Publications

September 2019 (Revised September 2020)
Case

SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command (Abridged)

By: Herman Leonard, Mitch Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman

James "Hondo" Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. Overseeing acquisitions in one of the... View Details

Keywords: Open Innovation; Crowdsourcing; Prototyping; Navy; Entrepreneurship; Public Equity; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Acquisition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Administration Industry; United States

2016
Working Paper

Decision-Making by Precedent and the Founding of American Honda (1948 – 1974)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

American Honda was founded in 1959 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company to facilitate sales and distribution in the United States. The details of American Honda’s early history have long served as evidence in debates among scholars and practitioners... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

SSRN

Read Now

23 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

This Crisis Loan Program Preserved Jobs—and Made Money

As the US Congress prepares to replenish its Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, questions still linger: Do guaranteed loans for small businesses work in the long term? Who wins? Employees? Businesses? Taxpayers? The answer appears to be yes for all... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Key to Corporate Reform

sidebar "Are Board Self-Evaluations Enough?") Separate The Positions Of Chairman And Ceo. This suggestion is hardly novel—in fact, splitting the positions is a common practice in many boardrooms outside the United States—but in... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia A. Montgomery & Rhonda Kaufman

21 May 2024
Research & Ideas

What the Rise of Far-Right Politics Says About the Economy in an Election Year

As more than 50 countries hold elections in 2024, far-right politicians and policies look poised to gain ground, continuing a years-long trend evident in Europe, the United States, and South America. These movements often stoke grievances... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

2008
Working Paper

Organizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry

By: Dennis Campbell

Many companies operate units which are dispersed across different types of markets, and thus serve significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion is likely to compromise the headquarters' ability to control its local managers' behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Customer Focus and Relationships; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Franchise Ownership; Retail Industry

15 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 15, 2017

phone-based follow-up. The low rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control underscore the ongoing challenge of both hypertension screening and management in India. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53086 June 21, 2017 Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2014
Case

Groupon, Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Blythe J. McGarvie and James Weber

Internet coupon site "Groupon" grew revenues rapidly and went public, but struggled to impress investors or operate profitably. Did it have a sustainable business model? Groupon sold coupons called Groupons which purchasers used to acquire goods or services at... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Web Services Industry; United States

23 Apr 2024
In Practice

Getting to Net Zero: The Climate Standards and Ecosystem the World Needs Now

With each month clocking record-breaking temperatures across the planet, this Earth Day reflected the renewed urgency of regulators and businesses to find climate-change solutions. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently adopted new rules that will mandate... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

Chearavanonts enter the company, how has Chairman Dhanin created a business culture that maintains the closeness of a family business with the strategic vision, innovations, and transparency of a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

captivated Harvard Business School’s Raffaella Sadun for more than a decade. “The question is, Are there certain practices that are beneficial to firm performance regardless of the industry or the country in which you use them?” says... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

X-IT and Kidde (A)

By: Constance E. Bagley and David Lane

Involves a start-up, X-IT Products LLC, whose founders had designed an innovative, lightweight, and easy-to-use--yet strong--escape ladder. After X-IT had filed a patent application for the ladder in the United States, X-IT was approached by Kidde PLC, one of the... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Negotiation Process; Agreements and Arrangements; Ethics; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business Startups; Consumer Products Industry

10 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

How to Live Happier in 2023: Diversify Your Social Circle

way? A group of researchers recently considered that idea in a new study, concluding that variety is a crucial ingredient. “We wanted to examine what would be the optimal mix of people to talk to over any time period,” says Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Jun 2024
News

Again and Again

Edited by Jen McFarland Flint; Illustrations by Jason Holley Whenever he’s presenting to a large audience, Professor Michael Norton likes to pose this question to the crowd: After you get up in the morning, do you brush your teeth first and then shower, or vice versa?... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

January 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Finova Group, Inc. (A), The

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Perry Fagan

Finova Group, a $14 billion commercial finance company, filed for Chapter 11 in early March 2001, in what was one of the largest U.S. bankruptcy filings of all time and the largest corporate bond default since the Great Depression. While in Chapter 11, Finova became... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Startups; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Debt Securities; Price; Crisis Management; Bids and Bidding; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Valuation; Financial Services Industry; United States

November 2020 (Revised February 2022)
Case

CommonSpirit Health: Integrating a Merger of Equals

By: Robert S. Huckman, Hise Gibson and Nicole Gilmore

Soon after closing the 2019 merger of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health to create CommonSpirit Health, Lloyd Dean and Kevin Lofton-–jointly appointed to the role of CEO—must make several operational and strategic decisions related to the integration... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Delivery; Hospital; Merger; Merger Integration; Hospital Mergers; Health Information Technology; CEOs; Health Care and Treatment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Leadership; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governance; Information Technology; Health Industry; United States

March 2003
Case

Insurer of Last Resort? The Federal Financial Response to September 11

By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan

Examines the federal financial response to September 11, 2001: the airline bailout, the victim compensation fund, emergency aid to New York and Washington, and terrorism reinsurance. Less than two weeks after the attacks, the government had committed almost $40 billion... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Insurance; Risk Management; United States