Publications

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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

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

July 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Marilyn Winn, head of human resources at Harrah's Entertainment, must make a recommendation to the company's president and CEO about whether the existing bonus payout program is effective at motivating employees or whether it should be revised and/or replaced. A recent... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Alignment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 1997 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Crisis at the Federal Reserve: Arthur Burns and the Stagflation of 1973-75

By: David A. Moss and Wyatt C. Wells

Briefly examines the history of the Federal Reserve System up through 1970 and then delves into how the central bank, under the leadership of Arthur F. Burns, responded to the "stagflation" of the early 1970s. It culminates with the Federal Reserve's response to the... View Details

Keywords: Central Banking; Inflation and Deflation; Government Administration; Financial Crisis; United States

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

cases escalate, tariffs placed on Chinese exports by former President Trump. This move is emblematic of a global turn toward protectionism and trade restrictions in the last decade. Businesses have taken diverse approaches in adapting to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

23 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

In Venture Capital, Birds of a Feather Lose Money Together

Business Administration at Harvard Business School, who cowrote the paper with HBS Associate Professor Yuhai Xuan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov, a graduate student in the Economics department at Harvard. "What... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

06 May 2015
Research & Ideas

A Flood of Picassos Threatens to Water Down the Art Market

a single artist's work," said Mukti Khaire, an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. "If I own a notable Picasso work, I can be reasonably sure it won't lose... View Details

07 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

How an African History Scholar Became a Modern Righter of Wrongs

present-day administrative structures, legal norms, cultural forms, questions about ethnicity and race, and, of course, ongoing economic relations between the former colonized... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

December 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nectar: Making Loyalty Pay

By: John A. Deighton

Loyalty Management UK (LMUK) manages British supermarket chain Sainsbury's frequent-shopper card program, called Nectar. LMUK uses Sainsbury's sponsorship as the magnet to attract other retailers into a profitable, multisponsor loyalty network. Examines the economics... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business or Company Management; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Networks; Marketing Channels; Advertising Campaigns; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; Great Britain

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Stop Thinking of Climate Change as a Religious or Political Issue

businesses cannot by themselves set the rules of the game. They face short-term economic pressures just like households, and their ability unilaterally to change their behavior is limited by dysfunctional... View Details

Keywords: by Forest Reinhardt; Energy; Utilities

2008
Working Paper

Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement

By: Peter Tufano

We review a wide variety of programs that support savings by families, in particular by low- and moderate-income families. These programs range from ones that literally compel families to save, to those that make it hard not to save, make it easier to save, provide... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Motivation and Incentives; Programs; Income; Personal Finance; Family and Family Relationships; Performance Effectiveness

Read Now

May 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Global Economy (A)

By: Alberto Cavallo and Christian Godwin

In April 2020, the world struggled to contain the exponential escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dozens of countries had imposed restrictions on travel, work, and social gatherings. A large share of the global population was under lockdowns and... View Details

February 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Russia 1994

Describes Russia's transition from a centrally planned economy under Communist rule to an increasingly market-oriented economy under a more democratic political regime. Can be used to discuss the complementarity of elements of an economic strategy, and the optimal... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Economic Systems; Russia; Soviet Union

April 2010
Article

Endowments, Fiscal Federalism, and the Cost of Capital for States: Evidence from Brazil, 1891-1930

By: Andre C. Martinez Fritscher and Aldo Musacchio

There is a large literature looking at the determinants of country risk (defined as the difference between the yield of a sovereign's bonds and the risk-free rate). In this paper, we contribute to the discussion by arguing that an important explanatory factor is the... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Performance Capacity; Taxation; Revenue; Governance; Geographic Location; Trade; Price; Cost of Capital; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Administration Industry; Brazil