Family Firms - Publications - Faculty & Research

15 Jun 2021
News

Keeping Hourly Workers Focused on the Stock, Not the Clock

Illustration by Lincoln Agnew Pete Stavros (MBA 2002) got his first lessons in labor relations as a kid at the dinner table, when his father, who operated a road grader at construction sites, told the family about his day. The elder... View Details

Keywords: April White; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

Which is why we have committed to you that no one at Aon is going to lose their job because of this COVID-19 outbreak.” Alternatives to salary cuts In addition to salary cuts, firms announced other initiatives to reduce payroll expenses... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

24 May 2017
News

David G. Bradley, MBA 1977

Bradley built and led the enormously successful firms that emerged: the Advisory Board Company (ABC) and the Corporate Executive Board (CEB). In 1999, having sold CEB, Bradley purchased the Atlantic, the monthly magazine that has explored... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

17 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Welcome to Retirement. Who Am I Now?

year later that he had never really identified with his career, that work was just for pay, and that his self-concept as a family man was—and had always been—most important. Maintaining a life philosophy: Many people mentioned holding... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation

30 Jun 2022
News

Scaling Hope

Photos by Benjamin Norman In 2014, Stephen D’Antonio (MBA 1986) was living the life he had always envisioned. He’d been a partner at Morgan Stanley for nearly two decades. He sat on the Firm Management Committee and was the COO of the... View Details

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

manufacturing business with my family since 1997. —Julie Lopez Santiago (MBA 1994) Back to top “Danaher Corporation” In 2008, the industrial conglomerate Danaher Corporation confronts various challenges that threaten its impressive... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

and child” so that they can enjoy “a healthy, happy family.” In building its culture, the firm focuses squarely on recognizing and affirming employees’ individuality. One of Ovia’s core values is “Be yourself, be candid, be kind.”... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

24 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

The 'Amazon Effect' Is Changing Online Price Competition—and the Fed Needs to Pay Attention

according to Alberto Cavallo, the Edgerley Family Associate Professor at Harvard Business School. Cavallo, who bases his findings on a decade’s worth of pricing data, sees two notable changes with large multichannel retailers: faster... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Retail

01 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

experiment, the researchers divided batches of new call agents into an individual identity group, an organizational identity group, and a control group. The control group went through the traditional process, focused on firm awareness and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Web Services; Service; Telecommunications

Web

Driving Impact in Emerging Markets with HBS Alum Nneka Chime (MBA 2015) - Recruiting

the world. While seeking, she aligned her professional choices with a larger mission rather than following a linear path. While currently a Partner at CrossBoundary , a mission-driven investment firm focused on underserved markets, her... View Details

11 Mar 2024
News

In Harmony

society that somehow valued this specific ability I had.” [music] At the Seoul offices of MBK Partners, Kim contemplates shelves of Lucite trophies commemorating some of the many successful deals of the private equity firm he cofounded in... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photograph by Jun Michael Park

December 2003
Case

Sale of Hephaestus, Inc. to Vulcan Ventures, Inc.

Henry Hephaestus founded Hephaestus, Inc. in 1895. Its first product was a tapered roller bearing for use with horse-drawn wagons and carriages. It reduced friction on the axle and reduced the force necessary to move a heavy load, thereby enabling one horse to do the... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

20 Aug 2014
Research & Ideas

Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a Social Media Blockbuster

In 2009, technology researchers at Forrester published a report entitled We Are All Media Companies Now, that looked at how publishing firms were dealing with the shift from a distribution paradigm to one based on consumption. By 2014,... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton

10 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

The Little Understood Problem Confronting Diverse Workplaces

students a particular way to ‘be.’” Lurking in the background was the fact that the tutors were mostly white and middle- or upper-middle class, while the students were racial minorities whose families had experienced deprivation. “The... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

Web

Connell House | About

Connell Limited Partnership, he built one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States. Connell Family In the 1980s, Connell was working for the Ogden Corporation, a New York-based conglomerate with operations ranging... View Details

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

for firms from industrialized economies and negative effects for firms in other emerging economies, which are less export-intensive and more import-intensive. Motivated by these facts, we build a dynamic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Blog

Leading Successful Digital Transformation

digital world, sustainable advantage comes from connections—connecting products and connecting customers. Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy may have similar features, but iPhone's FaceTime allows families and friends to connect,... View Details

21 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style

expressions of chief executives to see if leadership style can be correlated with a firm’s performance. The researchers believe their work could open new directions in big data analysis, combining image and textual analysis to create a more complete picture of how a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Jun 2022
News

In My Humble Opinion: Home Base

Dowling launched Workparent, a coaching and consulting firm that supports organizations and individuals by providing practical tips and techniques that help workers excel at home and on the job. To date, the company has advised parents on... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Oct 1997
News

L.E. Simmons

Simmons & Company, an investment banking firm specializing in the oil field service industry. "It's a fascinating industry that encompasses all the businesses that manufacture a product or provide a service that is used by oil companies... View Details

Keywords: Deborah E. Blagg

Publications