Publications

February 2003 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Singapore Inc.

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Emily Thompson

In early 2003, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is assessing Singapore's development strategy--tax cutting combined with an industrial policy focused on six "clusters," including biomedical sciences. After 36 years of stupendous growth, Singapore has slowed down and faces... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competition; China; Singapore

Web

The de Gaspé Beaubien Reading Room | About

the world, providing hope and encouragement to other owners of family businesses. The foundation offers educational workshops and training programs that address key family business issues such as succession, sibling rivalry, business ownership, corporate and View Details

January 2018
Case

John Rogers, Jr.—Ariel Investments Co.

By: Steven Rogers and Greg White

John Rogers Jr., the founder and CEO of Ariel Investments, an enormously successful finance firm with $12 billion of invested capital, is one of the few African Americans in the asset management industry. As one of the high profile leaders in the black business... View Details

Keywords: Advocacy; Diversity; Investment Management; Affirmative Action; Disruption; Cost vs Benefits; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry; Chicago

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Envision Group

By: Gunnar Trumbull, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau

Based in China, Envision was one of the world’s leading Greentech companies. Chief Executive Officer Lei Zhang had set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality across the company’s global operations and supply chain by 2022 and 2028 respectively. As part of its... View Details

Keywords: Green Technology; Climate Change; Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Strategy; Management; Renewable Energy; Energy Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; China; United States; Japan; United Kingdom; France

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

Article

We Need Better Carbon Accounting. Here's How to Get There.

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna

Any effective system of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting needs to measure each company’s supply-chain carbon impacts accurately. Such information would provide visibility and incentives for the company to make more climate-friendly product-specification and purchasing... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; GHG; Carbon Accounting; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain

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04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

investors provide a little funding and limited governance to an increased number of startups that they are more likely to abandon, but where initial experiments significantly inform beliefs about the future potential of the venture. This... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September–October 2020
Article

The Air War Versus the Ground Game: An Analysis of Multi-Channel Marketing in U.S. Presidential Elections

By: Lingling Zhang and Doug J. Chung

This study jointly examines the effects of television advertising and field operations in U.S. presidential elections, with the former referred to as the “air war” and the latter as the “ground game.” Specifically, the study focuses on how different campaign... View Details

Keywords: Multi-channel Marketing; Ground Campaigning; Political Campaigns; Discrete-choice Model; Instrumental Variables; Political Elections; Marketing Channels; Advertising; United States

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January 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods: Getting Out Of The Gun Business (A)

By: George A. Riedel

Dick's Sporting Goods was one of the top five retailers of a range of firearms in the US. Over the last several years and specifically following the Parkland shooting of 2018, Ed Stack, the CEO and chairman, had wrestled with the question of their role as a leading... View Details

Keywords: Gun Policy; Gun Violence; Sporting Goods; Sport; Human Behavior; Violence; Ethics; Decision Making; Social Issues; Corporate Accountability; Sports Industry; Retail Industry; United States

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

When Silence Spells Trouble at Work

employees in organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations to government bureaucracies reveal that silence can exact a high psychological price on individuals, generating feelings of humiliation, pernicious... View Details

Keywords: by Leslie A. Perlow

March 2015 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Behavioural Insights Team (A)

By: Michael Luca and Patrick Rooney

The Behavioural Insights Team case introduces students to the concept of choice architecture and the value of experimental methods (sometimes called A/B testing) within organizational contexts. The exercise provides an opportunity for students to apply these principles... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Experiments; Choice Architecture; Public Entrepreneurship; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Taxation; Economics; Public Administration Industry; United Kingdom

20 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

2014
Case

Microfinance Services in Rural Areas--Farmers' Self-reliance Branch of CFPA Microfinance in Shangyi County

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Siqun Yang and Meihua Shen

Microfinance is introduced into China in the 1990s. It had gone through 3 phases since the beginning, namely the pilot phase when all Microfinance practices are sponsored by charity funds based on projects, the promotion phase when the government subsidized some... View Details

Keywords: Rural Entrepreneurship; Value Added; China; Risk Management; Microfinance; China

2012
Other Unpublished Work

Towards Efficiencies in Canadian Internet Traffic Exchange

By: Benjamin Edelman and Bill Woodcock

Canadian Internet access is heavily and unnecessarily dependent upon foreign infrastructure, especially U.S. infrastructure. This dependence imposes significant burdens upon Canadian Internet users:

* Service prices are higher than would be the case if... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Canada; Privacy; Technology Networks; Rights; Communication Technology; Internet; Ethics; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

2010
Working Paper

Lawful but Corrupt: Gaming and the Problem of Institutional Corruption in the Private Sector

By: Malcolm S. Salter

This paper describes how the gaming of society's rules by corporations contributes to the problem of institutional corruption in the world of business. "Gaming" in its various forms involves the use of technically legal means to subvert the intent of society's rules in... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Competitive Advantage; Earnings Management; Trust; Law; Performance; Investment Funds; Private Sector; Behavior; Relationships; Goals and Objectives

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

responding more quickly and effectively to the pandemic than their government was, demonstrating the faith that consumers have in their brands and the companies that stand behind them. 86 percent of surveyed consumers view their brands as... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

01 Dec 2022
News

Full Court Press

region. After all, while it might have a Silicon Valley–like valuation and aggressive expansion plan, the organization can’t simply hire more software engineers in order to grow. And unlike the NBA’s efforts to operate in China, where it had to deal with only one View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

2022
Book

Making Meritocracy: Lessons from China and India, from Antiquity to the Present

By: Tarun Khanna and Michael Szonyi

How do societies identify and promote merit? Enabling all people to fulfill their potential, and ensuring the selection of competent and capable leaders are central challenges for any society. These are not new concerns. Scholars, educators, and political and economic... View Details

Keywords: Merit; Meritocracy; Society; Government and Politics; History; Power and Influence; Leadership; Competency and Skills; China; India