Publications

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2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: General Gale Pollock and Services for the Vision Impaired

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching note for case 314029. Following a successful military career as an Army Nurse, achieving rank as Major General, becoming the first female Acting Surgeon General of the Army, and the 22nd Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Pollock developed a vested interest in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Education; Insurance Companies; Military; Leadership Skills; Health Care and Treatment; Education; Insurance; Business Startups; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Change Management; Health Industry; Health Industry

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

large corporations, such as Apple and Google, are careful to retain their underdog roots in their brand biographies." A forthcoming article coauthored by Keinan for the Journal of Consumer Research, "The Underdog Effect: The... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2015
Case

The I-PASS Patient Handoff Program

By: Robert S. Huckman and Michael Norris

In 2015, the I-PASS Patient Handoff Program Team, led by six pediatricians around the U.S., had to determine the best way to disseminate their program that had been proven to reduce communication errors in patient handoffs in hospital settings. Should they turn it into... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Hospitals; Operations Improvement; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

January 2024
Technical Note

The ICARUS Principles: What It Takes to Tackle the World

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Over the course of the 20th century, most of the world’s major multinational corporations framed their mission around Milton Friedman’s famous mantra: that the sole purpose of the firm is to maximize its shareholders’ profits. Recently, however, growing numbers of... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Mission; Social Business; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; For-Profit Firms

2013
Working Paper

Work Design Drivers of Organizational Learning about Operational Failures: A Laboratory Experiment on Medication Administration

By: Anita L. Tucker

Operational failures persist in hospitals, in part because employees work around them rather than attempt to prevent recurrence. Drawing on a process improvement tool—the Andon cord—we examine three work design components that may foster improvement-oriented behaviors:... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Process Improvement; Organizational Learning; Behavioral Operations; Prosocial Behavior; Experiments; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Behavior; Performance Improvement; Health Care and Treatment; Business Processes; Health Industry

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Research Summary

Thin Slices of Groups [Under Review]

In this paper with Jeff Polzer, Lisa Kwan, Wannawiruch Wiruchnipawan, and Marina Miloslavsky, we extend research on “thin slices” by testing and determining that perceivers are able to accurately judge the effectiveness of small, task-performing groups... View Details

November 2002
Compilation

Four Principles of Biomedical Ethics: Definitions and Examples

By: Sandra J. Sucher

Introduces four principles of biomedical ethics, excerpted from Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress (Oxford University Press, 2001). The principles provide a conceptual framework for the analysis and resolution of moral problems... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Moral Sensibility; Health Care and Treatment; Distribution; Problems and Challenges; Research; Emotions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Health Industry; Health Industry

April 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Alexandre Naghirniac, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Daniella Suarez

In 2011, Gilberto Dimenstein, a well-known Brazilian journalist, created a new model that connected disparate resources to revitalize Sao Paulo. He wanted his model to expand across Brazil and the world. Dimenstein covered many of the social issues facing Brazil as a... View Details

Keywords: Social Change; Websites; Education; Awareness; Marketing Communication; City Innovation; Leadership; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Web Sites; Marketing; City; Brazil

June 2023
Case

The Business of Campaigns

By: Vincent Pons and Mel Martin

In 2022, the U.S. Congress examined the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, the latest in a long series of campaign finance reforms. According to its authors, the law would be the “most consequential overhaul of federal... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; United States

August 2012 (Revised July 2025)
Module Note

Evaluating the Viability of Innovative Technology-Commercializing Ventures

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

This case enables evaluation of innovative health care technologies by those who are not an expert in the technology by introduction of a framework for evaluating technology - commercializing innovation. It is the introductory case for the first of four modules in a... View Details

Keywords: Health Industry; Health Industry

April 2021
Supplement

Buy Online, Pickup in Store: Vice President of E-Commerce Supplement

By: Antonio Moreno, Santiago Gallino and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2019, Sylvarella VP of E-Commerce Charla Limont must review an analysis of her department’s sales data to determine the impact of the company’s Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program. The program implementation created significant problems for the... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Infrastructure; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Analysis; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Canada

Web

Student Spotlight: From Nigeria to HBS: Reigniting My Passion for Healthcare Innovation - Blog: Health Supplement

dove into research on medical devices and the social determinants of health. But I quickly realized that while science could solve problems, it was the intersection View Details

June 2025
Case

Kevin Love and the Kevin Love Fund: Inspiring People to Live Their Healthiest Lives

By: Anita Elberse and Riyanka Ganguly

In March 2025, professional basketball player Kevin Love learned the latest numbers for what was to date the most eye-catching initiative of his foundation, the Kevin Love Fund: a mental health campaign revolving around a short, animated film—The Spider Within: A... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Media; Sports; Health ＆ Wellness; Campaigns; Partnerships; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Partners and Partnerships; Prejudice and Bias

20 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change

What determines whether a social movement will be a flash in the pan or a real catalyst for longterm change? Why did Occupy Wall Street subside in a matter of months, for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

The Challenge of Shared Prosperity

In the 2015 survey on U.S. competitiveness, HBS alumni weigh in on the current state and future trajectory of U.S. competitiveness as well as the structural strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. business environment. In addition, alumni delve deeper into two aspects... View Details

24 May 2021
Blog Post

Rebekah Emanuel: Host of Season 3 of the Climate Rising Podcast

Rebekah Emanuel (MBA 2015), Director of Social Entrepreneurship for the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) and host of the third season of the BEI’s... View Details

May 2010 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Kent Thiry: "Mayor" of DaVita

By: William W. George and Natalie Kindred

Kent Thiry, CEO of dialysis provider DaVita, is considering how to integrate employees from recently acquired Gambro Healthcare without damaging DaVita's robust, unconventional internal culture. When Thiry joined DaVita in 1999, breaking an important promise to his... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Experience and Expertise; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Integration; Health Industry

October 2013
Case

FasterCures: Removing Barriers to Treatments

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and James Weber

In mid-2013, as FasterCures celebrated its 10th anniversary as a center of the Milken Institute, Executive Director Margaret Anderson thought about what the organization should do to ensure it had even more impact in its next 10 years. FasterCures was a non-profit... View Details

Article

Medical Group Structural Integration May Not Ensure That Care Is Integrated, From The Patient's Perspective

By: Michaela J. Kerrissey, Jonathan Clark, Mark Friedberg, Wei Jiang, Ashley Kay Fryer, Molly Frean, Stephen Shortell, Patricia Ramsay, Lawrence Casalino and Sara J. Singer

Structural integration is increasing among medical groups, but whether these changes yield care that is more integrated remains unclear. We explored the relationships between structural integration characteristics of 144 medical groups and perceptions of integrated... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Health Care Delivery; Organization Structure; Organizational Structure; Health Care and Treatment; Perception; Perspective; Health Industry; United States