Publications

2008
Working Paper

The Internalization of Advertising Services: An Inter-Industry Analysis

By: Sharon Horsky, Steven C. Michael and Alvin J. Silk

The common perception appears to be that vertical integration of advertising services is more the exception than the rule in the U.S. advertising industry. This study investigates the extent of such outsourcing and examines inter-industry variation in the use of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Creativity; Perception; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; United States

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21 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Lessons for Retailers from the Rebirth of Indie Bookstores

compete in the age of Amazon.” “What happened in this sector has potential implications for other brick-and-mortar stores attempting to compete in the age of Amazon.” All independent bookstores are unique, but Raffaelli has identified View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

30 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Computer Security is For Managers, Too

Companies need to have smart technicians who stay abreast of emerging digital threats and defenses, of course, but the technicians shouldn't be calling the shots. General managers need to take the lead in building processes that will... View Details

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin & Christopher A.R. Darby

July 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Dynamic Pricing at Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?

By: Elie Ofek, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In early 2024, Wendy’s new CEO announced on an earnings call that the company would install digital menus in its US locations so it could begin testing dynamic pricing—changing prices up or down in response to shifts in supply and demand – as well as allow engaging in... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Marketing Strategy; Price; Technology Adoption; Consumer Behavior; AI and Machine Learning; Customer Focus and Relationships; Policy; Food and Beverage Industry

Research Summary

Workforce Change

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This research encompasses layoffs, furloughs and restructuring, global practices that affect millions of employees and thousands of companies every year. In this work I aim to replace bad practice that damages trust with good (or at least better) practice through... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Leadership And Change Management; Global Innovation; Strategic Decision Making; Multinational Corporations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; United States; France; Germany; Hungary; Finland; United Kingdom; Netherlands; China; Japan; Brazil

07 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Electronic Health Records Were Supposed to Cut Medical Costs. They Haven't.

twice the administrative overhead found in Canada and is significantly higher than most other high-resource countries. Adoption of certified EHR systems was seen as a potential antidote. By digitizing patient records and adding billing... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

04 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Think of it as Professors in Cars Having Coffee

product portfolio. Maybe we are no longer going to produce assault weapons. Or maybe we will make a really interesting effort into producing smart weapons.” Unique ideas and insights are common on the podcast Harvard Business School After... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Entertainment & Recreation

26 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

Evolving for Success [Part One]

A whole new way of working, leading, and living is in store for every human being, thanks to the Internet, according to HBS professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. But how best can people and businesses make their mark? In her new book Evolve!: Succeeding in the View Details

Keywords: by Staff

21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

homophily inflates this estimate by 40% (to 38%). In some samples, ignoring latent homophily can result in overestimation of social effects by over 100%. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/download.aspx?name=14-053.pdf View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2015 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube

By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott

In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Finance; Strategy; Investment; United States

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce

By: Tarun Khanna, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost and Wesley Koo

Alibaba's Rural Taobao initiative had been launched in 2014 as a public service initiative to increase e-commerce adoption in China’s remote rural areas. In the first two iterations of the initiative, dubbed “1.0” and “2.0,” Alibaba had partnered with local businesses... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Growth; Ecommerce; Corporate Social Responsibility; Business And Government; Emerging Market; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Emerging Markets; Rural Scope; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Decision Making; E-commerce; China

April 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Supplement

Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube

By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott

In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Strategy; Investment; United States

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Technical Note

Making Markets

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Scott Duke Kominers

Explains how to identify and capitalize on marketplace design opportunities. Defines markets and marketplaces and describes the basic functions of each. Discusses attributes (e.g., heterogeneity of participants' preferences and asymmetry in available information) that... View Details

Keywords: Marketplaces; Two-Sided Markets; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Auctions

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

digital assessment and print-based workbook series called Ready®, Ready® Common Core, and i-Ready® Diagnostic and Instruction. In 2014, as sales are booming, Waldron and his team wonder how CA can stay... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness

American company that filed for bankruptcy protection in January. The company developed the first digital camera in 1975. Yet Kodak was never able to ride the digital wave over the long haul, and the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

26 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 26, 2018

evidence to challenge a common misperception about internalization theory. The theory has often been criticized for maintaining that it assumes a hierarchically organized MNE based on knowledge flowing from the home country. This is not... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry