Publications

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January 2023
Case

Thomas Buberl: Refounding AXA

By: Hubert Joly, Mihir Desai and Amram Migdal

In 2022, AXA and its CEO Thomas Buberl faced new types of challenges, including systemic risks such as climate change, geopolitical instability, public health crises, and social tensions caused by economic risks. AXA was one of the world’s largest insurers. Since... View Details

28 Dec 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance: Implications for Strategic Compensation

Keywords: by Ian Larkin, Lamar Pierce & Francesca Gino

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

In late 2018, evidence emerged that many of Google’s temporary help agency workers, vendors, and independent contractors (“TVCs”) were unhappy with the company. TVCs, who reportedly made up 49.95% of Google’s 170,000-person global workforce, had raised concerns of... View Details

14 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

What Shapes the Gatekeepers? Evidence from Global Supply Chain Auditors

Keywords: by Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel & Andrea Hugill; Financial Services; Legal Services

F. Warren McFarlan

Professor McFarlan earned his AB from Harvard University in 1959, and his MBA and DBA from the Harvard Business School in 1961 and 1965 respectively. He has had a significant role in introducing materials on Management Information Systems to all major programs at... View Details

Keywords: communications; computer; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; nonprofit industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Rebecca M. Henderson

My work focuses on two tightly related topics. I explore why purpose or mission driven firms might be significantly more productive and creative than their more conventional rivals, focusing particularly on the role of trust in building path dependent relational... View Details

January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

2024
Book

The Fading Light of Democratic Capitalism: How Pervasive Cronyism and Restricted Suffrage Are Destroying Democratic Capitalism as a National Ideal ... And What to Do About It

By: Malcolm S. Salter

What are we to do about declining public trust and confidence in democratic capitalism, which many citizens consider a cornerstone of our national ideology and identity? In this book, I address how we can rekindle the fading light of democratic capitalism as an... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Power and Influence; Economic Systems; Culture

Article

Trust and Incentives in Agency

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F Spulber

Contracts between a principal and an agent are not formed in a vacuum. Although formal contracts between a principal and an agent contain explicit incentives for performance, the relationship between a principal and an agent also involves implicit incentives. Three... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Motivation and Incentives; Agency Theory; Contracts; Market Transactions; Performance; Relationships; Societal Protocols; Legal Liability; Cost

April 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

OneTen: One Million Opportunities in Ten Years

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

In the wake of George Floyd's killing in May 2020, and widespread protests for social justice in the United States, OneTen was formed by a coalition of 40 large companies to provide one million jobs for African-Americans in 10 years. The case describes the background... View Details

Keywords: Labor Market; COVID-19 Pandemic; Diversity; Race; Jobs and Positions; Opportunities; Social Issues; Employment; Equality and Inequality; Equity; United States

January 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

GLOBALGAP: Food Safety and Private Standards

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

In response to new laws governing liability and several food safety scares in the 1990s, European retailers drove the creation of a universal production standard based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for fresh fruit and vegetables and a third-party certification... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Safety; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe

December 2001
Case

Cybersettle

By: Michael A. Wheeler and Gillian Morris

Cybersettle's management faced a dilemma: How could they turn their company, which provided confidential online settlement services for insurance claims, into a profitable enterprise? Having started during the heady days of Internet "dot-com fever," the company now had... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Process; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Internet; Insurance Industry

April 1964 (Revised September 1982)
Case

Empire Glass Co. (B)

Details the behavior of line managers, management staff, and workers in response to long-established control system developed by corporation headquarters. View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Management Systems; Employees; Manufacturing Industry

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Profits and Prophets: The Role of Values in Investment

As chair of the investment committee for a college, Sam Hayes was faced with a challenging dilemma: Should the committee invest only in socially responsible funds even though the outcome might mean fewer scholarships and teaching... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

National Instruments

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Keri Pearlson and Natalie Kindred

This case explores the use of social media to support product design, customer support, marketing and HR activities at National Instruments (NI). Based in Austin, Texas, with over $1 billion in 2011 sales, NI designs, produces, and sells software and hardware platforms... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Media; Management Systems; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Texas

16 Jun 2009
Research Event

Business Summit: The Future of Market Capitalism

discussion among panel members on the shortcomings of the capitalist system and ways the business community can better serve broader societal interests. Topics included social entrepreneurship, the role of... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter

27 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 27

PublicationsThe Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System Authors include:David S. Scharfstein Publication:Princeton University Press, N.J.: 2010 Abstract In the fall of 2008, fifteen of the world's leading economists—representing... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2018
Article

How Context Affects Choice

By: Raphael Thomadsen, Robert P. Rooderkerk, On Amir, Neeraj Arora, Bryan Bollinger, Karsten Hansen, Leslie John, Wendy Liu, Aner Sela, Vishal Singh, K. Sudhir and Wendy Wood

Due to its origins in the literature on judgment and decision-making, context effects in marketing are construed exclusively in terms of how choices deviate from utility maximization principles as a function of how choices are presented (e.g., framing, sequence,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Situation or Environment; Consumer Behavior

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August 2012
Case

ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa

By: Michael Beer and Lynda St. Clair

A new Dallas-based health and beauty spa aims to use a highly distinctive human resource system as the foundation of its competitive strategy. By encouraging employees to act as "personal wellness coaches" (PWCs) with high commitment and broad responsibilities, the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Service Industry; Texas