Publications

February 2006
Case

Millions of Customers and the Search for a Business: the Challenge of IRC-Hispano

Like many online services, IRC-Hispano, the world's largest Spanish-language chat organization, has many customers but sees few revenues. As an association, its structure presents many limitations and hurdles to overcome involving investing in technology platform... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry; Spain

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02 Apr 2010
What Do You Think?

Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs?

Wegrzyn cited (1) "incredible pressure from the economic side," (2) "incredible instability," and (3) a resulting "dog-eat-dog attitude." Dennis Hopwood said, "In the end, it's all about making the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

January 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Capital Allocation at HCA

By: W. Carl Kester and Emily R. McComb

In early 2017, HCA Holdings, an investor-owned hospital management company, faced a strategically important capital allocation decision. After the exit of its private equity sponsors in 2016, HCA had to determine how best to allocate its substantial annual free cash... View Details

Keywords: Capital Allocation; Cash Distribution Policy; Dividends; Share Repurchases; Growth Strategy And Execution; Growth Investing; Capital Expenditures; Debt Management; Debt Reduction; Debt Policy; Hospital Management; Investor-owned Hospital Chains; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; United States

30 Aug 2021
News

How to Buy A Little Happiness, No Matter How Much Money You Have

16 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Insights and Inspiration: A Look Back at the Summer Venture in Management Program

I will always remember how I felt during the program – surrounded by unique, hard-working, and passionate individuals. And of course, learning about the value of the case... View Details

2020
Working Paper

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

The U.S. employer-based health insurance tax exclusion created a system of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) with limited insurance choices and transparency that may lock employed households into health plans that are costlier or different from those they prefer to... View Details

Keywords: After-tax Income; Consumer-driven Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Insurance; Income Inequality; Tax Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Employees; Income; Taxation; Policy; United States

SSRN

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01 Jun 1997
News

Competition and Strategy Unit at HBS Sets Pace In Its Field

entrepreneurship, joint action, and the creation of value. Their work shows that value creation is an interdependent process in which an enterprise must align itself with customers, suppliers, employees,... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (C)- Esquel Group and the Chinese Renminbi

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

In July 2005, China revalued its currency by 2.1% and adjusted its exchange rate regime toward a more market-based system. Esquel Group, a family-run, privately held textiles firm specializing in high-quality cotton shirts with its most significant manufacturing base... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Currency Exchange Rate; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Value Creation; China

Web

Business Solutions for the Poor (Global and Local) - Course Catalog

to 350 words) and one final course paper (600 to 750 words), No Exam Enrollment Limited to 45 students Overview Customers at higher levels of the socioeconomic pyramid are usually served by businesses who synchronize View Details

01 Oct 1999
News

The Same the World Over: Focusing on Customers and Innovation Brings Success

climate, customer orientation, and innovation. "Corporate culture was perceived as the prevailing set of shared values held by a firm's managers," Deshpandé explains, "qualities such as loyalty View Details

Keywords: Peter K. Jacobs

30 Aug 2019
Blog Post

3 Growing Pains from my First Year at HBS: Academic, Social, and Career

unified identity as one firm. For instance, no matter which office you belong to, we can work as a team from day one because we have common values that guide our decision making and culture that makes trust... View Details

July 2009
Article

Bad Riddance or Good Rubbish? Ownership and Not Loss Aversion Causes the Endowment Effect

By: C. K. Morewedge, L. L. Shu, D. T. Gilbert and T. D. Wilson

People typically demand more to relinquish the goods they own than they would be willing to pay to acquire those goods if they didn't already own them (the endowment effect). The standard economic explanation of this phenomenon is that people expect the pain of... View Details

Keywords: Value; Judgments; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes

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Web

The Intersection of Public Relations and Photography | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Russell Aikins. 21 Aikins, who had worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times , opened a studio in New York City and took on assignments with Time and Life .... View Details

17 Apr 2025
Blog Post

From Tech to Coaching: Empowering Women and Minority Leaders with Yue Zhao (MBA 2013)

learning directly from VCs and experienced entrepreneurs. Being surrounded by people taking risks and building companies reinforced my belief that I wanted to work at the... View Details

November 29, 2011
Article

The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information

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November 2022
Case

Hiring with the Community in Saint Paul

By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta

This case reviews Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s decision to involve the community in the process of hiring his cabinet members. Rather than relying on an executive recruiting firm or choosing cabinet heads from his own network, Carter recruited 100 community members... View Details

Keywords: Community Engagement; Competency and Skills; Government and Politics; Human Resources; Government Administration; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Decision Making; Public Administration Industry; United States; Minnesota; Saint Paul

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

Resolve," Harvard Business Review, January 2001, pp. 67-76. James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (New York: HarperBusiness, 1994). Bill George, Authentic Leadership:... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2022
Article

When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals

By: Daniel H. Stein, Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton

From Catholics performing the sign of the cross since the 4th century to Americans reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since the 1890s, group rituals (i.e., predefined sequences of symbolic actions) have strikingly consistent features over time. Seven studies (N = 4,213)... View Details

Keywords: Ritual; Morality; Groups; Norms; Commitment; Groups and Teams; Values and Beliefs; Change; Moral Sensibility; Behavior