Publications

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03 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Ziad Obermeyer, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

2025
Book

Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier

By: Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau

Your guide--using the compelling stories of changemakers and the tools of economics--to the transformation and future possibilities of the business and economics of space.

Space is a place of unparalleled possibility for humanity, and it's undergoing a... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Economics; Innovation and Invention; Market Entry and Exit; Aerospace Industry

September 2024
Case

InfraCredit and the Project Inception Facility

By: John Macomber, Namrata Arora and Maagatha Kalavadakken

Around the world, large infrastructure projects are frequently stymied by the high cost and high uncertainty of the project inception phase: the research and engineering and planning prior to financial close and start of construction. Could there be a new kind of... View Details

08 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Federal Reserve’s Abandonment of Its 1923 Principles

Keywords: by Julio J. Rotemberg; Banking; Legal Services

2009
Working Paper

Capitalizing On Innovation: The Case of Japan

By: Robert Dujarric and Andrei Hagiu

Japan's industrial landscape is characterized by hierarchical forms of industry organization, which are increasingly inadequate in modern sectors, where innovation relies on platforms and horizontal ecosystems of firms producing complementary products. Using three... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Government Legislation; Innovation and Invention; Industry Structures; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

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February 2011 (Revised July 2013)
Case

A123 Systems: Power. Safety. Life.

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

A123 Systems, the largest manufacturer of lithium ion batteries in North America, is producing and selling batteries for electric vehicles in China and electric buses in Europe and America. It just opened two plants in Michigan, partially funded by a grant from... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Diversification; Machinery and Machining; Renewable Energy; Transportation; Management Skills; Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; Battery Industry

30 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

‘Intrinsic Joy’ Sparks Ideas Better than Cash

It seems obvious: If you want to boost innovation from a crowd writing and improving software code, just dangle a cash incentive. When GitHub began offering matching funds to open source software users who... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

07 Oct 2015
HBS Seminar

Ann Majchrzak, USC Marshall School of Business

Research Summary

How a Multicultural Social Environment Influences Creativity and Innovation

My second stream of research draws on my first stream of work to examine how a multicultural social environment influences individuals’ creative thinking and performance at a global workplace. In an on-going project, I found that individuals high in cultural... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Negotiating the Path of Abraham

By: Kimberlyn Leary, James K. Sebenius and Joshua Weiss

In the face of daunting barriers, the Abraham Path Initiative envisions uncovering and revitalizing a route of cultural tourism that follows the path of Abraham and his family some 4,000 years ago across the Middle East. It begins in the ancient ruins of Harran, in... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Social Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Religion; Environmental Sustainability; Tourism Industry; Middle East

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September 2019
Case

Shell: A Company of Opportunity?

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Emer Moloney

The Opportunity Hub was a cloud-based platform that enabled managers to market projects they were working on and associated resourcing needs as “Opportunity Owners” and employees, or “Opportunity Seekers,” to browse these statements of need and engage when they had... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Change Management; Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Energy; Energy Sources; Non-Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy; Human Resources; Employees; Retention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Labor; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Performance Productivity; Strategic Planning; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Technology Platform; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; Netherlands

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Research Summary

Overview

The Information Age has introduced well recieved opportunities to track performance. Fitbits and Fuelbands show individuals their own performance; service companies including Uber and leading hospitals help pick from drivers or doctors based on how others rate them;... View Details

Keywords: Management Accounting; Performance Measurement; Incentives; Control; Healthcare Industry; Education; Education Industry; Health Industry; Transportation Industry; Energy Industry; Auto Industry; United States; Japan; India

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cadre

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and David Lane

Late in 2017, CEO Ryan Williams and his team debated whether Cadre should become not only a technology-enabled investment manager, but also an online trading exchange providing high levels of liquidity for investors in commercial real estate (CRE) equity. Cadre was a... View Details

Keywords: ＂Cadre,＂; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

14 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

of inclusivity, particularly for workers who have been historically marginalized in the workplace. Seek input with humility and openness Psychologically safe leaders are willing to be vulnerable. “It’s about making honest statements that... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Monster Networking

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Andrew Vivero

The management at Monster.com, the leading U.S. provider of online recruitment services, must decide how to proceed with Monster Networking (MN), a new business launched in late 2003. MN helps users identify other individuals who can offer career advice. Monster.com... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Recruitment; Service Industry; Employment Industry; United States

August 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Highland Capital Partners: Investing in Cleantech

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

One day during the summer of 2008, Paul Maeder, co-founder and general partner of Highland Capital Partners (HCP), was walking with his wife around Reykjavik, Iceland, marveling at how clean the city felt and at the widespread use of naturally occurring geothermal... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry