Goods and Commodities - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

it can be hard to explain to a non-statistician. It just is. Good statistics is actually quite challenging to do and explain. Econometrics is hard. That is an explanation, not an excuse.” Fortunately, for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

20 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Having No Life is the New Aspirational Lifestyle

“Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol,” co-written with Columbia marketing professor Silvia Bellezza and Georgetown marketing professor Neeru... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Morgan Hall | About

Morgan Hall Morgan Hall was made possible by George F. Baker and is named in honor of his good friend and iconic figure in US business, John Pierpont Morgan. Completed in 1927,... View Details

01 Sep 2021
What Do You Think?

Can We Train for Trust?

with your employees and create processes and standards internally to ensure your products or services are up to standard.” Their model for doing this consists of four elements: Competence: Is the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Mar 2010
News

John Crowley’s Extraordinary Measures

characters “captured the spirit of the family,” and “there was a lot of good humor” that evoked laughter from the research audience, Crowley notes. But he also saw tears in the eyes of audience members, who... View Details

Keywords: Sarah Auerbach; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries

14 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact

the same time," Ebrahim notes. "Delivering emergency relief and basic services in sanitation, water, and housing is easier to measure than impacts on public policy or on good... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

Near the Guatemalan border in Mexico's Chiapas region, sandwiched between the Sierra Madres and the Pacific Ocean, there's a fertile pocket of land called the Soconusco. While once a hotbed of cacao production for the Aztecs View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Agriculture & Agribusiness

02 May 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

How To Ask Better Questions

Asking the right questions is the key to unlocking talent, opportunity, money, even second dates. Research shows asking follow-up questions improves your life and increases emotional intelligence. A Good... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

31 Oct 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Do Measures of Financial Constraints Measure Financial Constraints?

Keywords: by Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist

02 Dec 2010
What Do You Think?

Making Right Choices: Art or Science?

Summing Up Thoughtful comments are hard to summarize in five paragraphs. That explains why this month's task is impossible. But one thing unites nearly everyone responding to this column, and that is one kind of objection or other to the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

04 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Are the Big Four Audit Firms Too Big to Fail?

Are auditors becoming too big to fail? For over a decade, there have been articles and op-eds in the popular and business press arguing that the auditing industry, currently dominated by Deloitte &... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting

21 May 2015
Blog Post

3 Ways to Fund Your HBS MBA

loans, you may end up paying more in the long run—but their flexible payment plans take a lot of the pressure off if you go into a less-lucrative field. They are also good options if you have a credit score on the lower end or do not have... View Details

24 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Distance Still Matters in Business, Despite the Internet

a role: Communication costs, transportation costs, and search costs. Communication costs are lower on the internet because it is inexpensive to communicate with others, whether they are in the same building or across the world.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Transportation; Telecommunications; Shipping; Publishing; Technology

01 Sep 2023
News

Turning Point: Listen to the Music

wasn’t a good fit. I switched to business because it seemed like easy grades, to be honest, and put myself through school by working at a small brokerage firm. After graduating I went to the local Merrill... View Details

Keywords: music; film; purpose; career

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

contributions to society, says Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Frank Nagle. Doing so will encourage companies to spend more time working to make the world a better place, he says. Nagle points to the use of free and open... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

28 Mar 2012
What Do You Think?

Are Factory Jobs Important to the Economy?

Summing Up: What Next, If Manufacturing Proves Not To Be A Creator Of Those Good "factory Jobs" Of The Past? Manufacturing is essential to the health of an economy. It both fuels and results from innovation.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

Edmondson: Leadership will engage people to work together creatively I hope we will come to learn that hiding bad news is never a good idea. That will mean recommitting ourselves to mastering the leadership skills to tell the truth... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

16 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Technology Alone Can't Solve AI's Bias Problem

from people who have been traditionally hiring men,” explains Himabindu Lakkaraju, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. “They review men and give high rankings to men, and then men are always... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

April 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Highland Park Wood Co. (Abridged)

By: David E. Bell

A major home builder wishes to purchase lumber (Southern pine). The builder wants delivery in six months but prefers to lock-in the price near current rates. The lumber wholesaler must decide on a pricing and sourcing strategy. Examples include: 1) buy & hold, 2) wait... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Goods and Commodities; Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Forest Products Industry; Construction Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

June 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Equifruit

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Annelena Lobb

Jennie Coleman, president of Fairtrade banana company Equifruit, considered how best to position her firm and brand to increase sales of Fairtrade bananas in the U.S. and Canada. She saw her biggest challenge as convincing retailers that consumers would be OK spending... View Details