Publications

May 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Enron Odyssey (A), The: The Special Purpose of "SPEs"

The board has asked Ron Tolbert, an employee in the Risk Assessment and Control Group, to analyze three SPE transactions executed by Enron executives: the Destec, Rhythms, and Fishtail/Bacchus transactions, which were prominently featured in the Examiner's Report in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Instruments; Analysis; Accounting; Financial Strategy; Energy Industry

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

creativity and innovation in the world: open innovation, user innovation, and citizen innovation. Research into this phenomenon could do much to advance the study View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jul 2015
What Do You Think?

Do Americans Work Too Much and Think About Work Too Little?

that total income fell into the range covered by the new rule). Long working hours take their toll on family lives of both men and women, according to a study of professionals of both sexes. Women who try to View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

25 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Politics is Failing America, and What Business Can Do To Help

continues to serve the needs of its preferred customers: the small number of hardcore primary voters, big-pocketed donors, and special-interest groups, the study says. That closed loop is no accident, the authors believe. Democrats View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

export controls have been ineffectual and counterproductive. My recent HBS case on Huawei shows how this resilient Chinese firm came up with a seven nanometer chip to equip their latest View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

July 2005 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Tanpin Kanri: Retail Practice at Seven-Eleven Japan

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

Toshifumi Suzuki, chairman and CEO of Seven and I Holding Co., was widely credited as the mastermind behind Seven-Eleven Japan's spectacular rise. Although Seven-Eleven Japan began as a small licensee of U.S. convenience store chain 7-Eleven, Inc. (then Southland... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Distribution; Logistics; Technology; Retail Industry; Japan

13 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

Can AI Save Physicians from Burnout?

expectations for clinicians include a healthy balance between volume and value. Without proper boundaries, a short-sighted response to volume maximization, even when justified as much-needed access... View Details

Keywords: by Susanna Gallani, Lidia Moura, and Katie Sonnefeldt; Health

19 May 2016
Research Event

Crowdsourcing, Patent Trolls, and Other Research Insights Highlighted at Harvard Business School Symposium

No matter how many brilliant thinkers a company may employ in-house, sometimes the most innovative solution to a problem can be found from seeking answers outside–from the crowd. “Crowds appear to reliably produce cheaper, faster, View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman & Carmen Nobel

July 2010
Article

The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention

By: William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln

This study evaluates the impact of high-skilled immigrants on U.S. technology formation. We use reduced-form specifications that exploit large changes in the H-1B visa program. Higher H-1B admissions increase immigrant science and engineering (SE) employment and... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Immigration; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Business and Government Relations; Science; United States

21 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research

risks—including spending hours reading or watching the news. "This is such an impermanent state of affairs that we just have to do as best we can." Rather than ruminating on the virus and replaying possible future outcomes in our minds,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman and Danielle Kost

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

establishing or revising their safety protocols or preemptively stacking inventory. Adaptation sometimes meant being able to strike a fine balance between leveraging existing capabilities and finding View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

2024
Working Paper

HIV Tests and AIDS Treatments—Containing a Fearsome Pandemic: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant M. Datar and Katherine Stebbins

This case history describes how a diverse cast of characters, including public health organizations, research laboratories, for-profit healthcare companies, activists, and regulators, rolled back the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in just fifteen years. Moreover, as the case... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

SSRN

Read Now

October 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Boston Beer Company (A): New CEO

By: Christina R. Wing and Marco Iansiti

In 1984, when the Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager was first sold, founder Jim Koch had helped ignite a craft beer movement by making small-batch premium beers in an era of industry consolidation. By 2018, Boston Beer was a publicly traded company that... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Succession; Leadership; Change; Supply Chain; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Supply Chain Management; Management Succession; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Boston

August 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Wii Encore?

By: Andrei Hagiu

Nintendo faced huge difficulties in July 2011. Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox had caught up with the innovative motion-sensing controllers of the original Wii. And the new Nintendo 3DS handheld console had experienced a very disappointing start. Moreover,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 2014 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Gilead: Hepatitis C Access Strategy (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Vikram Rangan and David E. Bloom

Gilead had come up with an innovative drug for Hepatitis C, which affected 180 million people worldwide. The drug was priced at $1,000 a pill for the US market. Gilead had to decide how to price and market the pill in developing countries that bore the brunt of the... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Pharmaceuticals; Pricing; Access To Care; Emerging Markets; Health Care and Treatment; Price; Strategy; Ethics; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

11 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

How AI Could Ease the Refugee Crisis and Bring New Talent to Businesses

overwhelmed and congested system. The other algorithm, focused on balancing where refugees settle, seeks to maintain an even distribution over time. This algorithm was able to ensure that the placements to... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

18 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

New at the Helm: A Talk with HBS Dean Light

application aside and asked whether I'd like to get a doctorate instead," recalls Light. After discussions during a visit to the campus, Light agreed to enter a new doctoral program in decision and... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Education

January 2019
Case

Data.gov (Abridged)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Public Administration Industry; Information Industry; United States

Article

R&D: A Small Contribution to Productivity Growth

By: Diego Comin

In this paper I evaluate the contribution of R&D investments to productivity growth. The basis for the analysis are the free entry condition and the fact that most R&D innovations are embodied. Free entry yields a relationship between the resources devoted to R&D and... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Investment; Interest Rates; Performance Productivity; Technological Innovation; Perspective; United States