Publications

April 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Background Note

Why Complex Systems Fail

Operationally excellent organizations create competitive opportunities for themselves that are not available to their peers. One view of the manager's competitive dilemma is to pick the right position for his organization, differentiating it, for example, as a... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Complexity

21 Aug 2018
News

The Business Shelf: Driving Digital Strategy

Eaton Corp.: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

author Alexander Mirza proposes a solution to the human capital challenges faced by service industries amidst unprecedented labor shortages, and technological and geopolitical shifts, and offers a framework for diagnosing the root causes... View Details

Keywords: podcasts

12 Nov 2018
Blog Post

Student Portraits - Armed Forces Alumni Association

armed forces. Many served in combat. They are proud to share this deeply personal aspect of their lives with you. CAMERON R. ARMSTRONG / 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment / US Army ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Woodstock, GA REASON FOR... View Details

June 2000 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Performance Pay at Safelite Auto Glass (A)

By: Brian J. Hall, Edward Lazear and Carleen Madigan

Describes a company's changing of its compensation and incentive plan. In particular, it shows how a change from hourly pay to piece rate pay (for windshield installers) affected productivity, pay, and turnover. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Performance Productivity; Change; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Service Industry

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

Keywords: Facebook; Fake News; Mark Zuckerberg; Donald Trump; Algorithms; Social Networks; Partisanship; Social Media; App Development; Instagram; WhatsApp; Smartphone; Silicon Valley; Office Space; Digital Strategy; Democracy; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Controversy; Tencent; Agility; Social Networking; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Messaging; Monetization Strategy; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Communication; Communication Technology; Forms of Communication; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Crime and Corruption; Voting; Demographics; Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Location; Global Range; Local Range; Country; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Political Elections; Business History; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Information Management; Information Publishing; News; Newspapers; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Dissemination; Human Capital; Law; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Systems; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Marketing Channels; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Monopoly; Media; Product Development; Service Delivery; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Rank and Position; Opportunities; Behavior; Emotions; Identity; Power and Influence; Prejudice and Bias; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Status and Position; Trust; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States; California; Sunnyvale; Russia

MBA Class of 1960 Professor of Management, Paul W. Marshall, is affiliated with the Entrepreneurial Management Unit and teaches The Entrepreneurial Manager in the Turnaround Environment. This Elective Curriculum course focuses on the role of... View Details

Keywords: professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services; professional services

January 2009 (Revised November 2011)
Case

The Tip of the Iceberg: JP Morgan Chase and Bear Stearns (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose, Daniel Baird Bergstresser and David Lane

"Bear Stearns & Co. burned through nearly all of its $18 billion in cash reserves during the week of March 10, 2008, and an unprecedented provision of liquidity support from the Federal Reserve on Friday, March 13 was insufficient to reverse the decline in Bear's... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Capital; Financial Liquidity; Financial Strategy; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Competition; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

30 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

11-week-long field experiment in 2021 with 178,862 customers of Zippia, a career service agency. Customers seeking job postings received an email containing several recommended positions and basic information about the jobs, including... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Case

Financial Reporting at Mattel

By: Aiyesha Dey, Trung Nguyen, Marshal Herrmann and Julia Kelley

In September 2020, Diana Ferguson was nearing her first Audit Committee meeting as the newly appointed Audit Committee chair of Mattel, Inc. Mattel was just recovering from an accounting scandal which had revealed the company’s poor internal controls and weak board... View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

Future Vision

out of poverty, providing products and services that have improved people’s standards of living, and creating fulfilling jobs and careers. But the challenges facing the world today require business to do even more—to address persistent... View Details

Keywords: Brian Kenny; Educational Support Services; Educational Support Services

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

most memorably: “I find myself in a Claude Rains Casablanca moment here: ‘I’m shocked, shocked to find that FB and others are making money off my data when they give me their services for free.’” But “shocked” or not, reality probably... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Web Services

01 Sep 2010
News

Now Starring: Single Dad

WAND: With Robby, at HBS. Courtesy John Wand John Wand (MBA ’81) was about to enroll in Harvard College when his high-school sweetheart in Boise, Idaho, told him she was pregnant. The couple married and moved to Cambridge, but after a couple of years, Wand’s wife left... View Details

Keywords: single parents; fatherhood; Educational Services; Educational Services

20 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

It's No Joke: AI Beats Humans at Making You Laugh

bring them into the lab and see how they performed and what people thought of them.” As Yeoman’s research shows, AI is often dead-on accurate in pinpointing which products and services people will like. Yet, the research findings also... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Mar 2024
News

On the Radar

Illustration by Brian Stauffer Illustration by Brian Stauffer Our planet is teeming with trillions of viruses and bacteria, most of which are innocuous or even helpful, but some pose a significant risk to public health, animals, and crops. In recent decades,... View Details

Keywords: Janine White; Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities; Government

Web

Cluster Studies - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Development in Inner Cities Economic Development in Rural Areas Cluster Studies International Cluster Competitiveness Profiles Cluster Studies Cluster Studies Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, View Details

April 2023
Case

Strive Asset Management

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and Aldo Sesia

Strive Asset Management, which launched in 2022, was actively targeting several leading U.S. companies in the upcoming 2023 proxy voting season to stop acquiescing to those large asset managers and other institutional shareholders who were pressing those companies to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Shareholder Activism; Asset Management; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Climate Change; Diversity; Equity; Financial Services Industry; United States