Publications

30 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Future of IT Consulting

The explosion of "computer-to-computer" communication in the twenty-first century is triggering a growth phase for IT consultants. Harvard Business School professor Richard Nolan and HBS Interactive Senior Vice President Larry... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Consulting

16 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 16

from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth. The establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, with a decided turn against foreign enterprises operating in China from the 1950s, and radical communism from the late 1960s through... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

PureTech Ventures in 2011

By: Andrei Hagiu, Cesar Castro and Sarah Murphy

In early May 2011, Daphne Zohar, founder and managing partner of PureTech Ventures, a life science venture creation company in Boston, MA, was reviewing a term sheet she had just received from a venture capital (VC) firm for one of PureTech's portfolio companies. The... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Negotiation; Partners and Partnerships; Science-Based Business; Opportunities; Boston

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

operations? A: We don't have a preferred position on strategy formulation methodologies. We have seen each approach lead to success in different circumstances. If, for example, the company has low capital utilization, then some use of a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

Modigliani-Miller capital structure irrelevance propositions. The case focuses on two questions: (1) From a shareholder's perspective, how is Apple's cash different from cash in a bank or money market account? (2) Can Apple create... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 3

organizations use incident-reporting systems to encourage employees to communicate about the operational problems they witness. Using data on nearly 7,500 reported incidents, we find that information campaigns encouraging process... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

2020. “We told them all, there’s no issue, you’re all going to be working now through year-end. No layoffs, no nothing,” Moynihan said. Citi and Wells Fargo communicated similar messages to their employees. Marc Benioff, CEO of... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

tool for achieving strategic alignment. How Fixed-performance Contracts Ensure Underperformance At its simplest, a company's budget process consists of each unit producing a sales forecast (assuming it's a profit center) and a capital... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

Physical: Federal Limitations on Regulating Online Marketplaces By: Edelman, Benjamin, and Abbey Stemler Abstract—Online marketplaces have transformed how we shop, travel, and interact with the world. Yet, their unique innovations also present a panoply of challenges... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is Management’s Role in Innovation?

managers, according to Marc Sniukas, should "set the context; guide the process ; clearly communicate reasons ; shield creative teams ; appreciate distinctiveness in people and their thinking; and welcome change." As Dan Hoch... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

June 2024
Case

Vinalhaven: The Downtown Project

By: Richard S. Ruback, Matthew Preble, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb

Vinalhaven is an island community located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Maine. The island has a year-round population of about 1,300 people as of 2022, with an additional 3,000 people who reside on the island in the summer months. The two largest industries... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Natural Environment; Weather; Sustainable Cities; Forecasting and Prediction; Construction; Property; Infrastructure; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Project Finance; Negotiation; United States; Maine

22 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 22

require a grand organizational makeover or buy-in from the CEO. All it takes is collaboration between you and your team-working together and making small, doable changes. What started as an experiment with a six-person team at The Boston... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

pioneered new industries, from jute manufacture in India and cotton textile manufacture in China, to the oil industry in California."The improvements in transport and communications from the 1870s resulted in opportunities and... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

21 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

given the increased focus on containing health care costs, perhaps those machines could supplement more advanced equipment used for initial screenings or at community hospitals. There is great possibility for similar innovations wherever... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2008

incentives based on valuation ratios, split announcement effects, and future returns, we find empirical support for the predictions in both time-series and firm-level data. Given the strong cross-sectional relationship between View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 8

management, flawed internal and external accounting, low skill and/or low integrity people, and corrosive cultures. Piecemeal attempts to fix elements of corporate governance will fail. The problem, to illustrate, is not just the structure of compensation. Nor will... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells and Carole A. Winkler

In January 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States in November 2016 had triggered a national storm of protests, and many attributed Trump’s victory to... View Details