Publications

March 2018 (Revised January 2021)
Case

China Vanke: Battle for Control (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Charles C.Y. Wang, Dawn H. Lau and Anthony K. Woo

In June 2016, the board of China Vanke, one of China’s largest and best-known private residential real estate developers, must vote on a proposed acquisition that is opposed by its largest shareholders, state-owned China Resources Co. and the lesser-known property... View Details

Keywords: China Vanke; China Resources; Hostile Takeover; Board Of Directors; Shareholding Structure; Shareholder Rights; Asset Restructuring; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Valuation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Real Estate Industry; China

29 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 29

opportunities to develop deep causal knowledge that can lead to greater long-term improvements. We suggest a number of concrete actions leaders can take to help themselves and their organizations avoid the success-breeds-failure trap.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2009 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund

By: Arthur I Segel and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

The Jonathan Rose Companies must decide how to design and launch an innovative new real estate fund focused on green and transit oriented properties. JRC seeks to show through the fund that smart growth and green buildings provide superior economic returns to sprawl... View Details

Keywords: Property; Buildings and Facilities; Transition; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Investment; Marketing; Energy Conservation; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Finance; Real Estate Industry

Ashish Nanda is Senior Lecturer and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator at Harvard Business School. From 2018 to 2021, he was course head for the MBA Required Curriculum course in Strategy. Beginning in 2022, he is teaching an MBA Elective... View Details

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

success, especially with respect to Iran's nuclear program. Taking John Limbert's book, Negotiating with Iran as a point of departure, this essay develops such a perspective, suggesting several means of influence. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2019 (Revised June 2024)
Case

The Dutch East India Company in 1612 (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci

The Dutch East India Company’s board of directors must decide what to do about an impending legal requirement to liquidate the company’s assets and return to shareholders their capital and any profits earned during a ten-year lock-up period. The charter granted to the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Shipping Industry; Netherlands

March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Strategy; Platform Competition; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Product Development; Digital Platforms; Standards; Disruptive Innovation; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; North America

Editorial

Why ESG Funds Fail to Scale

By: Gabriel Karageorgiou and George Serafeim

You’ve seen the headlines about the growth in environmental, social, and governance funds. Many investment professionals might read these and believe that launching a new ESG investment firm or ESG offering will be an automatic success. Our analysis of the data shows... View Details

Read Now

19 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Handicapping the Best Countries for Business

the present. Q: One of the payoffs in your book for global strategists is an analysis of the top ten countries in terms of economic development and potential trajectories. Obviously each situation is different, but which countries would... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Josh Baron

Dr. Josh Baron is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a part of the Strategy Unit. In the MBA program, he teaches in the Required Core Strategy course as well as elective courses on Ownership and Leading a Family Business. He... View Details

06 Sep 2018
Blog Post

How to Thrive in an Unstructured Environment

“Perfect is the enemy of done.” No experience has helped me internalize this more than my summer at blueground, an international, vc-backed real estate startup. Before business school, I worked at a large oil & gas company, where... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

Michael L. Tushman

Michael Tushman holds degrees from Northeastern University (B.S.E.E.), Cornell University (M.S.), and the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. (Ph.D.). Tushman was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, from 1976 to 1998 where he was... View Details

Research Summary

Negotiating Campaigns

By: James K. Sebenius

While most negotiation research focuses on specific transactions, many important negotiating situations can better be understood as elements of larger "campaigns." By this term, I mean a series of related negotiations and other away-from-the-table... View Details

February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

includes: the careful selection of employees who are believers in these values and in establishing "how we do things around here"; the development of realistic expectations in the minds of new employees and meeting them in ways... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

illustrate how team members' identities and interests intertwine to affect the distribution and flow of information, subgroup dynamics, and team decisions. Findings-We develop three specific ideas to demonstrate the utility of this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

but also that NEAD chains produced more transplants for highly sensitized and blood type O recipients. Read the paper: http://kuznets.fas.harvard.edu/~aroth/papers/Nonsimultaneous%20Chains%20AJT%202011.pdf Female Empowerment: Impact of a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2011
Book

Success with Science: The Winners' Guide to High School Research

By: Shiv Gaglani, Maria Elena De Obaldia, Scott Duke Kominers, Dayan Li and Carol Y. Suh

Do you want to develop useful skills, gain admission to top colleges, win scholarship money, excel at science competitions, and explore career options all while having fun? By reading this book and using the advice within it, you will learn how to formulate a research... View Details

Keywords: Science; Research