Publications

Research Summary

Social Media and Their Consequences

By: John A. Deighton

Social media have had negative consequences for entertainment industries such as music and motion pictures, but they have had positive implications too. This project is concerned with one aspect of these social media effects: changes in the process by which talented... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Social Media

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy

By: Robert Simons

This module reading pulls together key concepts and techniques from the Strategy Execution series into an integrated model—the levers of control. The four levers are: (1) belief systems, (2) boundary systems, (3) diagnostic control systems, and (4) interactive control... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Levers Of Control; Balancing Innovation And Control; Managing Growing Businesses; Turn Around Management; Human Behavior; Organizational Life Cycle; Strategy; Management Systems; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Behavior

January 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Colbún and Chile’s Energy Transition

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In May 2023, Colbún, Chile’s second-largest electricity generator, plans capacity expansions using renewable energy and storage. This strategy supports Chile’s commitment to carbon neutrality (also known as net zero emissions) by 2050. The case delves into the... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Infrastructure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Latin America; South America; Chile

04 Oct 2024
In Practice

Research-Based Advice for the Seasonally Overwhelmed and Schedule Challenged

aside time to focus that can help restore work-life balance. Joseph Fuller: Make time for ‘deep work’ at the office and home People have struggled to balance the demands of work View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

October 18, 2021
Article

To Regulate Network-Based Platforms, Look at Their Data

By: Chiara Farronato and Daniel Björkegren

Historically, antitrust authorities have taken a laissez-faire approach under the assumption that it is better to err on the side of not intervening when there is uncertainty. This has allowed companies like Google and Facebook to go on a shopping spree to acquire... View Details

Keywords: Antitrust Issues And Policies; Risk and Uncertainty; Digital Platforms; Competitive Advantage; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry

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Research Summary

Retailing: Past, Present, and Future

Walter J. Salmon is working on several retailing-related research and course development projects, including a study (with Gwen K. Ortmeyer) of the evolution and future of American department stores, and a case book (with DAVID E. BELL) for use in graduate... View Details

03 May 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

Keywords: by Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner; Banking; Financial Services

November 2009
Journal Article

A Theory of Growth and Volatility at the Aggregate and Firm Level

By: Diego A. Comin and Sunil Mulani

This paper presents an endogenous growth model that explains the evolution of the first and second moments of productivity growth at the aggregate and firm level during the post-war period. Growth is driven by the development of both (i) idiosyncratic R&D innovations... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Microeconomics; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Performance Productivity; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development

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Research Summary

The Fragile State of the World: Unfairness, Discontent, and Global Capitalism

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

In this project, Abdelal explores the varieties of domestic discontent that undermine the stability of global capitalism. Discontent has manifested itself in the rise of populist movements and parties on both the Left and the Right, thereby weakening the Center. The... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Populism; Inequality; Fairness; Geopolitics

July 2012
Case

LEGO

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Stefan Thomke and Daniela Beyersdorfer

LEGO has emerged as one of the most successful companies in the toy industry. The case describes LEGO's gradual rise, rapid decline, and recent revitalization as it is keeping up with a changing market place. Central to LEGO's management model is the ability to find... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Innovation; Operations Management; Organizational Change And Transformation; Operations; Competitive Strategy; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

Admissions Committee makes selections that balance each participant's experience, scope of current responsibilities, and type of organization. HBS seeks candidates who reflect a broad range of industries,... View Details

17 Aug 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The Empirical Economics of Online Attention

Keywords: by Andre Boik, Shane Greenstein, and Jeffrey Prince; Media & Broadcasting

24 Apr 2020
Op-Ed

Lessons from the NFL: Virtual Hiring, Leadership, Building Teams and COVID-19

necessarily surprising. Also worth noting—those wide receivers who switched teams and experienced a subsequent decline in performance saw that performance stabilize after only a year, suggesting that after... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Abbott , Boris Groysberg, Tali Groysberg, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

2020
Working Paper

Bankruptcy and the COVID-19 Crisis

By: Jialan Wang, Jeyul Yang, Benjamin Iverson and Raymond Kluender

We examine the impact of the COVID-19 economic crisis on business and consumer bankruptcies in the United States using real-time data on the universe of filings. Historically, bankruptcies have closely tracked the business cycle and contemporaneous unemployment rates.... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Financial Distress; COVID-19; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Crisis; Health Pandemics; United States

SSRN

Article

Robust and Stable Black Box Explanations

By: Himabindu Lakkaraju, Nino Arsov and Osbert Bastani

As machine learning black boxes are increasingly being deployed in real-world applications, there has been a growing interest in developing post hoc explanations that summarize the behaviors of these black boxes. However, existing algorithms for generating such... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Black Box Models; Framework

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

UBS and Climate Change--Warming Up to Global Action?

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Forest L. Reinhardt and Elizabeth Raabe

Marco Suter, Executive Vice-Chairman, UBS Board of Directors, carefully studied the chart on his desk. It showed the public commitment of major financial institutions to help mitigate global warming. Evidently, UBS lagged behind its competitors. The graph was part of a... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Energy Conservation; Cost vs Benefits; Law; Financial Institutions; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Financial Services Industry

01 Dec 2019
News

In My Humble Opinion: Taking Attendance

Constance “CJ” Jones (MBA 2008) had a tough time as a student at her middle school in Durham, North Carolina. Often the only person of color in the academically advanced classes, she felt rejected by both her white and her black peers for... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; public education; leadership; charter schools; career paths; work-life balance; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools

January 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

New Balance: Managing Orders and Working Conditions

By: Michael W. Toffel, Eileen McNeely and Matthew Preble

New Balance Athletics, Inc., a major U.S.-based athletic footwear and apparel brand, sources most of its footwear products from independent suppliers whose factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Monica Gorman, vice president of responsible leadership... View Details

Keywords: Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Manufacturing; CSR; Sustainability; Quality Management; Supply Chains; Operations; Management; Production; Working Conditions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Labor and Management Relations; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

August 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

CIGNA Property and Casualty Reengineering (A)

By: Richard L. Nolan, Donna B. Stoddard, Chiara Francalanci and Elise C Martin

Reengineering was introduced at CIGNA Corp. in 1988. CIGNA entered a second wave reengineering effort through a major project at CIGNA P&C, one of CIGNA's larger businesses. P&C was in financial crisis and as a result brought in a new executive team in 1991 to head the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Cost vs Benefits; Design; Growth and Development; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Projects; Information Technology; Insurance Industry