Publications

2018
Chapter

Transportation Cost and the Geography of Foreign Investment

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie Chen

Falling transportation costs and rapid technological progress in recent decades have precipitated an explosion of cross-border flows in goods, services, investments, and ideas led by multinational firms. Extensive research has sought to understand the geographic... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Cost; Transportation; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location

April 2020
Article

Field Comparisons of Incentive-Compatible Preference Elicitation Techniques

By: Shawn A. Cole, A. Nilesh Fernando, Daniel Stein and Jeremy Tobacman

Knowledge of consumer demand is important for firms, policy makers, and economists. One common tool for incentive-compatible demand elicitation, the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism, has been widely used in laboratory settings but rarely evaluated for... View Details

Keywords: Incentive-compatible Elicitation; Experimental Methods; Weather Insurance; Rainfall Insurance; Agricultural Extension; Demand and Consumers

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22 Feb 2018
Book

The New History of American Capitalism

political economy. Thomas Piketty locates the roots of growing inequality in the economic returns to capital and stresses the political stakes of distributive justice. “If... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

07 Sep 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Decision-Making by Precedent and the Founding of American Honda (1948–1974)

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron; Auto

2021
Working Paper

Housing Consumption and the Cost of Remote Work

By: Christopher Stanton and Pratyush Tiwari

This paper estimates housing choice differences between households with and without remote workers. Prior to the pandemic, the expenditure share on housing was more than seven percent higher for remote households compared to similar non-remote households in the same... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Geographic Mobility; Housing; Cost; Geographic Location; Income

March 1986 (Revised May 1989)
Case

Wright Line, Inc. (B)

After working unsuccessfully for three years with the new sales and distribution channels organization, Wright Line's managers assess their experience and restructure their marketing organization. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing

March 2021
Article

Assortment Rotation and the Value of Concealment

By: Kris J. Ferreira and Joel Goh

Assortment rotation—the retailing practice of changing the assortment of products offered to customers—has recently been used as a competitive advantage for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers. We focus on product categories where consumers may purchase multiple... View Details

Keywords: Assortment Optimization; Retailing; Imperfect Information; Sales; Strategy; Consumer Behavior

2015
Mimeo

Market Power in Mortgage Lending and the Transmission of Monetary Policy

By: David S. Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

We present evidence that high concentration in mortgage lending reduces the sensitivity of mortgage rates and refinancing activity to mortgage-backed security (MBS) yields. We isolate the direct effect of concentration and rule out alternative explanations in two ways.... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Lending; Market Power; Monetary Policy Transmission; Mortgages; Banking Industry; United States

09 May 2016
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Measures of Real-Time Corporate Sales Tell Us About Earnings Surprises and Post-announcement Returns?

Keywords: by Kenneth A. Froot, Namho Kang, Gideon Ozik, and Ronnie Sadka; Financial Services

February 2023
Case

Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (A)

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago

In 2020, Alejandro Simón, CEO of Sancor Seguros Group, a nearly 75-year-old cooperative that had become Argentina’s insurance leader, had to decide about the Group’s digital transformation strategy. The Group’s values and history needed to be considered during the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Transformation; Organizational Culture; Cooperative Ownership; Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Insurance Industry; Latin America; South America; Argentina

01 Mar 2024
News

Unlocking the Power of Community

these customer-friendly terms: “Let’s make this experience first. The explanation can come later. Or never,” Fung says. For sports media brand Bleacher Report and the basketball fans who watch the cable channel TNT, that Web3-enabled... View Details

Keywords: April White

April 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Soren Chemical: Why Is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking?

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

Topics include distribution channels, pricing, and new product marketing. Jen Moritz, the marketing manager for Soren Chemical Co. is struggling with the poor sales performance of Coracle, a new clarifier for residential swimming pools. The performance is puzzling... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Mix; New Product Marketing; Pricing; Branding; Price; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Communication Strategy; Chemical Industry

21 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira & Peter Jamieson

01 Mar 2015
News

Fıelds of Gold

Growth Market: Afghan saffron has also attracted the attention of MBA classmates Ben Bines, Kimberly Jung, KinYan Chew, and Emily Miller (all HBS 2015), who founded Rumi Spice with a mission similar to Earth2Globe’s. (©Majid... View Details

Keywords: April White; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Agriculture

December 2020
Article

The Employment Effects of Faster Payment: Evidence from the Federal Quickpay Reform

By: Jean-Noel Barrot and Ramana Nanda

We study the impact of Quickpay, a federal reform that indefinitely accelerated payments to small business contractors of the U.S. government. We find a strong direct effect of the reform on employment growth at the firm level. Importantly, however, we also... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Employment; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Marc Abrahams was a media entrepreneur who specialized in science humor. In 2008, he sought to boost the scale and monetization potential of his business. That business, called Improbable Research, encompassed a magazine (Annals of Improbable Research), a high-profile... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career

July 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Goodyear: The Aquatred Launch

By: John A. Quelch

After many years of R&D, Goodyear has developed the Aquatred, an innovative new tire. However, the tire industry has matured and evolved, raising questions concerning the Aquatred's ability to gain support from Goodyear's independent tire dealers. Students must use... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Auto Industry; Rubber Industry; United States

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Teaching Note

Universal During COVID: The Future of Theatrical Windows

By: Hong Luo, Henry McGee and Carol Lin

The COVID-19 pandemic brought enormous disruption to the movie industry, closing theaters indefinitely by mid-March 2020, halting television and film production, and throwing theatrical release schedules into disarray. Shell had assumed the CEO position at NBC... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leadership; Decisions; Strategy; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

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; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville