Publications

June 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

A.P. Møller - Maersk Group: Evaluating Strategic Talent Management Initiatives

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

In 2012, Bill Allen and Maria Pejter, of Maersk Group's Human Resources Department, sat down to consider some key aspects of Maersk's talent management strategy. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Maersk was a global conglomerate with large shipping and oil & gas businesses.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Development; Human Resource Management; Talent Management; Organizational Change And Transformation; Corporate Culture; Hiring; Employee Training; Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Retention; Diversity; Denmark

2015
Working Paper

Crowdsourced Digital Goods and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Open Source Software

By: Frank Nagle

As firms increasingly rely on crowdsourced digital goods, understanding their impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of one such good, non-pecuniary (free) open source software (OSS). The results show a... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Software

SSRN

02 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Leading Professional Service Firms

The HBS Executive Education course Leading Professional Service Firms (LPSF) is an intensive, one-week program that focuses on management issues unique to these firms. It provides a forum for participants... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jay W. Lorsch; Service; Consulting; Accounting

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Espen Storli

Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Natural Resources; Metals and Minerals; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; Europe; Middle East; North and Central America; Israel; South Africa; Iran

2014
Working Paper

The New Empirical Economics of Management

By: Nicholas Bloom, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur and John Van Reenen

Over the last decade the World Management Survey (WMS) has collected firm-level management practices data across multiple sectors and countries. We developed the survey to try to explain the large and persistent TFP differences across firms and countries. This review... View Details

Keywords: Management; Organization; Productivity; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Microeconomics

Article

Managing Healthcare Costs and Value

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael E. Porter and Mark L. Frigo

Rising health care costs are a major global challenge. A number of factors contribute to this trend, including aging populations and medical technology. But an underlying and misunderstood source of health care’s escalating costs has been the inability of health care... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Health Industry

26 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Managed Ecosystems and Translucent Institutional Logics: Engaging Communities

Keywords: by Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle, and Michael Tushman

February 1992 (Revised September 1992)
Background Note

Global Computer Industry

Describes the evolution of international trade and global competition in computers. Focuses on the role of country factors, government policies, and firm strategies in shifting competitive advantage among regions of the world. Pays special attention to international... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Alliances; Trade; Policy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Computer Industry

Article

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In a platform-mediated network, users rely on a common platform, provided by one or more intermediaries, that encompasses infrastructure and rules required by users to transact with each other. A fundamental design decision for firms that aspire to develop... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Digital Platforms; Infrastructure; Competition; Cooperation; Information Infrastructure

Find at Harvard

April 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

GE and the Industrial Internet

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Marco Iansiti and Kerry Herman

CEO Jeff Immelt considers whether GE is moving fast enough on its new Industrial Internet initiative. The undertaking includes building out an Industrial Internet, connecting machines and devices, collecting their data and operations, and providing services to clients... View Details

Teaching Interest

Managing Global Health: Applying Behavioral Economics to Create Impact (MBA)

Health, and development more broadly, is not something we give to people: it is something they produce themselves, interacting with supply-side and institutional factors. This course trains students to see through the lens of the end-user and to use the levers of... View Details

March 1997
Case

Private Management and Public Schools (A)

Examines the prospects for private management in U.S. public schools. Introduces the U.S. system of education and the concerns driving the education reform process. Focuses on the education and business strategies of Education Alternatives, Inc. (EAI), Public... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Value; Education; Government and Politics; Education Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

April 2010
Article

Managed Globalization: Doctrine, Practice, and Promise

By: Rawi Abdelal and Sophie Meunier

Two alternate visions for shaping and explaining the governance of economic globalization have been in competition for the past 20 years: an ad hoc, laissez-faire vision promoted by the United States versus a managed vision relying on multilateral rules and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Globalized Economies and Regions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; European Union; United States

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Why IT Matters in Midsized Firms

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti, George Favaloro, James Utzschneider & Greg Richards; Technology; Computer

2011
Working Paper

The Organization of Firms Across Countries

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

We argue that social capital as proxied by trust increases aggregate productivity by affecting the organization of firms. To do this we collect new data on the decentralization of investment, hiring, production, and sales decisions from Corporate Headquarters to local... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Trust; Asia; Europe; United States

April 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Career Strategies and Tactics in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry

Presents suggestions for ensuring a good start in a professional services career. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Performance Expectations; Performance Effectiveness; Customization and Personalization; Practice; Valuation; Performance Evaluation; Business Startups; Competency and Skills; Learning; Talent and Talent Management; Management Skills; Consulting Industry