Publications

17 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage

In recent years, companies have been anxious about the lack of skilled workers to fill pivotal jobs. But then came COVID-19 and a subsequent recession. The ensuing business turmoil and record-high unemployment may have temporarily distracted companies from their... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller

Article

Power to the People

By: Eric D. Werker

Every nongovernmental organization has a mission statement. For example, CARE, one of the world's largest and best-funded NGOs, explains its mission as serving "individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Food; Service Operations; Inflation and Deflation; Experience and Expertise; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Knowledge; Poverty; Agribusiness; Diversity; Non-Governmental Organizations; Innovation and Invention; India

Find at Harvard

21 May 2020
Blog Post

Creating a World with Trusted Leaders: An Open Letter from MBA Students

born just three weeks earlier on a Zoom call with their Public Entrepreneurship professor Mitch Weiss. Along with about 15 fellow classmates, they expressed feelings of helplessness for the world around them. On the call, I recounted a story I heard about a bank... View Details

21 May 2012
Research & Ideas

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

never seen," Toffel laughs. "They were Memorex tapes about three-quarters of an inch tall and six inches square. We had to hire someone to make them machine-readable." The team brought on Matthew Johnson, then an HBS research associate... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

02 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Applying to the JD/MBA Program

I thought the JD would give me a rigorous academic framework to engage with policies and regulations, and the MBA would give me a diverse network and allow me to think about real life management problems.... View Details

October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Burberry

By: Youngme E. Moon, Erika Kussmann, Emma Penick, Susan Wojewoda and Kerry Herman

In 2003, Rose Marie Bravo, Burberry's CEO, is debating how to maintain the currency and cachet of the brand across its broad customer base, while entering new product categories and expanding distribution. In the past five years, the brand has become one of the hottest... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Luxury; Product Launch; Distribution; Product Positioning; Advertising; Market Entry and Exit; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United Kingdom

22 Dec 2022
Blog Post

TOP 10 MBA VOICES BLOGS OF 2022

Financial Aid team to help answer the most frequently asked questions about financing an MBA. Read More>>> FIVE LESSONS FROM MY FIRST YEAR AT HBS Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I’d get into Harvard, let alone... View Details

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

When our team reached out to 600 CEOs during the pandemic’s early stages to ask them about their greatest concerns, many cited communication with employees. While the right communication strategy has been critical during the pandemic, it... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

2005
Chapter

Beyond 'Fun and Games': Outdoor Activities for Meaningful Leadership Development

Many managers and academics today view outdoor exercises as simply "fun and games." However, framed correctly, outdoor leadership activities provide a uniquely effective method for leadership development. They allow participants to access and explore the deeper... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Personal Characteristics; Alignment

Read Now

20 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Solving the Riddle of How Companies Grow Over Time

other hand, the age of companies does seem to matter, with older companies in general growing more slowly than newer firms. Next, the team looked at the issue of persistence—that is, how likely companies are to sustain their growth over... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

23 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings

have much money to begin with can make savings more feasible or more fun, or both. Given the diversity of financial conditions, social settings, and personal circumstances of families, and against the backdrop of consumerism in the United... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

06 Feb 2013
What Do You Think?

Is ‘Conscious Capitalism’ an Antidote to Income Inequality?

Summing Up Can "Conscious Capitalism" Become a Viable Antidote to Income Inequality? Conscious capitalism as an antidote to income inequality apparently is an idea that attracts the attention of a diverse community, judging from... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive, paints a more optimistic picture, provided business leaders embrace our generational diversity findings. Our study confirms others that quantify the... View Details

August 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the young and ambitious company. In 2023, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

16 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Crowdsourcing Is Helping Hollywood Reduce the Risk of Movie-Making

processes may be used in other industries as well, Luo says. In a typical corporation, for example, a product management team of maybe two or three people makes the final decision about what products to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Motion Pictures & Video

March 2015
Case

BOLT: Seed Venture Capital Firm

By: William A. Sahlman and Robert F. White

BOLT is a different kind of seed venture capital firm built to serve the needs of early-stage startups at the intersection of hardware and software.

In the past decade, the cost of entrepreneurial experimentation has dropped dramatically, particularly in web... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Accelerator; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Venture Capital; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Strategy

01 Oct 1996
News

Trading Up — Kenneth D. Brody (MBA 1971)

banker -- the guest had also risen from humble origins and was now in the midst of an ambitious, if cash-strapped, bid to go even farther. Soon after that meeting, Brody stepped down from his position as a partner and member of the View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Oracle Corporation

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest independent software company (behind Microsoft) was the world's dominant supplier of database software. Oracle also sold application software, such as the popular enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

December 2007
Article

China + India: The Power of Two

By: Tarun Khanna

China and India are burying the hatchet after four-plus decades of hostility. A few companies from both nations have been quick to gain competitive advantages by viewing the two as symbiotic. If Western corporations fail to do the same, they will lose their competitive... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Economic Growth; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; China; India