Real Investment - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity

their full promise. And that’s a key piece of information to have as companies consider investing what consulting firm Accenture estimates will be $35 trillion into cognitive technologies in the United States by 2035. Just adding AI tools... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Information

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Strategy and the Internet

entire value chain, across almost every company and industry. And because it is an open platform with common standards, companies can often tap into its benefits with much less investment than was required to capitalize on past... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

24 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Activity-Based Costing

$0.80) for processing customer orders, $35.20 (44 by $0.80) for handling inquiries, and $40 (50 by $0.80) for performing credit checks. Once you have calculated these standard rates, you can apply them in real time to assign costs to... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & Steven R. Anderson

06 May 2021
HBS Case

How Four Women Made Miami More Equitable for Startups

Despite widespread investment in entrepreneurship in cities across America, venture capital-funded startups still tend to be founded by white men in Silicon Valley. In contrast, businesses led by women are 63 percent less likely to... View Details

Keywords: by Carolyn DiPaolo

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

including simulations, the kinds of tests used at HubSpot, or interviewing techniques. Many sales organizations could emulate the practice used by investment banks and consulting firms when hiring MBAs: the summer job is, in effect, an... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

09 Jan 2020
Book

Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

the real deal, capping two decades of investment in developing software algorithms and AI technologies. It showed that AI had moved to the center of the company, to the core of its operating model.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 May 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Know If Your Neighborhood Is Being Gentrified

close to real time. Although the study helps identify where gentrification is occurring, it’s unclear what’s causing what. “It could be that people see a Starbucks coming in and say, ‘This is a neighborhood we should move into,’” says... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

18 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

After the 'Crypto Crash,' What's Next for Digital Currencies?

has reinforced the perception of critics that markets for the digital currency—used primarily as an investment vehicle as it is not widely accepted as payment for goods and services—are little more than global casinos operating with... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Financial Services; Technology

09 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

When Climate Goals, Housing Policy, and Corporate R&D Collide, Social Good Can Emerge

For almost four years, Omar Asensio and his colleagues have been studying the impact of federal energy programs on low-income neighborhoods. The intersection of technology—artificial intelligence, in particular—and public policy has long been an area of focus for... View Details

Keywords: by Glen Justice

23 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 23

variety of applications and services that drive the popularity of software. The first principle focuses on enabling choice: firms should allow consumers and partners to have a real choice between complementary products and services from... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

directed, allow significant numbers of businesses to avoid bankruptcy. There are also massive amounts of private sector capital potentially available to support businesses in need. Bank balance sheets are generally sound, and hedge funds that specialize in View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

30 Apr 2020
Book

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives. At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Energy

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Truck Driver Who Reinvented Shipping

older ports witnessed the financial resurgence of port cities that had adopted containerization. His business got an additional boost when the Port of Oakland, California, invested $600,000 to build a new container-ship facility in the... View Details

Keywords: by Anthony J. Mayo & Nitin Nohria; Manufacturing; Transportation; Aerospace

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

to police its trademark by preventing others from using it to refer to something other than the Real Thing. Shareholder value is enhanced when a firm chooses an appropriate form of business organization, ranging from a limited liability... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

guidelines. Companies at this stage often wait too long to hire people experts—both human resources managers and experienced recruiters who get the startup-to-scale scene. That's a big mistake. Investing money in these roles early will... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

22 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 22

latter's poor behavior in other relationships is unlikely to have much marginal effect. We test the resulting hypotheses by examining how a venture capital firm's reputation for unreliability, triggered by repeated withdrawals from View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Aug 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

in class, in real time, and the list of ads are almost never the same. They don't match up, and that's a big “a-ha” moment for students to think about, what is the purpose of this ad? So going back to your question of are the stakes... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

Managers today have a problem. They know their companies must grow. But growth is hard, especially given today's economic environment where investment capital is difficult to come by and firms are reluctant to take risks. Managers know... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

forthcoming Financial Analysts Journal Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey By: Amel-Zadeh, Amir, and George Serafeim Abstract—Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from... View Details