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

October 2002 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Jinwoong: Financing an Entrepreneurial Firm in the Wake of the Korean Financial Crisis

Describes T.P. Lee, the founder and CEO of Jinwoong, a 19-year-old entrepreneurial company in Korea that has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of camping tents. Labeled by Fortune as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Asia in 1993, Lee faces some... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Financial Crisis; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea

01 Oct 1998
News

Dinh Thi Hoa: Up from the Ashes of War

Today, 25 years later, Hoa is still living in Hanoi and doing her part to help her impoverished country establish a modern, productive economy. As managing director of Galaxy Company, a successful consulting... View Details

Keywords: Dun Gifford, Jr. (MBA 1992)

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

misleading guides for the welfare effects of alternative fiscal policies. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-113.pdf Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank Authors:Bradley R. Staats and F. Gino Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Dec 2010
What Do You Think?

Making Right Choices: Art or Science?

work. We can trust some decisions to our educated mental "reflexes," as Gladwell suggests. Iyengar adds that, as individuals, we can relax our need for control over choice processes and make more and more choices automatically or out of habit. As View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Web

Industry Information - Alumni

the global personal care and household product market. Recently, it has added features on a variety of subjects, and expanded coverage in fast-growing markets in Asia and Latin America. CPG Matters A twice-monthly e-zine directed to the... View Details

January 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case

New Urban Mechanics

By: Mitchell Weiss

Funding to scale Citizens Connect, Boston's 311 app, is both a blessing and a burden and tests two public entrepreneurs. In 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics with a grant to scale Citizens Connect across the... View Details

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-005.pdf Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia Authors:Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro Abstract The controversy over whether and how much to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 24

Authors:Mary J. Benner and Mary Tripsas Publication:Strategic Management Journal (forthcoming) Abstract New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high technological, market, and competitive uncertainty. In this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Pepsi-Lipton Brisk

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Alison Caverly

This case showcases key decisions in promoting the re-launch of Brisk, a ready-to-drink iced tea by Pepsi-Lipton. The decisions are: creative, media and metrics selection. It also deals with budget allocation to traditional (Super Bowl, television) and new (viral ads... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Advertising Campaigns; Decision Making; Media; Product Launch; Resource Allocation; Performance Effectiveness; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

substantial variation exists across organizations with regard to management, suggesting frictions in the broader diffusion of management knowledge. We argue that peer networks may allow for the diffusion of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Dec 2022
News

Future Vision

seashells washing up on the shore—all of which would also require time and attention, be they challenges or opportunities. You can’t ignore them; but you also can’t let them consume you, because you still have to manage the rest of the... View Details

Keywords: Brian Kenny; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

01 Jan 2005
News

Joseph J. O'Donnell, MBA 1971

publisher in Lowell whose products included Gideon Bibles. Another—which came his way via an Executive Education participant who was president of the Boston Bruins—was from a small company with about a million dollars in sales that... View Details

April 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Unilever's Response to the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Emilie Billaud and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

In February 2020, Nick Dalton, executive vice president HR business transformation at Unilever, reflected on the changing nature of work marked by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation. Launched in 2016, Unilever’s Future of Work... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Transformation; Human Resources; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

07 Jan 2002
Research & Ideas

How Marketing Can Reduce Worldwide Poverty

at the societal benefit while at the same time taking care of the individual. That in essence is what we're trying to get at. McCaffrey: In a standard marketing situation, there's usually somebody who pays for it—such as a corporate employer who hires marketing to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

February 2019 (Revised August 2019)
Case

KangaTech

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

On a warm January afternoon in 2019, Steve Saunders, Dave Scerri, Carl Dilena, and Nick Haslam (see Exhibit 1 for biographies), co-founders of KangaTech, wrapped up the latest round of discussions about the future direction of their sports-technology start-up. Focused... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Technology Commercialization; Prototype; Business Startups; Technological Innovation; Sports; Health; Commercialization; Research and Development; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Sports Industry; Health Industry; Australia

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53200 September–October 2017 Harvard Business Review Managing Our Hub Economy: Strategy, Ethics, and Network Competition in the Age of Digital Superpowers By: Iansiti, Marco, and Karim R.... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 2008
Article

Entrepreneurship and Urban Success: Toward a Policy Consensus

By: Zoltan J. Acs, Edward L. Glaeser, Robert E. Litan, Lee Fleming, Stephan J. Goetz, William R. Kerr, Steven Klepper, Stuart S. Rosenthal, Olav Sorenson and William C. Strange

Like all politics, all entrepreneurship is local. Individuals launch firms and, if successful, expand their enterprises to other locations. But new firms must start somewhere, even if their businesses are conducted largely or exclusively on the Internet. Likewise,... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Business Startups; Development Economics; Economy; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Taxation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business Processes; Expansion; Internet