General Business - Publications - Faculty & Research

30 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 30, 2015

working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49300 Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 515-095 Evans Food In April 2014, Hector Guerra (GMP 16) was discussing his company's dilemma with his living... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Feb 2008
What Do You Think?

How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?

investors alike that, as Gaurav Goel put it, "Sustainable businesses have lesser risks associated with their future earnings ... triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental sustainability) reduces uncertainty." Or as... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

06 Oct 2003
What Do You Think?

Is “the Innovator’s Solution” to Sustained Corporate Growth an Unnatural Act?

business processes [are outsourced] under the pretext of 'cost savings' ... huge compensation packages [encourage cautious leadership]." Mainak Banerjee, in concurring with Eckel's latter point, says, "The worst thing that can... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

11 Jan 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

New Game, New Rules: Developing Managers for a Competitive World

corporate management, and how PGL helps executives address these critical issues. Q: How are fundamental changes occurring in the global business environment driving change at the organizational level? A: These are turbulent times for... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

16 Nov 1999
Lessons from the Classroom

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

organizations, and what managers must do to effectively lead the change process. Tushman and O'Reilly are the coauthors of Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal, Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

28 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World

making leadership both more difficult and more rewarding than it was a generation ago. If critical decisions in the last century were typified by an all-or-nothing gamble on a new big new factory or business... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

28 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Accountability at the World Bank

Press, 2007), and a recent op-ed in the Financial Times, "The World Bank Must Fix its Business Model," Ebrahim has focused his research and teaching on the challenges of accountability, performance, and organizational learning... View Details

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim

21 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Good Banks, Bad Banks, and Government’s Role as Fixer

banks by the federal government, it can divide them into good banks and bad banks. The good banks would return to the normal business of taking deposits and making loans; the bad banks would work out and sell toxic assets over several... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

17 Nov 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

How Activist Investors Became Respectable

(Editor's Note. Carl Icahn is in the news again. On Monday, SEC filings revealed the militant investor has sold his entire stake in eBay, after successfully pushing the company to spin off its PayPal operation. Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Financial Services; Banking

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2311152 Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 614-044 Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital The case explores the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

and benefits and that bundled legislation is valued more than the sum of its parts. Study 2 shows this finding stems from a diminished focus on losses and heightened focus on gains. Study 3 extends our findings to policies involving costs and benefits of the same type... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 15, 2009

Massachusetts General Hospital's efforts to restructure quality and safety to illustrate the value of beginning with a focus on organizational culture, using a systematic process of engaging clinical leadership, developing an... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Jan 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Why You Are Unhappy at Work

feeling. What can be done to improve the office environment? Research by Harvard Business School professors suggests these problems are not only common—but solvable. Here are some of our most insightful stories about unmotivated employees... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Use Free Shipping as a Competitive Weapon

given that they're exchanging what they hope is a boost in demand for sure losses on the logistics side," says Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Donald Ngwe. Shipping Fees and Product Assortment in Online Retail explores... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

10 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

the agency implied that it would respect the public’s wishes, say Michael Norton and Leslie John, both professors at Harvard Business School. “When firms conduct online polls, people frequently submit ridiculous entries; and with social... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

26 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

David, Goliath, and Disruption

As elegantly described by HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen in his 1997 bestseller, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, so-called disruptive technologies are upstart innovations that manage to penetrate the market share of some... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

28 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Ground Game, Air Wars, and Other Marketing Lessons From Presidential Elections

New research from Harvard Business School shows that mass advertising is better at swaying undecided consumers while face-to-face personal selling is more suited at closing the deal for those already leaning toward a particular product.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

02 Oct 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Leadership an Increasingly Difficult Balancing Act?

information flow through social media " Respondents described what increasingly will be required of leaders. Kapil Kumar Sopory said that "Leadership these days has become a complex art people with bias for listening, testing and fast reacting will View Details