Publications

SSRN

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

2012
Chapter

Firing Your Best Customers: How Smart Firms Destroy Relationships Using CRM

By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier

With incidences in the 20%–25% range, the practice of firing customers has become increasingly attractive as firms try to maximize the lifetime value of their customer portfolios. This chapter traces the relationship trajectory of a 30-year customer of Filene's... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; CRM; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customers; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

January 2016 (Revised February 2016)
Course Overview Note

The Sustainable Core: Operations Management

By: Michael W. Toffel and L. Beril Toktay

This note is designed to help faculty embed environmental sustainability content into their core Operations Management course at the MBA or undergraduate level. It can also be used to identify cases with environmental content that can be used in operations electives... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Management; Operations Management; Sustainable Operations; Environmental Regulation; Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Construction Industry; Forest Products Industry; Retail Industry

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

17 Apr 2020
News

COVID-19, Global Markets, and Global Macroeconomic Policy Responses: Macroeconomic Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

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

Educators

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

01 Jun 2004
News

Merck’s Gilmartin on Vaccines, Global Health

pathogens for which there are currently no vaccines: familiar maladies such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, as well as newer threats, such as SARS, anthrax, and ricin. Today, Gilmartin noted, Merck is one... View Details

Keywords: Merck; public health; global public health; vaccines; Scientific Research and Development Services; Scientific Research and Development Services

When Do Firms Greenwash? Corporate Visibility, Civil Society Scrutiny, and Environmental Disclosure

Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance; other firms’ disclosures, in contrast, are more representative of their... View Details

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

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

Educators

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

17 Jun 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Management as a Technology?

Keywords: by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen

October 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Barclays Global Investors and Exchange Traded Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Provides an overview of the Exchange Traded Funds (EFT) industry and highlights the leadership role that Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has played in this developing asset class. BGI launched its first ETFs under the iShares brand name in 2000, and by mid-2007 BGI was... View Details

Keywords: History; Venture Capital; Asset Management; Stocks; Investment Funds; Leading Change; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Global Strategy; Financial Strategy; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Asia; Europe

Educators

01 Sep 2007
News

Global Outreach Program Planned for HBS Centennial

of nonprofit managers to HBS Executive Education programs. “Social enterprise is one of the common threads that connect HBS alumni clubs, regardless of size or geographic location,” notes Goff. “The Global... View Details

Keywords: clubs; Centennial; global outreach; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

TeachingInterests

Managing International Trade and Investment

By: Dante Roscini

Managing International Trade and Investment (MITI) is designed for students who expect to engage directly or indirectly in commerce and in strategic or financial investments across national borders. It covers concepts that are relevant to a number of operating and... View Details

January 2013 (Revised January 2013)
Course Overview Note

Running Small and Medium Size Enterprises (RSME) Winter Term 2013: Course Overview and Syllabus

Course Overview and Syllabus for RSME View Details