Publications

Educators

July – August 2008
Article

Help Employees Give Away Some of That Bonus

By: Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn

Employees who spend some or all of their bonuses on others-thereby creating what the authors call a "prosocial" workplace-are happier as a result. Managers can enhance that effect by providing opportunities to share the wealth. View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Behavior; Happiness

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November 18, 2010
Comment

Congress Should Focus on Social Security Reform

By: Robert C. Pozen

Keywords: Government and Politics; Compensation and Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

2022
White Paper

The Options Multiplier: Decoding the CareerWise Youth Apprentice Journey

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Rachel Lipson, Farah Mallah, Girish Pendse and Rachel Snyder

As more Americans question the appeal of costly higher education programs, earn-and-learn models, like apprenticeship, are attracting increasing attention from policymakers and employers alike. While apprenticeship is widespread in many parts of Europe,... View Details

Keywords: Apprenticeship; Higher Education; Training; Personal Development and Career; Cost vs Benefits; Success; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

July 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Sustainable Conservation--Where Next?

Sustainable Conservation (SusCon) is an environmental nonprofit in San Francisco that works collaboratively with the private and public sectors to achieve positive environmental change. The organization forms partnerships with industry and government agencies to devise... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Environmental Sustainability; San Francisco

Educators

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

self-employment. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic, with elasticity estimates ranging between -3.1 and -5.3. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

millions of extra pounds in tax revenue collected. "I’ve seen behavioral economics come into play in a variety of contexts, ranging from employee compensation and investment decisions to corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

21 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Bio-Piracy: When Western Firms Usurp Eastern Medicine

discover how immigration law affects the number of such patents, and explain how, under certain conditions, patenting traditional medicine can mutually benefit both corporate firms View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Legal Services; Biotechnology

March 2006 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Tecsis: A Global Cleantech Venture Based in Brazil

Bento Koike, founder and CEO of Tecsis Ltda., is facing a number of important decisions. With ups and downs typical of self-funded start-ups, Tecsis has grown to about 1,500 people and over $50 million in revenues with one major customer. Tecsis, located in Brazil, is... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Cost vs Benefits; Diversification; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Volatility; Green Technology Industry; Brazil; United States

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16 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs

percent. The cost of creating this closed ecosystem of top-tier executives is more than the price of CEO compensation and searches. It is also the cost of the failed messiahs who could not deliver the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Crowded at the Top: The Rise of the Functional Manager

collected information from some 300 large American firms, focusing primarily on the period between 1986 and 1999. By evaluating a combination of confidential compensation surveys, public accounting records,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021.... View Details

May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour

Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Distribution Industry

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September 2024
Case

Board Director Dilemmas: The Tradeoffs of Board Selection

By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and Patrick Sanguineti

After retiring from a long and successful career in financial auditing, Linda McGill looked forward to the prospect of joining a board. She felt the time was right to leverage the breadth of her experience while fulfilling one of her long-term goals. Though somewhat of... View Details

Keywords: Board Decisions; Corporate Boards; Board Networks; Cost vs Benefits; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retirement

Educators

November 29, 2011
Article

The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information