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports

October 2000 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals: The EVA Decision

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

In 2016, the new CEO of Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals introduces an Economic Value Added (EVA) program to focus the company on long-term shareholder value. The EVA program consists of three elements: EVA centers (business units), EVA drivers (operational practices that... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Economic Growth; Economic Systems; Management; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Evaluation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Washington (state, US)

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

prided itself on avoiding artificial ingredients, opting instead to use a relatively short supply chain of local growers for many of its ingredients. That strategy just might have been part View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why E-commerce Didn’t Die With the Fall of Webvan

case was taught, the general consensus was that the economics of the business were very shaky. Q: How so? A: There were two parts to the economics. You could say there was the part View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Retail

21 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

The Parable of the Bungled Baggage And the Unhappy Customer

program identifies our very best customers. And our very best customers often fly one or two times a week. Now, you're not in that category of frequent flyers, but because you're talking with the top... View Details

Keywords: by W. Earl Sasser

June 2013 (Revised June 2013)
Teaching Note

Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth & Currency Wars

By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details