Publications

12 Dec 2023
Book

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

Regimes? The efficiency of one-party governments might seem appealing, but leaders need a deep understanding of a country's power structure and "moral economy," says Meg Rithmire. Her book Precarious Ties: Business and the State in... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

23 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Face Value: Do Certain Physical Features Help People Get Ahead?

personality traits connected to charisma. Those traits are a sense of power or dominance, trustworthiness, competence, aggressiveness, warmth, and generosity. They depict the possible theoretical View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2023

Soon after ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, business leaders began taking their first steps into generative artificial intelligence, approaching this powerful technology with a mix of awe and trepidation. It’s no surprise that one of the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

that major participants in the global economy operate by. The three most powerful economic actors in the world—the United States, China, and Europe—are growing further apart in their economic strategies, and that's going to become... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

their decisions as “working hypotheses” based on the best information available. "Digitally mature organizations leverage design thinking, lean start-up, and agile methodologies to power innovation." We’ve heard for years about the need... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

03 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 3, 2006

ABC provides a simpler and more powerful method. Purchase this note: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=106068 Dana Hall: Funding a Mission (A) Harvard Business School Case 306-090 Dana Hall is a private... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2004 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Random House

By: Bharat N. Anand, Kyle F. Barnett and Elizabeth Lea Carpenter

On June 12, 2003, the proposed merger of Random House and Time Warner Book Group was called off by the CEO of Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann. The announcement was welcomed by several critics who had questioned the logic of further consolidation in the book... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Information Publishing; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Vertical Integration; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry

06 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 6, 2007

here as enterprise information technologies. Because complete contracts over IT assets are not possible, relationship specificity is an important consideration; scholarship on the theory of the firm yields a consistent prescription that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Enel: Power, Russia, and Global Markets

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Richard H.K. Vietor and Sogomon Tarontsi

Although the global trend toward liberalization of electric utilities forced Enel, the largest power company in Italy, to give up some of its assets in its home base, it also opened up many opportunities abroad, including in Russia, one of the largest electricity... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Energy Generation; Foreign Direct Investment; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business and Government Relations; Utilities Industry; Russia; Italy

July 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Branding Citigroup's Consumer Business

By: Rohit Deshpande and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In Spring 1998, Citicorp and Travelers merged to create a financial powerhouse that united the bank with Travelers' consumer finance and brokerage businesses, including Salomon Smith Barney and Primerica. It was the first U.S. financial services company to combine... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Decisions; Asset Management; Investment Banking; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Relationships; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; United States

21 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 21, 2006

equilibrium, belief in the "American dream" is commonplace, workers exert effort, there are high powered contracts (and income is unequally distributed) and punishments are harsh. Economists who believe that deterrence (rather... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Charlotte L. Robertson

Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial markets. Her book manuscript and working papers shed light on the evolution of securities markets and the relationship between finance, governance, and society. Some of the topics she pursues include:... View Details

October 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Mavens & Moguls: Creating a New Business Model

By: Myra M. Hart, Victoria Winston and Kristin Lieb

Mavens & Moguls is a "virtual" marketing-consulting firm of approximately 40 professionals. Examines the processes by which its founder, Paige Arnof-Fenn, learns the business, builds a power network of industry experts and potential customers, and uses this expertise... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Operations; Networks; Business Model; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

impact their decisions to climb the corporate ladder (or not). In Studies 1 and 2, when asked to list their core goals in life, women listed more life goals overall than men, and a smaller proportion of their goals related to achieving View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 23, 2023
Article

Digital Public Health Interventions at Scale: The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Beliefs and Outcomes Related to COVID Vaccines

By: Susan Athey, Kristen Grabarz, Michael Luca and Nils Wernerfelt

Public health organizations increasingly use social media advertising campaigns in pursuit of public health goals. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of about $40 million of social media advertisements that were run and experimentally tested on Facebook and... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Public Health; Vaccines; Social Media; Advertising; Power and Influence; Health Care and Treatment

Read Now

March 2021
Supplement

Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Power Point Supplement to Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Algorithmic Data; Bias; A/B Testing; Experiment; Advertising; Gender; Race; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

22 May 2024
HBS Case

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

Practice at HBS who authored the case study with HBS researcher Shweta Bagai. Businesses need to “understand how it is that they’re doing what they’re doing so that they can incorporate the power of algorithmic technologies into their... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

04 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

The Money Connection—Understanding VC Networks

Most of us have experienced the power of networks. There's the job found through a friend's sister's boyfriend, or the lifelong partner met through a neighbor's cousin. But how do networks play into business—particularly the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

2025
Working Paper

How Does Wage Inequality Affect the Labor Movement

By: Barbara Biasi, Zoë B. Cullen, Julia H. Gilman and Nina Roussille

This paper provides causal evidence on how wage inequality among workers affects the labor movement using three complementary research designs: a vignette experiment with union organizers, a natural policy experiment that increased wage inequality among Wisconsin... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Equality and Inequality; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Negotiation