Publications

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 4: Sensing Opportunity

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the fourth module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome them. The course emphasizes... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Projects; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Perspective; Value Creation; Networks; Alignment

October 7, 2021
Article

Carbon Might Be Your Company’s Biggest Financial Liability

By: Robert G. Eccles and John Mulliken

The price of carbon may be zero in many places today, but it’s unlikely to remain zero for long. That means that many companies have hidden liabilities on their books. To cover their carbon short position, executives can take several steps: Measure the position in... View Details

Keywords: Climate Risk; Climate Finance; Risk Management; Governance; Environmental Accounting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability

June 2017
Teaching Note

Quiet Logistics (A) and (B)

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 115-001 and 115-003. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Five Forces; Risk; Adaptability; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; United States

July 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Supplement

McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (B)

By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague

On Tuesday March 15, 2011, all 1,200 global Partners of McKinsey & Co. gathered at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center near Washington, DC for their annual Partners' conference. The atmosphere was tense as Partners, in addition to their normal agenda,... View Details

Keywords: Board; McKinsey; CONSULTING Firms; Risk; Risk Assessment; Partnerships; Insider Trading; Confidentiality; Personal Investing; Reputation; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Construction Industry; United States; California

12 Feb 2025
Blog Post

How risk can be the key to a sustainable future with Sophie Levin (MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences 2022

hired in your current position? I’m currently the General Manager of Newlab’s flagship location in Brooklyn, New York. Newlab is a venture platform that helps early-stage critical tech startups grow by providing access to community,... View Details

21 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Going Through the Motions: An Empirical Test of Management Involvement in Process Improvement

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker; Health

Web

Investment Management and Capital Markets - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Investment Management and Capital Markets Course Number 1446 Professor Luis Viceira Associate Professor Emil Siriwardane Fall; Q1Q2; 3.0 credits 28 sessions Exam IMCM is suitable for all students interested in gaining a... View Details

April 2023
Article

The Subjective Expected Utility Approach and a Framework for Defining Project Risk in Terms of Novelty and Feasibility—A Response to Franzoni and Stephan (2023), ‘Uncertainty and Risk-Taking in Science’

By: Jacqueline N. Lane

In their Discussion Paper, Franzoni and Stephan (F&S, 2023) discuss the shortcomings of existing peer review models in shaping the funding of risky science. Their discussion offers a conceptual framework for incorporating risk into peer review models of research... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Research; Resource Allocation; Perception

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15 Apr 2024
Book

Struggling With a Big Management Decision? Start by Asking What Really Matters

think that the four questions are yet another of the many lists offered to managers for making decisions. But this badly underestimates their power and their importance. These questions are the basic structure, the steel beams, of our... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

16 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

What Football Firings Teach Managers About Staying Relevant

unique to sports, of course. Based on our surveys with executives from a wide range of fields, the rate at which managers lose relevance has increased dramatically, even over just the last decade. The world is changing faster than ever... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

01 Feb 1997
News

Conversing in Cyberspace: Students and Alumni Talk Management

Does a new general manager who delegates decisions run the risk of appearing indecisive? Is an "open-door" policy a good way for a general manager to get information, or a... View Details

Keywords: Daniel Penrice

2016
Working Paper

Signaling without Certification: The Critical Role of Civil Society Scrutiny

By: Susan A. Kayser, John W. Maxwell and Michael W. Toffel

In response to stakeholders' growing concerns, companies are joining voluntary environmental programs to signal their superior environmental management capabilities. In contrast to the literature's focus on certification programs that require a third-party audit, we... View Details

Keywords: United Nations; Labor Standards; Supplier Relationship; Procurement; Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Quality And Safety; Risk; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Reputation

SSRN

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May 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Case

The Kashagan Production Sharing Agreement (PSA)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Florian Bitsch

When discovered in the 1990s, the Kashagan oil field was the second largest oil field in the world. The project sponsors (equity investors) signed a 40-year production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Kazakh government in 1997, with the expectation the field would... View Details

25 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Self-Regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

Keywords: by Andrew King & Michael W. Toffel

2018
Working Paper

Managing Through Organizational Change: Employee Alignment in the Presence of Unexpected Career Concerns

By: Ohchan Kwon and Jee-Eun Shin

This study examines performance consequences due to unexpected career concerns – layoff risks due to institutional reasons. Exploiting a company-wide announcement of a merger decision by management as a trigger event for unexpected career concerns, we examine employee... View Details

Keywords: Career Changes; Performance Measures; Incentives; M＆A; Employees; Personal Development and Career; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Motivation and Incentives

1 Aug 2010
Conference Presentation

Firm Performance, Top Management and Minority Hiring: African‐American Coaches in the NFL, 1970‐2007

By: Andrew Hill and David Thomas

Studies of minority hiring have found that low-status firms are more likely to hire minority candidates. However, most work has examined hiring for entry and mid-level positions, not senior management, which differs in the level of 1) uncertainty regarding the optimal... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Recruitment; Relationships; Risk and Uncertainty; Ethnicity; Sports Industry; Africa; United States

03 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

How Should Managers Deal with the Challenges of Building an Inclusive Workplace?

CamiloTorres What Are the Most Effective Management Approaches to Inclusion? Inclusion is important to an organization. But it is a challenge in the current day workplace climate, especially when it comes to such things as one-on-one... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and David Kiron

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) faces a serious loss of knowledge--both because of the "faster, better, cheaper" mandate for Mars missions and from the retirement of key personnel. An extensive knowledge management system for NASA/JPL includes formal knowledge-capture... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Dissemination; Leadership Development; Internet and the Web; Risk and Uncertainty; Organizational Culture; Retirement; Human Resources; Human Capital

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details