Publications

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21 Nov 2014
News

Unwanted life insurance can be a valuable asset for seniors’ retirement

September 2014
Module Note

The Development of the Markets for Natural, Organic, and Health Foods in the U.S.

By: Mukti Khaire and Eleanor Kenyon

Discourses on the links between eating, health, and social standing in America have deep roots. As mechanisms of food production, distribution and storage were developed in the nineteenth century, Americans began receiving information about what to and not-to eat, from... View Details

Keywords: Food Marketing; Food; Markets; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

2019
Working Paper

Industrial Change, the Boundary of the Firm, and Racial Employment Segregation

By: John-Paul Ferguson and Rembrand Koning

Racial employment segregation between large workplaces in America has grown over the last generation. We know little about how changes in patterns of employment by economic sector have contributed to this growth, though. While there are many stylized narratives about... View Details

Keywords: Workplace Segregation; Firm Boundaries; Organizations; Employees; Segmentation; Race; Change; United States

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19 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

U.S. High-Skilled Immigration, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Empirical Approaches and Evidence

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Espen Storli

Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Natural Resources; Metals and Minerals; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; Europe; Middle East; North and Central America; Israel; South Africa; Iran

February 2018 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Omar Simmons: Franchising and Private Equity

By: Steven Rogers and Alyssa Haywoode

Omar Simmons, managing director of a private equity fund that owns 53 Planet Fitness Health Clubs, has to choose: continue in private equity or shift his career to managing and growing the health clubs. An African-American graduate of Princeton University and Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Diversity Characteristics; Ethnicity Characteristics; Health Club Franchises; African-american Entrepreneurs; Finance; Private Equity; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Development and Career; Franchise Ownership; Consulting Industry; Boston

2012
Chapter

Citizens' Perceptions and the Disconnect Between Economics and Regulatory Policy

By: Jonathan Baron, William T. McEnroe and Christopher Poliquin

Economic theory is clear about the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of regulating negative externalities, such as command and control, cap and trade, taxation, subsidies, and tort law. Yet public policy rarely follows the recommendations that follow from... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Decision Making; Government and Politics; United States

September 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

TetraScience: Noise and Signal

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In 2019, TetraScience CEO “Spin” Wang needed advice. Five years earlier, he had cofounded a startup that saw early success with a hardware product designed to help laboratory scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical spaces more easily collect data from... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; AI and Machine Learning; Organizational Structure; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Boston

April 2010 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Mexico: Crisis and Competitiveness

By: Aldo Musacchio, Richard H.K. Vietor and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

In 2010, the bicentennial anniversary of Mexico's revolution against Spain, President Felipe Calderon hoped he could orchestrate several crucial reforms that Mexico needed. Mexico had not grown much over the course of the last decade, losing competitiveness to China... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Mexico

01 Feb 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Noncompetes and Inventor Mobility: Specialists, Stars, and the Michigan Experiment

Keywords: by Matt Marx, Deborah Strumsky & Lee Fleming

2016
Working Paper

Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com

By: Michael Luca

Do online consumer reviews affect restaurant demand? I investigate this question using a novel dataset combining reviews from the website Yelp.com and restaurant data from the Washington State Department of Revenue. Because Yelp prominently displays a restaurant's... View Details

Keywords: Revenue; Network Effects; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Washington (state, US)

SSRN

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01 Dec 2022
News

December 2022 Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

Rowe (MBA 1993) Templeton Press Every child in America deserves to know that a path to a successful life exists and that they have the power to follow it. But many never set foot on that path because they... View Details

September 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Note

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Teaching Note for "On," HBS Case No. 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the Speedboard, and... View Details

November 1990 (Revised June 2004)
Case

McDonald's and the Environment

McDonald's decides to withdraw its polystyrene plastic packaging for sandwiches and hamburgers after years of defending itself against environmental critics. The decision occurs in the midst of a six-month Joint Task Force study, with the nonprofit Environmental... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Change Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Wes Hall and the BlackNorth Initiative

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Marilyn Morgan Westner and Reza Satchu

Wes Hall founded Kingsdale Advisors and built it into one of Canada’s leading shareholder services and advisory firms. Influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a series of social injustices—specifically the death of George Floyd in police custody—Hall... View Details

Keywords: Racism; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Race; Social Issues; Ethics; Canada; North America

June 1991 (Revised January 1996)
Teaching Note

Marks and Spencer Ltd. (A), (B), and (C), Teaching Note

By: David J. Collis

Teaching Note for (9-391-089), (9-391-090), and (9-792-007). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry; United Kingdom; Europe; Canada

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin

In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details

February 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Forever: De Beers and U.S. Antitrust Law

By: Debora L. Spar and Jennifer Burns

For over a century, the international diamond market has been dominated by one of the most successful cartels on earth. Run by the legendary De Beers Corp., the cartel has managed to keep diamond prices increasing and to prevent the defection that dooms most other... View Details

Keywords: Lawfulness; Monopoly; Luxury; Business and Government Relations; Consumer Products Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; United States