Publications

July 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Upwork: Creating the Human Cloud

By: Dylan Minor and David Yoffie

Stephane Kasriel, the new CEO of Upwork, the leading platform for freelance labor, needs to decide on how to redesign its business model. While the firm has been growing rapidly since the merger of Odesk and eLance, the newly combined firm continues to face problems of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Platform; Platform Businesses; Technology; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Labor

January 2004
Case

Nokia and MIT's Project Oxygen (Abridged)

By: David B. Yoffie and Rebecca Henderson

Looks at how Nokia should respond to a future vision of computing and communications that was developed at MIT's Project Oxygen. View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

01 Oct 2022
News

Startup Chemistry and the Coworking Environment

2014
Book

International Strategy: Context, Concepts and Implications

By: David J. Collis

This book is designed for every student who will be involved in managing and advising companies that compete internationally or face international competitors. Designed around the course at Harvard Business School, Collis' new text takes the firm that operates across... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Alignment; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration

April 2002
Article

Limited Arbitrage in Mergers and Acquisitions

By: Malcolm Baker and Serkan Savasoglu

A diversified portfolio of risk arbitrage positions produces an abnormal return of 0.6-0.9% per month over the period from 1981 to 1996. We trace these profits to practical limits on risk arbitrage. In our model of risk arbitrage, arbitrageurs' risk-bearing capacity... View Details

Keywords: Arbitrage; Market Efficiency; Mergers and Acquisitions; Profit; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Strategy; Capital; Banking Industry

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October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Technical Note

Design and Evaluation of Targeted Interventions

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei (David) Huang

Targeted interventions serve as a pivotal tool in business strategy, streamlining decisions for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. This note delves into two central facets of such interventions: first, the design of potent decision guidelines, or targeting... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Design; Business Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Research Summary

Overview

My research examines CEO succession, top management teams, and corporate governance. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategic Leadership; Leadership; Strategic Human Resource Management; CEO Succession; Top Management Teams; Corporate Governance; Organizational Change And Adaptation

Land Bargains and Chinese Capitalism: The Politics of Property Rights Under Reform

Land reforms have been critical to the development of Chinese capitalism over the last several decades, yet land in China remains publicly owned. This book explores the political logic of reforms to land ownership and control, accounting for how land development... View Details

2018
Working Paper

Class Matters: The Role of Social Class and Organizational Sector in High-Achieving Women's Legitimacy Narratives

By: Judith A. Clair, Rachel D. Arnett, Katherine Chen, Beth K. Humberd and Kathleen L. McGinn

While prior research recognizes that women struggle to maintain legitimacy for their successes and that self-narratives play a key role in building such legitimacy, theory provides limited insight into how women build legitimacy through their self-narratives. Our... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Gender; Success; Diversity; Perception; Situation or Environment

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Fast Answer

Sustainability in CPG and Retail

style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.238px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">(HarvardKey). Chapter from Channel Strategies and Marketing... View Details

03 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Platforms and Limits to Network Effects

Keywords: by Hanna Halaburda & Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

February 2017
Case

Aston Martin: A Second Century of Performance and Luxury

By: Vish V. Krishnan, Karim R. Lakhani and Amram Migdal

Following the March 2016 launch of DB11, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.’s first new sports car platform in over a decade, this case discusses the future strategy of the famed British luxury auto manufacturer. Since its founding in 1902, Aston Martin has been characterized... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Firm Competitiveness and Detection of Bribery

By: George Serafeim

Using survey data from firms around the world I analyze how detection of bribery has impacted a firm's competitiveness over the past year. Managers report that the most significant impact was on employee morale, followed by business relations, and then reputation and... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Corruption; Bribery; Employee Engagement; Reputation; Regulation; Competition; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Performance

SSRN

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28 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Can Navigate Politicized Conversations and Inspire Collaboration

New research sheds light on implications of using politically correct and incorrect speech and identifies five techniques to increase persuasiveness and diffuse conflict.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

naming conventions. Perhaps the most pressing problem is the lack of a standardized software component naming schema. “Until one exists, strategies for software security, transparency, and more will have... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

June 2009
Journal Article

Taxes, Institutions and Foreign Diversification Opportunities

By: Mihir Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala

Investors can access foreign diversification opportunities through either foreign portfolio investment (FPI) or foreign direct investment (FDI). The worldwide tax regime employed by the U.S. potentially distorts this choice by penalizing FDI, relative to FPI, in... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Portfolio; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Diversification; United States

SSRN

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

marketing communications for the first and second quarter of the year. What’s the right strategy for a CMO during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic? During the week of March 23, 2020, Edelman, a global... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

December 2012
Background Note

Are Daily Deals Good for Merchants?

By: Sunil Gupta, Timothy Keiningham, Ray Weaver and Luke Williams

In the relatively short time since Groupon was founded, the response to "daily deals"—services that promote businesses by marketing deeply discounted, pre-paid vouchers to an online subscriber base—has by all accounts been spectacular. Our evaluation of daily deals is... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Technology; Business Strategy; Digital; Marketing Strategy; Web Services Industry

June 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions

By: Robert L. Simons and Ramsey Walker

Ramsey Walker, a second-year MBA student, must decide how to control a family business as an absentee owner. After providing background details on the publishing industry, the case requires the reader to: 1) make a product segmentation decision; 2) prepare a profit... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Family and Family Relationships; Market Design; Management Systems; Planning; Profit; Performance Evaluation; Segmentation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Return; Publishing Industry