Publications

September 2015 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Macy's: Evolution in the Sunshine State

By: Boris Groysberg, Das Narayandas, Benson P. Shapiro and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2009, Lee O'Rourke was promoted to district vice president in charge of Macy's newly created North Florida district. This district consisted of 11 stores located in the greater Orlando area and in the east coast towns of Daytona, Melbourne, Merritt Island, and Vero... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Managing Performance; Retail; Organization; Change Management; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Retail Industry; United States

01 Mar 2015
News

New Idea: State of the Art

Photos courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum On the subject of art’s relevance in the digital age, Scott Belsky (MBA 2008) has never been one to mince words. “Art institutions need to change the way we think about the future, rather than simply inform us... View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs; Adobe; Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions; Arts, Entertainment; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

Article

Ignore June 30: Time is on the Side of a Better Iran Deal

By: James K. Sebenius

Prior to the "interim deal" reached in November 2013, Iranian nuclear negotiators could—and did—play for time while the regime rapidly added more centrifuges and increased production of enriched uranium. That is no longer the case. For the first time in years, the... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Deal; Iran; United States; Iran; United States

Read Now

October 1991 (Revised December 1992)
Background Note

Note on Corporate Governance Systems: The United States, Japan, and Germany

By: W. Carl Kester and Robert W. Lightfoot

Describes and compares the corporate governance systems commonly found in the United States, Japan, and Germany. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; United States; Japan; Germany

May 2012
Case

Westlake Lanes: How Can This Business Be Saved?

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh

Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the... View Details

Keywords: United States; Operations Management; Small And Medium-sized Enterprises; Turnarounds; Strategy; Leading Change; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

October 1997
Teaching Note

United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) TN

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Teaching Note for (9-197-036). View Details

Keywords: United States

November 2024
Teaching Note

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-039. In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; District of Columbia

November 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At the time, there was little medication... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; District of Columbia

Forthcoming
Article

Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States: Evidence from General Electric

By: Tom Nicholas

This paper estimates the returns to human capital accumulation during the first era of mega-firms in the United States by linking employees at General Electric—a canonical enterprise associated with the “visible hand” of managerial hierarchies—to the 1940 census. I... View Details

Keywords: Returns To Education; Management Practices; Hierarchies; Management Practices and Processes; Rank and Position; Human Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Business History; United States

02 Feb 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Do Employment Protections Reduce Productivity? Evidence from U.S. States

Keywords: by David H. Autor, William R. Kerr & Adriana D. Kugler

17 Apr 2010
Other Presentation

New Jersey Competitiveness: State and Cluster Performance

By: Michael E. Porter

Prepared for Governor Chris Christie. View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development; United States

Read Now

March 1985 (Revised August 1995)
Teaching Note

Second Bank of the United States, Teaching Note

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Keywords: History; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

July 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Donald Trump Calls Carrier Corporation

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

This case examines the influence of political pressure on corporate decision-making. It questions whether fidelity to domestic operations ought to be a corporate social responsibility, and thus it challenges the limits of “social responsibility” as a corporate ideal.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Board Decisions; Political Influence; Layoffs; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Manufacturing; United States; Mexico; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Political Elections; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Governance; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Connecticut; Indiana; Mexico

2014
Working Paper

Who Runs the International System? Power and the Staffing of the United Nations Secretariat

By: Paul Novosad and Eric Werker

National governments frequently pull strings to get their citizens appointed to senior positions in international institutions. We examine, over a 60 year period, the nationalities of the most senior positions in the United Nations Secretariat, ostensibly the world's... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Global Range; Power and Influence

SSRN

Read Now

August 2023
Article

Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States?

By: Tom Nicholas

The influential Whitehall studies found that top-ranking civil servants in Britain experienced lower mortality than civil servants below them in the organizational hierarchy due to differential exposure to workplace stress. I test for a Whitehall effect in the United... View Details

Keywords: Mortality; Status; Working Conditions; Rank and Position; Welfare; Well-being; Health

August 2014
Case

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Meng Li

Keywords: Health; Health Care Industry; Health Insurance; United States; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States; Florida

August 2017 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Altoona State Investment Board & Bain Capital Fund XI

By: Josh Lerner and Ted Berk

Considers the decision faced by state pension fund manager Rod Calhoun as he decides whether to invest $200 million in Bain Capital's eleventh global buyout fund: Bain Capital Fund XI. For the fund, Bain was offering its limited partners a choice among three different... View Details

Keywords: Equity Method; Leveraged Buyout; Management Buyout; Capital; Design; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Management; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Banking Industry; Massachusetts

May 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Supplement

Cycle for Survival (B)

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Noah Fisher

Update on Cycle for Survival's 2012, 2013, and 2014 events. Kotkins and Cycle for Survival continued the event's strong growth, and underwent the first phase of a two-year rebranding effort. View Details

Keywords: Not For Profit; Cancer; Partnerships; United States; Fundraising; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

May 2014
Case

Cycle for Survival (A)

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Noah Fisher

Katie Kotkins, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's (MSKCC) Cycle for Survival fundraising event, had to determine the best avenue for continuing the event's success and momentum after its founder, Jennifer (Jen) Goodman Linn (HBS '99) passed away... View Details

Keywords: Not For Profit; Cancer; Partnerships; United States; Fundraising; Nonprofit Organizations; United States