Publications

Research Summary

Workplace Ethics and Global Business Standards

By: Rohit Deshpande

This research grows out of initial collaborative research with Joshua Margolis and Lynn Paine on the relationship between codes of conduct and corporate performance. This work was reported in Harvard Business Review articles in 2005 and 2011. More recent research... View Details

September 2019
Case

Funding Sources for Science & Technology Start-ups in India

By: Tarun Khanna, Arjun Swarup and Rachna Tahilyani

India's start-up ecosystem is amongst the largest globally, with a variety of funding options from angel investors, venture capital and corporate venture capital to debt. Classic consumer focused start-ups which look to leverage technology have been able to raise... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Science; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Technology Industry; India; South Asia

November 2004
Case

Technology Commercialization at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The Department of Corporate Sponsored Research & Licensing (CSRL) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) serves as the primary interface between the hospital and the private sector. Examines the range of issues related to the commercialization of MGH's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Commercialization; Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

2005
Book

Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book examines the history of Unilever over the last half century. Managing such a firm in the era of globalization posed enormous challenges. The book covers the company's strategies and provides compelling evidence of its decision-making, marketing, brand... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Globalization; Transformation; Human Resources; Business Strategy; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Consumer Products Industry

23 Jan 2015
News

Q&A: Tarun Khanna

04 Oct 2019
News

GPIF’s Hiromichi Mizuno’s Term Is Extended for Six Months

30 Apr 2018
News

BofA’s Gun Dilemma Is Just the Start

January–February 2014
Article

Can a Strong Culture Be Too Strong?

By: David A. Garvin

The article presents a case study of a business enterprise with high employee turnover that is considering adopting a personnel management innovation, referred to as People Support, involving a group of managers whose role is to listen to and help resolve employees'... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Organizational Culture

Read Now

Article

Fixing What Really Ails Japan

By: Michael E. Porter and Hirotaka Takeuchi

Conventional wisdom claims that Japan’s “economic miracle” stemmed from its unique model of government guidance and its revolutionary corporate management techniques. An in-depth study proves this seriously wrong. Rampant government intervention has caused more... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Competition; Innovation and Invention; Business and Government Relations; Japan

October 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Kinetic Concepts, Inc.

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Dwight B. Crane and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about how the nature and function of a board changes as a company moves from ownership by its employees, including the founder, to ownership by a private equity firm, Fremont Partners, culminating in a highly successful IPO. Gives students the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Initial Public Offering; Behavior; Organizations; Employee Ownership; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; United States

01 Feb 2012
News

Harvard Business School Professor Discusses Importance of ISO Standards

22 Apr 2022
News

Why Many Employers Have Ditched Four-Year Degree Requirements

31 Aug 2017
News

Google And Microsoft Can Use Ai To Extract Many More Ad Dollars From Our Clicks

08 Aug 2016
News

HBX Announces New Finance Certificate Program, Set to Enroll First Participants in November

December 1994 (Revised October 2009)
Case

AES Honeycomb (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Sarah C. Mavrinac

Senior managers of the AES Corp., an independent power producer, must decide whether to drop the company's emphasis on corporate values and revamp organizational controls as advised by investment analysts and outside counsel. The company is recovering from an incident... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Energy Generation; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; United States

July 2015
Exercise

An Activist Approach: Confidential Role Assignment for Castle Rock Management

By: Guhan Subramanian and Kait Szydlowski

A three party, multiple-issue negotiation exercise dealing with a potential merger between two leading department stores, called for by an activist investor hedge fund in a letter to both companies. Company management will now attempt to navigate next moves, which are... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Activist Investors; Takeover Defense; Negotiation Types; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Retail Industry

Michael I. Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He holds a B.A. in Psychology and English from Williams College and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton University. Prior to joining HBS, Professor... View Details

Keywords: advertising; consumer products; e-commerce industry; marketing industry; nonprofit industry

April 1993 (Revised September 1996)
Case

ABB Deutschland (A)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Describes Europe's most famous postwar multinational merger between Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Gives background on both companies and focuses particularly on BBC's geographic organization, its corporate culture, and the relationship between its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Behavior; Business Strategy; Sweden; Switzerland