Economic Opportunity - Publications - Faculty & Research

May 2010
Case

Flare Fragrances Company, Inc: Analyzing Growth Opportunities

By: John A. Quelch and Lisa D. Donovan

Flare Fragrances, a manufacturer of perfumes for women, faces a growth challenge in a difficult economic environment. CEO Joely Patterson outlines two growth opportunities for her marketing staff to evaluate. One involves launching a new scent -- and possibly... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Market Segmentation; Product Introduction; New Product Marketing; Product Lines; Product Positioning; Distribution; Product Launch; Segmentation; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

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17 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

Michael Porter on America’s Historic Energy Opportunity

A new report from experts Michael E. Porter, David S. Gee, and Gregory J. Pope at Harvard Business School and The Boston Consulting Group outlines a strategic approach for improving United States competitiveness while reducing environmental impact and making progress... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter; Energy; Utilities

Teaching Interest

Economics of Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

Designed for Harvard College sophomores.

Course Description: Why do so many individuals choose to pursue entrepreneurship despite substantial risks? How do these entrepreneurs raise money to finance their ventures? And what is the impact of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Venture Capital

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

Summing Up If not useful growth, what are we measuring? And why? This column does not thrive on general agreement. And this past month discussants came close to general agreement on the proposition that economic growth is not measured... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

09 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Economics of Structured Finance

Keywords: by Joshua D. Coval, Jakub Jurek & Erik Stafford

August 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Tenova: Mining for Growth in an Economic Crisis

By: Gary P. Pisano, Elena Corsi and Elisa Farri

In December 2008, Gianluigi Nova, CEO of Tenova SpA, a technology and equipment supplier to the metals and mining industry, had to choose between two options. The first was to continue growing in the company's core business: equipment for the steel production. The... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Leadership; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Industrial Products Industry; Mining Industry

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03 Apr 2019
Book

Fintech's Game-Changing Opportunities for Small Business

challenges and opportunities facing small businesses, the rise of fintech innovation, and the policy implications for regulation. Martha Lagace: How do you define small business? Karen Mills: Small businesses are all different, of course.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Banking; Financial Services

2022
White Paper

The American Opportunity Index: A Corporate Scorecard of Worker Advancement

By: Matt Sigelman, Joseph Fuller, Nik Dawson and Gad Levanon

The American Opportunity Index: A Corporate Scorecard of Worker Advancement is a new effort to give companies and other stakeholders a set of robust tools that measure how well major employers are doing in fostering economic mobility for workers and how they could do... View Details

Keywords: Upward Mobility; Career Advancement; Personal Development and Career; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Wages; Human Capital; Recruitment

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19 Jan 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

opportunity to develop and grow. Key concepts include: In a crisis, remember your internal compass of values: When crisis strikes, leaders often look for an "at-any-cost" quick fix in attempting to save face, says George. To ensure that... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

25 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

The Economic Cost of Physician Burnout

In part, that’s due to the difficulty of calculating the economic cost of all of the factors involved. For instance, some studies have associated burnout with an increase in medical errors, but calculating those costs are nearly... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

2023
Article

Bridging the Gap with the ‘New’ Economic History of Africa

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

This review article seeks to build bridges between mainstream African history and the more historically oriented branch of the ‘new’ economic history of Africa. We survey four central topics of the new economic history of Africa—growth, trade, labor, and inequality—and... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Trade; Labor; Equality and Inequality; Development Economics; History; Africa

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December 1982 (Revised August 1986)
Case

Farmland Industries, Inc.: Opportunities in Barter Trade

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Trade; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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17 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Can China Maintain Its Economic Power?

a nation still shadowed by Mao Zedong’s controversial legacy institute market-based reforms that have made the country the world’s second-largest economic power. He has helped document that journey as the author of scores of cases,... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

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

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22 Dec 2016
Op-Ed

The Small Business Administration is a Model for How to Drive Economic Growth

public-private partnership model that increases US economic growth and helps create access and opportunity for all Americans. Related reading: Where Could More Regulation Help Small Businesses? Online... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills

26 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

A Roadmap for Afghanistan’s Economic Future

nature and value of the skill sets brought by each would-be young worker. Each of these is a viable organization that needs time to develop. Another requirement for economic development is trust. But that's a rare thing among the... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

standards and data. Many governments around the world have begun assigning prices to carbon dioxide emissions, but it’s unclear if they can agree on a common global standard. Without industrywide measures, firms have been taking their own steps to evaluate the risks... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

Article

We Have a Rare Opportunity to Create a Stronger, More Equitable Society

By: Shai Davidai, Martin Day, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Oliver Hauser, Jon M. Jachimowicz, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva, L. Taylor Phillips, Barnabas Szaszi and Stephanie Tepper

Income inequality in the United States was at historic levels before the coronavirus hit. Now, as the disease—and the social and economic implications it brings—spread across the country, it is likely to create even deeper fissures between the poor and rich. View Details

Keywords: Socioeconomic Status; Coronavirus; Inequality; Work; Income; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics; Gender; Money; Policy; Race; Society

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February 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Background Note

Finding the Money: An Overview of Infrastructure Finance Challenges and Opportunities

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox

This overview describes how the United States funds and finances infrastructure investment to maintain its economic competitiveness. It considers the roles of taxpayers, users, government allocators and lenders, and private investors in the infrastructure funding... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Infrastructure; Technology; United States

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