Publications

13 Dec 2014
News

The openness revolution

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

February 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Background Note

Leader's (Dis)Advantage, The

Provides a rigorous description of the economic dynamics that may produce inherent advantages for large and/or first-mover firms within an industry, as well as those factors that may result in disadvantages for such leading firms. The leader advantages discussed... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Semiconductor Industry

Hiring in online labor markets involves considerable uncertainty: which hiring choices are more likely to yield successful outcomes and how do employers adjust their hiring behaviors to make such choices? We argue that employers will initially explore the value... View Details

Web

Faculty & Research

Zhang, Letian, Wenjie Ma, and Jingshu Zhang. "TK Group: Expanding the Global Factory?" Harvard Business School Case 425-090, June 2025. Punitive but Discerning: Reputation Can Fuel Ambiguously-Deserved Punishment, but Does Not Erode... View Details

2010
Book

Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down

By: John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead

You've got a good idea. You know it could make a crucial difference for you, your organization, your community. You present it to the group but get confounding questions, inane comments, and verbal bullets in return. Before you know what's happened, your idea is dead,... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Cost vs Benefits; Problems and Challenges; Interests; Value

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Research Summary

Cooperation and Solidarity

A third line of work explores the determinants of cooperative behavior within groups specifically the phenomenon of solidarity, which is understood as pro-social helping behavior which is not likely to be reciprocated directly by the receiver. Such behavior can be... View Details

2022
Working Paper

The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans

By: Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim

Sustainability-linked loans (i.e., syndicated loans for which pricing is linked to a sustainability performance indicator) have rapidly evolved into a significant private debt product. We find that sustainability-linked lending has been available mostly to borrowers... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Credit Products; Loan Contracts; Loans; Corporate Finance; Credit Risk; Environment; ESG; ESG Ratings; Climate Change; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Risk and Uncertainty; Credit

SSRN

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October 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

HandsOn Bay Area: Scaling Up Community Service

By: James Heskett

HandsOn Bay Area, an organization devoted to the performance of (and development of leaders for) community service, is undergoing a significant (and internally controversial) shift in its business model from "retail" projects involving individual volunteers to... View Details

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Mondavi Winery

Examines Mondavi Winery's struggle to communicate its value proposition to the market following an apparently successful IPO. The Mondavi Winery had a strong reputation for innovation in the wine industry and had undertaken an IPO to secure the funding needed to... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Initial Public Offering; Innovation and Management; Communication Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

September 12, 2022
Article

Merit or Inherit: How to Approach Succession in a Family Business

By: Josh Baron

One of the most critical questions facing family businesses is how to treat the next generation. They are clearly different from other employees, as current or potential owners of the company, whose wealth and reputation are on the line. On the flip side, most parents... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Management Succession

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2022
Working Paper

A Conceptualization of Sub-Living Wages: Liabilities, Leverage, and Risk

By: Drew Keller, Katie Panella and George Serafeim

Currently the accounting system records employee wages as an expense in the income statement. However, paying below living wages can expose an organization to reputational and operational risks. In this paper, we offer an alternative conceptualization of the issue of... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Impact Accounting; Leverage; Wages; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Social Issues; Human Capital

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04 Mar 2014
News

40 of the Smartest People in Healthcare

03 Sep 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Supply Chain Screening Without Certification: The Critical Role of Stakeholder Pressure

Keywords: by Susan A. Kayser, John W. Maxwell & Michael W. Toffel

October 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

AI and Brand Management: Promises and Perils

By: Julian De Freitas and Elie Ofek

As AI gains traction across industries, companies anticipate that AI will revolutionize both backend processes and customer-facing interactions—with brands eager to leverage AI for tailored marketing materials and automated consumer engagements. Yet, despite a dramatic... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Brands and Branding; Reputation; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

21 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 21

for making CBA more effective, rather than eliminating CBA as a decision-making tool. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-001.pdf Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry (revised) Authors:Bo... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2012
Case

Evergreen Natural Markets 2012

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Paul S. Myers

Evergreen Natural Markets is a successful food retailer located in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Having grown through acquisition, it has a reputation for improving the companies it purchases while retaining previous management. This strategy has succeeded due... View Details

Keywords: United States; Operating Systems; Acquisitions; Strategy; Human Resource Management; Consolidations; Retail Trade; Food; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Consolidation; Acquisition; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Las Vegas; Western United States

June 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Big to Small: The Two Lives of Barry Nalls

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Rachel Galper

Barry Nalls describes lessons learned during his 25-year career—his rise at GTE and shorter-lived ventures—and how these prepared him to found MASERGY, a telecommunications start-up. Even as a young boy in a family of entrepreneurs, Nalls had a reputation as a hard... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Experience and Expertise; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career