Publications

February 2001 (Revised December 2002)
Case

Marshall Field and the Rise of the Department Store

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Analyzes Marshall Field's efforts to develop a market for mass retailing in late 19th-century Chicago. Examines Chicago's expansion in the 1860s and, within this context, how Field struck out on his own to, build a wholesale and retail business. Concentrates on the... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Industry Growth; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Society; Distribution Industry; Retail Industry; Chicago

November 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Mexican Foundation for Rural Development

By: James E. Austin and Gerardo Lozano

The Mexican Foundation for Rural Development (MFRD) is a nonprofit network of 32 rural development centers servicing low-income farm families. Management plans to expand its operation dramatically, forming 10,000 rural cooperatives in ten years. It faces major issues... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Cooperative Ownership; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Strategy; Mexico

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October 1998
Background Note

Welfare-to-Work Information and Statistics

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ellen Pruyne

Summarizes information on the national issue of hiring people from the welfare roles. Organized by topics relevant to business, this note reviews research findings and statistics and poses questions to assist business decision-makers in assessing a company's current or... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Recruitment; Risk Management; Planning; Programs; Research; Welfare

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

"Friendly Skies, The": Welfare-to-Work at United Airlines

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ellen Pruyne

In 1997 United CEO Gerald Greenwald was appointed chairman of the national Welfare-to-Work Partnership by President Clinton and committed United to hiring from the welfare rolls. A welfare-to-work recruitment program was rapidly established and soon followed by a... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Selection and Staffing; Retention; Employees; Recruitment; Welfare; Air Transportation Industry

September 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Katie Couric Media: Landing the First Client

By: N. Louis Shipley and William R. Kerr

In May 2018, celebrated journalist Katie Couric and her husband, John Molner, had recently launched a full-service media firm called Katie Couric Media (KCM). Couric treasured the opportunity to address important social issues like gender equality, environmental... View Details

Keywords: Customer Acquisition; Subscription Model; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Media; Customers; Acquisition; Social Issues; Brands and Branding; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Jun 2010
News

Nohria Named Tenth Dean

Nohria Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard University News Office As the Bulletin went to press, Harvard University President Drew Faust announced that HBS professor Nitin Nohria will succeed Jay Light to become the School’s tenth dean. Current co-chair of the HBS Leadership... View Details

Keywords: dean appointment; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

January 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Henry J. Kaiser and the Art of the Possible

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Mark Benson and David Chen

From his humble beginnings as a local salesman in New York, Henry J. Kaiser rose to become one of the leading industrialists of 20th century America. Though he had no technical engineering training, Kaiser mastered the management and execution of plans for several... View Details

Keywords: History; Mission and Purpose; Transition; Management Practices and Processes; Construction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Civil Society or Community; Business Strategy; Planning; Construction Industry; Shipping Industry; United States

Web

Site Credits - A Chronicle of the China Trade

Photography: Boston Photo Imaging Imaging Services, The Harvard College Library Printing: Ram Printing, Inc. Lenders to the Exhibition: Harvard Map Collection Harvard-Yenching Library Ipswich Museum Ipswich Public Library Massachusetts Historical View Details

2010
Working Paper

Lawful but Corrupt: Gaming and the Problem of Institutional Corruption in the Private Sector

By: Malcolm S. Salter

This paper describes how the gaming of society's rules by corporations contributes to the problem of institutional corruption in the world of business. "Gaming" in its various forms involves the use of technically legal means to subvert the intent of society's rules in... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Competitive Advantage; Earnings Management; Trust; Law; Performance; Investment Funds; Private Sector; Behavior; Relationships; Goals and Objectives

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02 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Summer Listening - HBS Podcasts to Take to the Beach

to making better predictions. As a component of a vast array of activities, enhanced prediction will have ripple effects throughout the economy. What new functions and business models will it create? What difficult questions will it force View Details

01 Sep 2018
News

Turning Point: Power Outlet

provides information and support to moms and sons and promotes positive images of black males. MOBB United for Social Change aims to influence policy at the local, state, and federal levels to impact how black boys and men are treated and perceived by law enforcement... View Details

01 Apr 1996
News

Wake-Up Call: Farewell to the American Dream?

trillion in lost wealth that our society would otherwise have benefited from if only productivity had kept to its historic pre-1973 average. We're still more productive and, indeed, wealthier than other countries. The problem is that, as... View Details

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

Second, the ambitions of American inventors and entrepreneurs demanded the broadest possible distribution. The Wal-Mart mission, for example, is to lower the cost of living for everyone everywhere. Third, American society was open to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

04 May 2015
News

Alumni in Paris Connect Around a ‘Vision’ for the New HBS

facing business and society today. The Harvard Business School Campaign was launched in April 2014 to raise $1 billion over the next five years to support innovation in the curriculum, faculty research, and collaboration across the... View Details

06 May 2008
News

Small World? Read Nil about It

only vaguely aware of, the larger world. Today in the United States, I see the opposite happening, a closing-off of the world, in this the most media-intensive society in the world. If by “globalization,” we infer engagement with the rest... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Information

23 Sep 2021
News

Confronting Sustainability in Business; Pro-Bono Consulting for Black-Owned Companies

Series kicked off September 15 with HBS Professor George Serafeim, who talked about his Impact-Weighted Accounts Project at HBS. Impact-weighted accounts offer a tool for measuring a company’s external impacts on society and the... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

2018
Chapter

Why Do So Many Chinese Students Come to the United States?

By: William C. Kirby

Many books offer information about China, but few make sense of what is truly at stake. The questions addressed in this unique volume provide a window onto the challenges China faces today and the uncertainties its meteoric ascent on the global horizon has provoked.... View Details

Keywords: Asia; China; Emerging Country; Students; Education; Higher Education; Globalization; International Relations; History; Society; Education Industry; Asia; China; United States

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October 2012
Teaching Note

Liberia (TN)

By: Eric Werker and Ian Cornell

From 1989 to 2003 civil war raged in Liberia, causing GDP per capita to drop an unprecedented 90% from peak to trough. The roots of Liberia's conflict and economic decline are complex and intertwined, resting on over a century of discriminatory elite rule and twisted... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Economic Systems; War; Economy; Government and Politics; Liberia

June 2012
Article

Racial Colorblindness: Emergence, Practice, and Implications

By: Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton and Samuel R. Sommers

We examine the pervasive endorsement of racial colorblindness-the belief that racial group membership should not be taken into account or even noticed-as a strategy for managing diversity and intergroup relations. Despite research demonstrating that race is perceived... View Details

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Law; Practice; Race; Research; Social Issues; Diversity