Publications

1998
Working Paper

CEO Incentives and Firm Size

By: Brian Hall and George P. Baker

What determines CEO incentives? A confusion exists among both academics and practitioners about how to measure the strength of CEO incentives, and how to reconcile the enormous differences in pay sensitivities between executives in large and small firms. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Motivation and Incentives; Executive Compensation; Size; Management Systems

Read Now

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

productivity would improve—especially as the bricks-and-clicks retail model worked in an increasingly coordinated manner to offer the consumer a seamless shopping experience. The Internet Threat While recent retail sales figures seem to... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

13 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 13

publicly stated goals. Publisher's link: http://hbr.org/2014/05/how-to-outsmart-activist-investors/ar/1 August 2013 Harvard Business Review Making 'Freemium' Work: Many Start-ups Fail to Recognize the Challenges of This Popular View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Case

Diversifying P&G's Supplier Base (A)

By: Kris Ferreira, Kym Lew Nelson, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Sarah Mehta

In February 2003, P&G hosted two meetings—one with its largest woman- and minority-owned suppliers and one with its largest non-minority-owned suppliers. Attendees in each meeting heard the same message: P&G was keen to grow its commitment to inclusive supply chains,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Organization; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Demographics; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Ethics; Fairness; Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry; United States; Ohio

21 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Solving the Marketing Resources Allocation Puzzle

called ScriptLogic that runs its business in this new fashion. They describe their business model as "click-to-cash." ScriptLogic has developed a system that tracks which... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 13, 2018

regulators. Moreover, our findings highlight the trade-off between slow execution and potential information leakage in the decision of optimal trading speed. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55258 Summer 2018 NYU Journal of Law &... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2017
Case

Promontory, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin

Promontory, Inc. is a small, privately owned firm in the promotional products (specialty advertising) industry. After starting the firm two years ago with the intention of pursuing a high-quality/high-price strategy, the CEO is seeking methods of increasing sales... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Business Model; Sales; Advertising Industry

February 2021 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Shopify: The Conquest for Chinese E-Commerce

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Avani Patel, Samantha Lin and Ariel Yang

In mid-2020, Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, faced a critical decision on how to time potential expansion into the China market. Over the prior 15 years, his Canadian software-as-a-service company had grown from a small e-commerce solutions provider to a full service... View Details

05 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 5

innovate the business models of the traditional higher education industry. In a little over a year, Coursera had grown at a rapid rate to emerge as a leader of the MOOCs in terms of the number of student... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Social Network Marketing: What Works?

Therefore, the advertising-based business model has had only limited success on social networking sites. If the purpose of advertising is to influence consumers' purchases, our research shows that there is... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising; Publishing; Retail

08 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 8

fundamental business model has not changed in more than 100 years: very smart outsiders go into organizations for a finite period of time and recommend solutions for the most difficult problems confronting... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2022
Case

Afrigen Biologics: Vaccines for the Global South

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau

The majority of vaccines used on the continent of Africa (99%) are produced offshore. This makes African nations reliant on the West for major health care needs, a problem which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Afrigen Biologics (in partnership with the WHO)... View Details

Keywords: Vaccination; Vaccine; mRNA; COVID; COVID-19; Inequity; Hub-and-spoke; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Production; Social Issues; Business and Government Relations; South Africa; Africa