Publications

06 Sep 2005
What Do You Think?

What are the Lessons of New Orleans?

practical ends in mind." Dennis Crane added that "true leadership does make a difference." Related to this was Yuko Nakanishi's observation that "any ambiguity in terms of responsibilities . . . must be eliminated... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Ananth Raman

Ananth Raman is a professor in the Technology and Operations Management area where he has taught courses on various aspects of Operational Excellence—supply chain management, technology and operations management, and service operations—to MBA students... View Details

Keywords: apparel; retailing; software

2017
Working Paper

Business and Green Knowledge Production in Sweden 1960s–1980s

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Kristina Söderholm

This working paper contributes to the burgeoning historical literature that has transformed our understanding about the relationship between big business and the environmental regulation. Previously, it was believed that corporate managers resisted the extra costs... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; History; Sweden

SSRN

Read Now

Article

Team Scaffolds: How Mesolevel Structures Enable Role-based Coordination in Temporary Groups

By: M. Valentine and A. C. Edmondson

This paper shows how meso-level structures support effective coordination in temporary groups. Prior research on coordination in temporary groups describes how roles encode individual responsibilities so that coordination between relative strangers is possible. We... View Details

Keywords: Fluid Personnel; Team Scaffolds; Team Effectiveness; Role-based Coordination; Multi-method; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Performance Efficiency

Find at Harvard

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

Presentation Round-Up

their hybrid-fiber-coaxial (HFC) network lose out to the All Fiber Network (AFN) developed by the electric power companies in concert with RCN-inspired entrepreneurs. No, wait. It's 2010, and the channels... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Kenneth Liss; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

18 Aug 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courageous Leader Triggers a Moral Revolt of CEOs Against Trump

of America’s leading CEOs, Merck’s Ken Frazier, who grew up in inner-city Philadelphia and whose grandfather was a South Carolina slave born before the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Frazier was deeply troubled last Saturday after the events in Charlottesville... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

emergence of stage 2 will have fallen into place. The first will be robust platforms that facilitate the creation of user-generated content. The second will be the emergence of a user network, whose... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

17 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions

depleted many pension plans by dramatically reducing the value of investments, even while companies were still responsible for paying predetermined benefits. Increasing the pressure are two other factors. Life expectancy has increased,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Aerospace; Financial Services

Program

Competing in the Age of AI—Virtual

will delve into diverse applications of AI, machine learning, predictive modeling, and data science; explore network effects and platform strategies; and learn how to build an AI factory that enables your company to compete successfully... View Details

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

looked past their stubborn bargaining positions to their underlying interests. By stepping back and mapping the parties' real interests, it emerged that the farmers were worried about reduced water flow below the dam, the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2007
Working Paper

Digital Interactivity: Unanticipated Consequences for Markets, Marketing, and Consumers

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

The digital interactive transformation in marketing is not unfolding, as many thought it would, on the model of direct marketing. That model anticipated that digital media using rich profiling data would intrude marketing messaging more deeply and more precisely into... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Interactive Communication; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

Read Now

September 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa

By: Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Francesco Tronci

Harambe was a non-profit organization whose mission was to build an ecosystem to identify promising young African entrepreneurs and provide them access to training, markets, capital, and support networks. From 2007 to 2021, Harambe had grown to a network of 367... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Model; Strategy; Organizational Structure; Business Startups; Capital; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Developing Countries and Economies; Emerging Markets; Africa; South Africa

Program

Developing Yourself as a Leader—Virtual

Summary As high-performing emerging leaders develop their leadership style, it is imperative to have the skillset and knowledge to gain influence and increase impact across an organization. This virtual program will arm you with a number... View Details

August 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll: The MTV Approach to Tackling HIV/AIDS

By: Tarun Khanna, Sonali R. Bloom and David E. Bloom

This case explores the role that MTV, with its heavy diet of music and general youth-oriented media content, plays in spreading public-service messaging to contain the scourge of HIV/AIDS worldwide. There is a focus especially on its efforts in several emerging... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Emerging Markets; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Health Industry; Africa

Research Summary

International business and political risk in West Africa

This project, based on confidential corporate archives, explores the response of foreign companies to political decolonization and the threat of expropriation in Ghana and Nigeria. Foreign companies in Ghana and Nigeria, especially those from Britain, had a... View Details

International Business and Decentralized Finance

Over the last decade, the green shoots of a new economic order have emerged as decentralized technologies challenge traditional financial systems. Decentralized finance (DeFi) holds the potential to transform international business (IB) by offering accessible... View Details

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk

By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell

The notable success of insurance products for low-income clients of its microfinance network leads Opportunity International to launch the first global specialized microinsurance company, the Micro Insurance Agency (MIA). Building on the experience in 10 countries... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Cost Management; Microfinance; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America

July 2004
Supplement

World Vision International: The AIDS Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Management discusses the organizational and governance challenges of operating a global network of partner organizations. Then key managers reflect on the decision World Vision must make on the AIDS Hope Initiative--a new strategic direction that challenges many of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Core Relationships; Welfare; Value; Health Industry