Publications

January 2025
Supplement

Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis (B)

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Rick McCathron, CEO of Hippo, was optimistic about the InsurTech's path to profitability after navigating the financial uncertainties of 2022. By bundling their home insurance services with third-parties and established insurance incumbents, Hippo was adopting a... View Details

July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue. View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Digital Platforms

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Henry Schein: Doing Well by Doing Good?

By: Rebecca Henderson, Raffaella Sadun, Aldo Sesia and Russell Eisenstat

Henry Schein Inc., a distributor of supplies to dentist, physician, and veterinary practices, had sales approaching $9 billion and employed nearly 16,000 people. The company had experienced impressive growth under the leadership of Stanley Bergman and his executive... View Details

20 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change

didn’t see the moment when finally things changed. But they played key roles in agitation, orchestration, or innovation.” Related Reading: As America Recedes from Global Leadership, Its CEOs are Stepping UpBeyond Heroic EntrepreneursWhat... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Overview

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

Professor Jones researches the history and impact of global firms. In recent years he has prublished extensively on the ecological and social responsibility of business leaders. He has a strong interest in the business history of emerging markets. He founded and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Globalization; Government and Politics; History; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Energy Industry; Fashion Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

21 May 2024
Research & Ideas

What the Rise of Far-Right Politics Says About the Economy in an Election Year

cycle right now? Rettl: In the Global North, it comes from the slowdown of economic growth and a sense that there is very little upward social mobility. It is related to the idea that we are basically not... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

June 2013 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-hê Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

2008
Book

On Competition

By: M. E. Porter

Competition is one of society's most powerful forces for making things better in many ﬁelds of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Practice; Competitive Strategy; Theory; Value Creation

Find at Harvard

07 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

When Celebrity ‘Crypto-Influencers’ Rake in Cash, Investors Lose Big

With limited regulatory enforcement and few gatekeepers, crypto influencers with large social-media audiences can move global markets with a single tweet. The most prominent, including celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan,... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

20 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for Japan

just throw those out. They don't want to go completely to a Western system." By the time the panel broke up, it was clear that Japan is in the midst of a classic challenge facing nations in the globalizing world economy—trying to... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

August 2009 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Genzyme's CSR Dilemma: How to Play its HAND

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Tarun Khanna and Prithwiraj Choudhury

Genzyme, a global biotechnology company, launches a program to develop therapies for neglected diseases (e.g., malaria, TB), giving away the intellectual property. This case focuses on the decision of which diseases, which partnerships, and which markets should... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Intellectual Property; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry

September 2010 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Better World Books

By: Michael I. Norton, Fiona Wilson, Jill Avery and Thomas J. Steenburgh

Better World Books, a young start-up, provides a socially conscious alternative to Amazon, collecting and selling used books to keep them out of the waste stream, while donating a portion of their profits to support global literacy efforts. The case presents an... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Online Technology; Retail Industry

Teaching Interest

Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM)

This Executive Education course is an HBS Social Enterprise Initiative program that provides the opportunity for senior executives to examine their missions and develop new strategies for the new global economy. View Details

12 Dec 2023
Book

HBS Faculty Books of 2023: Find Happiness, Fix Things, and Fail Well

mobilize organizational change quickly, untangle digital strategy, and reflect on socially responsible leadership. Take a look back at some of the books by Harvard Business School faculty members that hit the market this year: Economic... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

you. It doesn’t rely on what you say. It observes what you do and choose not to do and builds a model of who you are.” Ghosh’s analysis debuts at a time when TikTok is drawing fresh scrutiny related to how its Chinese owners influence View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

In late 2018, evidence emerged that many of Google’s temporary help agency workers, vendors, and independent contractors (“TVCs”) were unhappy with the company. TVCs, who reportedly made up 49.95% of Google’s 170,000-person global workforce, had raised concerns of... View Details

February 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Saudi Arabia: Modern Reform, Enduring Stability

By: Richard H. K. Vietor and Nicole Michele Forrest

This case, along with “Dubai: Global Economy” (709-043), provides an opportunity to discuss Saudi Arabia's efforts to modernize, without really Westernizing, in sharp contrast to Dubai, a nearby Arab Emirate. As Saudi Arabia's development strategy unfolds in the past... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Non-Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; Growth and Development Strategy; Saudi Arabia; Dubai; Middle East