Publications

2021
Book

The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees,... View Details

18 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Are Banks the ‘Bad Guys’? Overdraft Fees Are Crushing Low-Income Customers

shows. Despite scrutiny of overdraft fees during the financial crisis more than a decade ago, some banks still reorder checking account debits so that the largest amounts, rather than the earliest debits posted, are withdrawn first.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

January 2001 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Novartis Pharma: The Business Unit Model

By: Srikant M. Datar, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In June 2000, Novartis reorganized its pharmaceutical business to form global business units in oncology, transplantation, ophthalmology, and mature products. The remaining primary care products continued to be managed within global functions (e.g., R&D and marketing).... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Recruitment; Product Marketing; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

Customers demand more value and innovation than ever before, but they’re not always willing to pay more for that product or service. In fact, thanks to social media, dissatisfied customers can amplify their opinions about a company’s long support wait times or hold... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

March 2004 (Revised November 2012)
Teaching Note

P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project (TN)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Traces changes in P&G's international strategy and structure, culminating in Organization 2005, a reorganization that places strategic emphasis on product innovation rather than geographic expansion and shifts power from local subsidiary to global business management.... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Trade; Globalization; Global Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Business or Company Management; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Hong Kong; Japan; Taiwan; Europe

14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

themselves. However, the qualities they need to develop aren’t the ones you might expect. You might think an organization in flux needs a steady hand, someone with foresight and experience who plots a sensible route to cautiously and... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Value Maximization and Stakeholder Theory

"Every organization attempting to accomplish something has to ask and answer the following question," writes HBS professor Michael C. Jensen in the introduction to his recent working paper: "What are we trying to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

Teaching Interest

Financial Reporting and Control

By: Paul M. Healy

Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to measure and evaluate their organization's economic performance, improve resource allocation and strategy implementation within their organizations, and build accountability for performance through effective... View Details

September–October 2020
Article

Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value

By: George Serafeim

Until the mid-2010s few investors paid attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data—information about companies’ carbon footprints, labor policies, board makeup, and so forth. Today the data is widely used by investors. How can organizations create... View Details

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May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Vaxess Technologies, Inc.

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In February 2014, Michael Schrader, chief executive of Vaxess Technologies, Inc., was assessing the startup health care company's 2014 marketing plan. On December 31st, 2013, Vaxess had obtained an exclusive license to a series of patents for a silk protein technology... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Cold Chain; Antigen; Temperature Controlled; Developing Markets; Immunization; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Global Strategy; Supply Chain; Health; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Spring 2021
Article

Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19

By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang

The coronavirus pandemic caused a sharp market decline while raising heterogeneous responses across companies related to their employees, supply chain, and repurposing of operations to provide needed products and services. We study whether during the 2020 COVID-19... View Details

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Teaching Interest

Financial Reporting and Control

Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to measure and evaluate their organization's economic performance, improve resource allocation and strategy implementation within their organizations, and build accountability for performance through effective... View Details

February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston

January 2011 (Revised January 2012)
Supplement

The Case of the Unidentified Healthcare Companies2010 (CW)

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Ethan S Bernstein, Margarita Krivitski and Srinidhi Reddy

This case presents financial statements and selected rations for 14 unidentified healthcare organizations and asks that each set of financial information be matched with one of the following healthcare companies: a biotechnology firm, a community nursing company, a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Management; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

25 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

The Economic Cost of Physician Burnout

Physician burnout costs the United States health care industry $4.6 billion a year, a number that brings a new spotlight to an age-old problem. In a paper published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine this past June, a research... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Last Mile Health (A)

By: Brian Trelstad and V. Kasturi Rangan

As the Ebola outbreak threatens the fragile health system of Liberia, Raj Panjabi, the founder of Last Mile Health, faces a dilemma: should he expand beyond the organizaton's core mission to help the country build emergency health care capacity, or should he stick to... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Ebola; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Rural Scope; Health Pandemics; Growth and Development; Decisions; Health Industry; Africa

31 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?

policies that amount to a “fragmented insurance system” that leaves 10 percent of the population uninsured, according to research by Harvard Business School Professor Amitabh Chandra. “The United States spends substantially more on health View Details

Keywords: by Kasandra Brabaw; Insurance; Health

17 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

What Hospitals Must Learn to Compete

Harvard Business School professors Raffaella Sadun and Leemore Dafny are both economists who have studied hospitals extensively—Sadun’s research has looked at the economics of management, while Dafny’s examines interactions between health View Details

Keywords: by Alumni Bulletin Staff; Health

Article

Why Do Firms Have 'Purpose'? The Firm's Role as a Carrier of Identity and Reputation

By: Rebecca Henderson and Eric Van den Steen

Why do so many firms publicly espouse a "purpose" beyond simple profit maximization? And why do so many managers and employees appear to care deeply about this purpose and to believe that it is critically important? In this paper we argue that the conventional answers... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Reputation