Publications

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August 2023 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023

By: Debora Spar, Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Ruth Costas

Chile, often considered among Latin America's greatest economic success stories, suffered a shocking wave of protests in October 2019, as its citizens demanded reforms across healthcare and education systems, and protested inequality and rising costs of living. As... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Public Opinion; Equality and Inequality; Public Administration Industry; Chile; Latin America; South America

September 2022
Article

Regulatory Spillover and Workplace Racial Inequality

By: Letian Zhang

This paper suggests that affirmative action bans in the U.S. public sector may influence racial inequality in the private sector. Since the 1990s, nine states have banned affirmative action practice in public universities and state governments. Though these bans have... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Regulation; Law; Organizational Norm; CEO; Affirmative Action; Organizations; Private Sector; Equality and Inequality; Diversity; Race; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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09 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim & V. Kasturi Rangan

29 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence from India's GQ Highway Network

Keywords: by Abhiman Das, Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover, William R. Kerr, and Ramana Nanda

09 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Formal Employment and Organized Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia

Keywords: by Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo

July 1990 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Singapore TradeNet: A Tale of One City

Describes the development of a new information technology-based trade document administration environment for the city-state of Singapore. A considerable effort, involving many governmental and private sector organizations, results in a new set of practices and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Information Technology; Emerging Markets; Policy; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

29 Jan 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Do Banks Have an Edge?

Keywords: by Juliane Begenau and Erik Stafford; Banking

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

September 2024
Article

Gender Gaps: Back and Here to Stay? Evidence from Skilled Ugandan Workers During COVID-19

By: Livia Alfonsi, Mary Namubiru and Sara Spaziani

We investigate gender disparities in the effect of COVID-19 on the labor market outcomes of skilled Ugandan workers. Leveraging a high-frequency panel dataset, we find that the lockdowns imposed in Uganda reduced employment by 69% for women and by 45% for men,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Wage Gap; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Employment; Wages; Uganda

09 Apr 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Sustaining a Legacy of Giving in Turkey

Keywords: Re: Christina R. Wing

February 2011 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Sound Group China: Urban Waste Entrepreneurs

By: John D. Macomber, Chad M. Carr and Fan Zhao

Private sector entrepreneur in China with advanced solid waste management capability competes with state owned enterprises and also government policies supporting a rival technology. Wen Yibo has used engineering expertise and political savvy to build a major privately... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Public Sector; Service Delivery; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Wastes and Waste Processing; Urban Development; Utilities Industry; China

February 2004 (Revised August 2018)
Case

The American System

By: David A. Moss, Tiffany Morris and Sarah Brennan

Traces the economic development of the United States from 1790 to 1857, focusing especially on the struggle between free traders and protectionists over federal tariff policy. Devotes considerable attention to the nation's political system, its evolving common law,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Economic Growth; Government and Politics; United States

2012
Comment

The Balanced Scorecard: Comments on Balanced Scorecard Commentaries

By: Robert S. Kaplan

This paper provides the author's insights about five papers written in this volume about his published work on the balanced scorecard (BSC). The author finds that academic commentary on the BSC often ignores its role in strategy execution. The paper discusses how the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Execution; Performance Management; Strategy; Public Sector; Balanced Scorecard; Performance

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20 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

In the Shadows? Informal Enterprise in Non-Democracies

Keywords: by Kristin Fabbe, Allison Spencer Hartnett, and Steve L. Monroe

2024
Chapter

The Private Economy Under Party-State Capitalism

By: Margaret M. Pearson, Meg Rithmire and Kellee S. Tsai

This chapter addresses the evolution of China’s approach to the private sector from the early reform era until the beginning of Xi Jinping’s third term. It argues that China has evolved from a familiar form of state capitalism, in which economic growth is the primary... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; International Relations; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economic Systems; China

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December 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Monsters in the Machine? Tackling the Challenge of Responsible AI

By: Paul M. Healy and Debora L. Spar

In November of 2022, the small tech company OpenAI released ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot which quickly captured the public’s imagination—becoming the world’s fastest-growing consumer application within months of its release. Though observers from across... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technology Adoption; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technology Industry; United States; European Union; China

November 2012
Case

Edison Schools, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

Edison Schools, Inc., a pioneer in the for-profit management of public schools, demonstrates the challenges and opportunities related to private sector involvement in the delivery of a public good. Follows the organization from its start-up through its initial public... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Conflict of Interests; Initial Public Offering; For-Profit Firms; Public Sector; Market Entry and Exit; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry

March 2022 (Revised June 2022)
Case

The United States National Security Apparatus, Multipolarity, and the Rise of Commercial Space

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan L. Rosseau

In 2019, the U.S. national security community crossed a Rubicon by declaring that space was “a war-fighting domain” and undergoing a major reorganization, including the creation of the U.S. Space Force, the first new military branch in over 70 years. Military and... View Details

Keywords: War; National Security; International Relations; Power and Influence