Publications

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28 May 2020
Blog Post

How to Fit in at HBS

our cities and keeping them clean. Yet what has struck me the most during my reflection is not the fact that I made it here and felt like I fit in despite my family’s story. I made it here and fit in because of it. I realized that View Details

14 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

and friends,” DiDonna says. This time takes longer than many people expect—averaging six to eight weeks. For that reason, he suggests that people considering a sabbatical take at least four months off, if View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Science Business: What Happened to Biotech?

the industry, and what lessons managers might learn from an industry in structural disharmony. Sean Silverthorne: Biotech has not lived up to its expectations, either in providing outstanding returns for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology

July 2017
Case

A Green Forest Grows in Brooklyn: Joint Venturing with the Chinese

By: Charles F. Wu

MaryAnne Gilmartin, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner (“Forest City”) was planning for yet another protracted discussion over the merits of a green roof for part of her $5 billion dollar new development in Brooklyn. While the low seven-figure cost overrun was to... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate Development; Real Estate; EB-5; Sustainability; Promote; Waterfall; Joint Ventures; Environmental Sustainability; Relationships; Real Estate Industry; China

December 1998
Case

Casto Travel

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Susan Harmeling

Maryles Casto had the vision to build the largest travel agency in Silicon Valley, mirroring the growth pattern of the entire area. In 1997 the travel business changed dramatically as airlines chose not to pay travel agencies the fees they once did. Simultaneously, the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Markets; Travel Industry

Written as a guide to the dynamic and increasingly important field of project finance, this casebook provides detailed descriptions and analysis of 20 project-financed transactions. Other books describe what project finance is and how it works. In this book, Benjamin... View Details

June 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Case

The Suzlon Edge

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Juliana Seminerio

With prices of oil, coal and gas at historically high levels, the wind industry had installed more than 20,000 MW of wind energy, representing a $37 billion investment in 2007. Besides high prices, wind energy represented a solution for consumers seeking an energy... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Cost vs Benefits; Renewable Energy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Integration; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; India

24 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Is Your iPhone Turning You Into a Wimp?

tasks and a final questionnaire, all on the assigned device. When the participants were done with the tasks, the researcher pointed to a clock in the room and said, "I will get some forms ready for you to sign so I can pay you and you can... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Consumer Products

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

with content offered at positive prices, and peer-to-peer file sharing networks, which do not seek profit maximization, use p2p network architectures, and offer content for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

November 2022
Case

Hiring with the Community in Saint Paul

By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta

This case reviews Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s decision to involve the community in the process of hiring his cabinet members. Rather than relying on an executive recruiting firm or choosing cabinet heads from his own network, Carter recruited 100 community members... View Details

Keywords: Community Engagement; Competency and Skills; Government and Politics; Human Resources; Government Administration; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Decision Making; Public Administration Industry; United States; Minnesota; Saint Paul

January 2010
Article

Breakthrough Inventions and Migrating Clusters of Innovation

By: William R. Kerr

We investigate the speed at which clusters of invention for a technology migrate spatially following breakthrough inventions. We identify breakthrough inventions as the top one percent of U.S. inventions for a technology during 1975-1984 in terms of subsequent... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Labor; Immigration; United States

Read Now

26 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

National Health Costs Could Decrease if Managers Reduce Work Stress

world mathematically and use that to make decisions is very interesting to me," he says. "The world is not deterministic—there is a randomness built into it. And yet, by using robust optimization techniques we can tackle a wide... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

31 Aug 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t More Organizations Understand the Power of Diversity and Inclusion?

varied. “While diversity is easier to measure quantitatively,” Laurie pointed out, “inclusion metrics are currently qualitative and inconsistent.” Bob put it in personal terms: “I was able to hold myself accountable for diversity results,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Patent Trolls

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun & Scott Duke Kominers

Research Summary

Sell-Side Analysts and Corporate Spinoffs

This study investigates the information content and accuracy of analyst reports written about companies that are about to undertake equity spinoffs. This research is among the first to provide a detailed look at the extent to which analysts evaluate upcoming... View Details

September 1992 (Revised September 2010)
Background Note

Executive Stock Options

By: Henry B. Reiling

After a brief comment on the practical problems associated with taxing options and the possible occasions on which taxation might occur, the note describes the current policy imbedded in the Internal Revenue Code and gives examples of this policy in operation. The... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Policy; Taxation; Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Column

What Will U.S. Health Care Look Like After the Pandemic?

By: Robert S. Huckman

The pandemic crisis is almost certain to change many American industries. It would be a shame if health care is not one of them. A number of major practices have been altered to help the country cope with the extraordinary demands that the pandemic has imposed on the... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Change; Health Industry; United States

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May 2003 (Revised May 2009)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

May 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Taco Bell--1994

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991). To realize such growth, Martin embraces a philosophy of continual change. The implications for Taco Bell are dramatic... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Food; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Goals and Objectives; Change Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States