Publications

September 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy Shih and Mike Toffel

This case looks at United Airlines when it is facing a decision on whether to shift its aircraft routing to more "out-and-back" routing in order to try to improve its on-time performance. As one of the world's largest airlines, United had a very large fleet and... View Details

03 Feb 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Accountability and Control as Catalysts for Strategic Exploration and Exploitation: Field Study Results

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

Article

Gathering Data for Archival, Field, Survey, and Experimental Accounting Research

By: Robert Bloomfield, Mark W. Nelson and Eugene F. Soltes

In the published proceedings of the ﬁrst Journal of Accounting Research Conference, Vatter (1966) lamented that “Gathering direct and original facts is a tedious and difﬁcult task, and it is not surprising that such work is avoided.” For the 50th JAR Conference,... View Details

Keywords: Archival; Data; Experiment; Empirical Methods; Field Study; Analytics and Data Science; Surveys; Financial Reporting

September 2011
Article

Information Risk and Fair Value: An Examination of Equity Betas

By: Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim

Using a sample of U.S. financial institutions, we exploit recent mandatory disclosures of financial instruments designated as fair value level 1, 2, and 3 to test whether greater information risk in financial instrument fair values leads to higher cost of capital. We... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Assets; Cost of Capital; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Corporate Disclosure; Information; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; United States

SSRN

June 2024
Teaching Note

Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 924-307. The Teaching Note offers suggestions for using the case as a “product innovation” for different levels of students and their knowledge of baseball. Discussion plan questions for instructors are provided in the context of MLB’s... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Media; Product; Sports Industry

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem

By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Viacom has reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Global Strategy; Management; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

01 Jul 2011
News

Searching for Professional Significance

26 Aug 2011
News

Disney, Walton, Ford, Gates: Tales of When Legends Leave

January 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Intellectual Property Intermediaries

By: Andrei Hagiu

During the past 5 to 10 years, several different intermediation business models have emerged for the intellectual property (IP) market. This note describes the most prominent ones: non-practicing entities (or patent trolls), defensive patent aggregators, online IP... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Service Industry

August 1996 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Howard, Shea & Chan Asset Management (A)

By: Benson P. Shapiro

A medium-sized investment management firm is attempting to decide whether to try to grow, and if so, how. It is a complicated decision because the managing partner and her colleagues have significantly different views. This case provides the background on the industry,... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Decision Making; Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

30 Jul 2014
News

Were OkCupid’s and Facebook’s Experiments Unethical?

11 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Mixing Open Source and Proprietary Software Strategies

software code. In their working paper "Mixed Source," HBS associate professor Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and postdoctoral fellow Gaston Llanes consider scenarios in which theoretical software firms compete... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Web Services

March 2023
Module Note

The Advisor's Approach to Strategy Analysis

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

A module note for the Mastering Consulting and Advisory Skills (MCAS) course, "The Advisor's Approach to Strategy Analysis" introduces the options-led approach to strategy as well as how this valuable piece of an advisor's toolbelt differs from that of an operator. View Details

Keywords: Strategy

04 Dec 2013
News

Why big budgets still generate the hottest tickets

March 2006
Background Note

Public Law: The Rules of the Game

Outlines the four primary public policy objectives underlying the U.S. laws regulating business in the early 21st century: to promote economic growth; to protect workers; to promote consumer welfare, and to promote public welfare. Other major economic powers tend to... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Laws and Statutes; United States

2008
Chapter

Southeast Asia and the Political Economy of Development

By: Regina M. Abrami and Richard Doner

This chapter assesses contemporary qualitative research on Southeast Asia and its contribution to the field of political economy. It focuses especially on the political origins of economic institutions and their influence on economic performance. It provides evidence... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Research; Southeast Asia

January 1998
Case

Jeffrey Smith

Jeffrey Smith and David Johnson have apparently irreconcilable differences over their firm's strategy, which have led Jeffrey to conclude that he must fire David. Focuses on whether Jeffrey has used his influence in such a way as to avoid conflict. If he has no other... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Conflict and Resolution

January 2021
Supplement

E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (B): Optimizing Assortment for a New Retailer

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn

The E-Commerce Analytics group at the traditional CPG firm was in charge of compiling various online sales reports, as well as making data-driven recommendations for sales and marketing tactics. In a series of exercises, students address different data challenges for... View Details

Keywords: Data Analysis; Data Analytics; CPG; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Online Channel; Retail; Retail Analytics; Retailing Industry; Data; Data Sharing; Ecommerce; Assortment Optimization; Assortment Planning; Analytics and Data Science; Retention; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

April 6, 2022
Article

5 Principles of Purposeful Leadership

By: Hubert Joly

The traditional model of the leader-hero who saves the day, knows it all, is the smartest person in the room, and is too often driven by power, fame, glory, or money is not appropriate in today’s environment. People today expect a different kind of leader. While each... View Details

Keywords: Leadership, Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Purpose; Roles; Authenticity; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Leadership Style