Publications

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October 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa

By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

In 2018 the majority ownership of publicly owned Wilderness Safaris, the leading high-end ecotourism company in Africa with safari operations in eight countries, was acquired by The Rise Fund, one of the world’s largest private social impact investing funds, and by FS... View Details

12 Jul 2016
First Look

July 12, 2016

internalize the social costs of higher leverage in the form of greater bankruptcy losses (moral hazard) and are subject to a regulatory capital requirement. In contrast, shadow bank liabilities are subject to runs and credit risk and thus... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

partnership that would make Ample Hills the official ice cream of the Star Wars franchise and harness its unique flavors to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday. There were marshmallow “Light Side” and chocolate “Dark Side” flavors; Iger’s influential friends... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

gesture won‘t have inconvenienced or offended anyone. Alternatively, identify an investment that costs little but impacts everyone positively. For example, you could replace the worn out, old-fashioned carpeting in all the public spaces... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

30 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

barriers that limited firms' geographic scope and unleashing a seemingly unlimited set of new threats, challenges, and opportunities to create value globally. Globalization presents managers with an environment to create value that is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Market Dynamics and Moral Dilemmas: Novo Nordisk’s Weight-Loss Drugs

By: Joseph L. Badaracco, Tom Quinn and John Schultz

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk was owned by a charitable foundation, and since its founding in the 1920s had focused on producing insulin to treat diabetes. In 2017, however, it released Ozempic, a diabetes treatment with the revolutionary side effect of... View Details

Web

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets - Faculty & Research

oversight. This is likely due in part to the fact that companies have not effectively quantified and tracked the cost stress poses to integral business outcomes. Companies can take charge of the avoidable View Details

Web

Strategy - Faculty & Research

their industries. But given the steep cost of failure, is a relentless pursuit of innovation always advisable? Or might there be some instances when imitation may be a better strategy to drive performance gains? This research-backed... View Details

June 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

International Carbon Finance and EcoSecurities

By: Andre F. Perold, Forest L. Reinhardt and Mikell Hyman

In late 2007, EcoSecurities had to decide whether to undertake a new Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in China. EcoSecurities was an aggregator of carbon credits and also invested directly in projects that produced carbon credits. Governments and firms... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Cost Management; Investment Return; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment; Cash Flow; Valuation; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; China

22 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers

income, and Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed for eliminating undergraduate tuition and fees at public colleges and universities. Di Maggio is careful to note that his team did not study the costs of any debt-relief proposal. But it’s clear... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2010
Working Paper

Beyond Agency Theory: The Hidden and Heretofore Inaccessible Power of Integrity (PDF file of Keynote Slides)

By: Michael C. Jensen and Werner Erhard

There is far too much concern today about the conflicts of interest between people; for example, conflicts of interest between agents and owners—historically a favorite topic of Jensen—and not enough attention paid to the damage caused by an individual's conflict of... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Lawfulness; Production; Organizations; Performance Improvement; Agency Theory; Conflict of Interests; Trust; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation

Article

Power to the People

By: Eric D. Werker

Every nongovernmental organization has a mission statement. For example, CARE, one of the world's largest and best-funded NGOs, explains its mission as serving "individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Food; Service Operations; Inflation and Deflation; Experience and Expertise; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Knowledge; Poverty; Agribusiness; Diversity; Non-Governmental Organizations; Innovation and Invention; India

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Web

Organize Care Around Medical Conditions - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Measure Outcomes & Cost for Every Patient Aligning Reimbursement with Value Systems Integration Geography of Care Information Technology Organize Care Around Med... Organize Care Around Medical Conditions To deliver more value, providers... View Details

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

this is due to naïveté and hubris—the notion that their idea simply cannot fail. But savvy entrepreneurs know that running a company that eventually fails can actually help a career. Even failed businesses yield future networking View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

forthcoming American Political Science Review Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France By: Braconnier, Céline, Jean-Yves Dormagen, and Vincent Pons Abstract—A large-scale randomized experiment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Entrepreneurial Management - Faculty & Research

skills and have a future with the company; those who don't may face demotions and pay cuts. However, there is pushback from the company's shareholders and leaders. Some want to use the program as a fig leaf for laying off staff; others think it View Details

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Consulting Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Biotechnology Industry; Construction Industry; Real Estate Industry; Green Technology Industry