Publications

03 Apr 2006
What Do You Think?

Has Globalization Reached Its Peak?

might be, could provide a safeguard against any calamity except perhaps a world war. This assumes that astute global managers outsource primarily non-strategic activities, act responsibly, and maintain positive working View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 2, 2010

Abstract A perennial question facing managers is how much decision latitude to give their employees at work. The current research investigates how decision latitude affects employees' perceptions of managers' personalities and, in turn,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

After High-Profile Failures, Can Investors Still Trust Credit Ratings?

crisis, delivering more accurate and relevant ratings for investors. The paper, published in Management Science, was coauthored by Sikochi, Samuel B. Bonsall IV and Karl A. Muller III of Penn State University; Kevin Koharki of Purdue... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

March 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Linden Lab: Opening Second Life

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

In early 2008, managers in Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world Second Life, faced decisions about the company's strategy. Despite profound initial skepticism about demand for a user-generated virtual world that was not a traditional game, Second Life had achieved... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Partners and Partnerships; Software

Find at Harvard

February 2024
Case

Chime Solutions

By: Shai Bernstein, William R. Kerr, Christopher Stanton, Raymond Kluender and Mel Martin

Just two years after launching its 10k by 2020 initiative to hire 10,000 employees by 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Chief Executive Officer Mark Wilson to send nearly all of his staff at Chime Solutions (Chime) to work from home. Chime was a customer contact firm... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Service Operations; Recruitment; Performance; Change Management; Retention; Financial Institutions; Employee Relationship Management; Talent and Talent Management; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Communications Industry; Service Industry; United States

23 Jan 2024
Book

More Than Memes: NFTs Could Be the Next Gen Deed for a Digital World

that creates surprisingly flexible value. NFTs can turn images into event tickets, and event tickets into brand anchors. They will usher in the next generation of customer loyalty programs, creating structures that benefit both businesses... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology; Financial Services

23 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 23, 2015

see a complex technical system in an abstract way and change the system's structure to manage bottlenecks and modules in conjunction with the firm's organizational boundaries and property rights. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2016
Working Paper

Operations in the On-Demand Economy: Staffing Services with Self-Scheduling Capacity

By: Itai Gurvich, Martin Lariviere and Antonio Moreno

Motivated by recent innovations in service delivery such as ride-sharing services and work-from-home call centers, we study capacity management when workers self-schedule. Our service provider chooses capacity to maximize its profit (revenue from served customers minus... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Servers; On-demand Economy; Independent Capacity; Distributed Systems; Uber; Service Operations; Performance Capacity

SSRN

Get to better, more effective strategy.

In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In "Better, Simpler Strategy," Harvard... View Details

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Jieliang Phone Home! (C)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators - bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Compensation and Benefits; Surveys; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Labor and Management Relations; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; Telecommunications Industry; China

Article

The Dark Side of Strategic Alliances: Lessons from Volvo-Renault

By: Robert Bruner and Robert Spekman

This article explores sources of failure in strategic alliances drawing on field research into one of the most prominent alliance collapses in recent years. The alliance of Volvo and Renault married the two largest enterprises in their respective countries for economic... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Alliances; Failure; Auto Industry; Europe

Find at Harvard

Read Now

01 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 1

Repetition of interaction may improve learning, since experience working together aids in the identification, transfer, and application of knowledge among members within a group. Additionally, experience need not be constrained to one task. Prior work examining the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Sep 2015
HBS Seminar

Judith A. Chevalier, Yale University

January 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Gobi Partners and DMG

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Thomas G. Tsao, founding general partner of Gobi Partners, an early stage venture capital firm in China, must decide how to manage his firm's largest investment after the departure of the CEO. Tom has temporarily stepped in as CEO, but finding a replacement with the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment; Business or Company Management; Management Succession; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; China

November 1993
Case

FCB and Publicis (C): The German-Led Network

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

After U.S.-based Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) and Publicis of France established an international advertising alliance in May 1988, alliance leaders set out to merge offices in Europe. They were confronted with a particularly tricky situation in Germany, which, if... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Alliances; Globalized Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Advertising; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Diversity; Communications Industry; Advertising Industry; France; Germany; United States; Europe

August 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?

By: Willy C. Shih

Peter Schneider, the President of T.G.S. Transportation, Inc., faced a choice. His company operated drayage trucks that moved containerized cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to customers across the State of California, with a focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Clean Technology; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Truck Transportation; Transportation Industry; United States; California