Publications

2021
Working Paper

The Changing Role of Business in Society

By: Michael E. Porter

Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public good, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the... View Details

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2022
Book

A Political Economy of Justice

By: Danielle Allen, Yochai Benkler, Leah Downey, Rebecca Henderson and Joshua Simons

Defining a just economy in a tenuous social-political time.
If we can agree that our current social-political moment is tenuous and unsustainable—and indeed, that may be the only thing we can agree on right now—then how do markets, governments, and people... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Social Justice; Capitalism; Business And Society; Economy; Society; Fairness; Economic Systems; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

November 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

eDonkey--Deciding the Future of File Sharing

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Sam Yagan, CEO of the upstart MetaMachine, Inc., received a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA) asking him to shut down eDonkey, MetaMachine's popular file-sharing system. In September 2005, more than 30 million users relied on... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Crisis Management; Music Entertainment; Legal Liability; Copyright; Music Industry; Music Industry; United States

01 Jun 2014
News

Innovation: An Orchestra of One

thought I'd try to play along with a YouTube video of Mendelssohn's Trio in D minor," says Chao. "It was such a clunky experience that I gave up after less than a minute. Music is about personal expression,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Arts, Entertainment

08 Aug 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The Unintended Consequences of the Zero Lower Bound Policy

Keywords: by Marco Di Maggio and Marcin Kacperczyk; Banking

14 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact

Assessing an organization's impact on a large-scale societal issue such as poverty is a complex and costly effort. In the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake, for example, an organization like Oxfam America... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

February 2005 (Revised March 2005)
Case

The P&G Acquisition of Gillette

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about the role of boards of directors in compensating CEOs and, specifically, the rewards granted to CEOs for arranging a change-of-control for their companies. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Consumer Products Industry; United States

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Supplement

IBM and the Reinvention of High School (C): Toward P-TECH's Rapid National Expansion

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Kelsi Stine-Rowe

In early 2016, Stanley Litow, IBM's Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs and President of the IBM International Foundation, made his travel arrangements for still another flight from New York to discuss possibilities for application of a new... View Details

Keywords: IBM; P-TECH; Stanley Litow: Robin Willner; Cuomo; Scaling; Innovation; New York State; New York City; Business Model; Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Education; Business and Community Relations; Change; Growth and Development; Technology Industry; New York (state, US); New York (city, NY)

01 Dec 2001
News

BOOK: The Money of Invention

advice about the strategic responses that are likely to be most effective in the changing venture capital environment. The third group — governments, nonprofits, academic institutions, and large corporations — can learn how to emulate the... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Finance; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

06 Jul 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do We Pay for the Costs of Globalization?

government policies, short-term corporate management thinking, the World Trade Organization (Paul saying, “Personally, I’m a long-time supporter of globalization, but the WTO decision-making process needs to... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Manufacturing

March 2010
Article

The Role of Independent Invention in U.S. Technological Development, 1880-1930

By: Tom Nicholas

Why did independent inventors account for over half of US patents by 1930 and more than three times the number granted to R&D firms? Using new data on patents and historical patent citations, I show that independents supplied high quality innovations to a... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Urban Scope; Independent Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; United States

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March 2010
Case

Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Michael Roberto and Ranjay Gulati

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Robert Mueller, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sought to transform the storied Bureau. The FBI had long served as both the chief law enforcement agency and the main domestic intelligence wing of the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Government Administration; National Security; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Acquisition; Law Enforcement; Public Administration Industry; United States

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0

By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover

Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

January 2003 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Multinationals as Engines of Growth?

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

Reviews the issues surrounding estimating the impact over time of multinationals on host economies. Uses a series of short historical case studies, including the role of United Fruit in the "banana" republics of Central America, oil and banking in Iran before the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Trade; Growth and Development; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Iran; United States; Malaysia; Japan

November 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Stephanie L. Woerner

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) runs one of the nation's most important research libraries and a museum focusing on colonial history. Financial analysis shows that the society has absorbed increased costs of operation over the past decade through slow but... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Cost; Human Resources; Leadership Style; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Strategy; Pennsylvania

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Beth Stewart: Navigating the Boardroom

By: Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell

After rising through the ranks of Corporate America, Beth Stewart has become a corporate director on the board of General Growth Properties. Stewart is struggling with how to address her mounting concerns over the financial health of the growing large publically traded... View Details

Keywords: Career Management; Women Executives; Women And Leadership; Boards Of Directors; Board Dynamics; Career Planning; Independent Directors; Leadership; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Interpersonal Communication; Leadership Style; Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Real Estate Industry; United States

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Government And Business; Digital Infrastructure; Political Risk; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Information Infrastructure; Technology Industry; China; United States

13 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Trust

It's called TrapGuard—a special kind of floor drain developed by a Georgia company that prevents sewer gases from entering homes. On the great spectrum of innovative products, it's probably not keeping... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Service

June 2013 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-hê Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland