History By Inference - Publications - Faculty & Research

28 Mar 2024
News

Rooms with a View

Alexander Mirza (MBA 1997) has spent two decades in the hospitality industry, opening and growing major hotel brands, including Hilton, Starwood, and Caesars, with locations around the world. And with each new project, Mirza faced the same primary challenge. “It didn’t... View Details

Keywords: April White; photos by Christina Gandolfo; Hospitality

06 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

The Art of American Advertising

Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus; and Walter A. Friedman, Lecturer of Business Administration, and Director, Business History Initiative. "The exhibit is a wonderful demonstration of this innovation and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

08 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

The Immigrants Who Built America’s Financial System

establishing the struggling young country's financial system. In The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy, Thomas McCraw, the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History Emeritus at... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Banking

27 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

patients. “The extremely high profit margins in medical devices offers a setting in which the risks are often overwhelmed by the potential rewards to innovate, especially when competitors face their own product failures,” according to the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Auto; Medical Devices & Supplies

02 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

The Success of Persistent Entrepreneurs

When it comes to entrepreneurship, nothing says success like a track record of previous wins. Entrepreneurs with a history of success are much more likely to succeed in new ventures than first-timers or those who failed previously, new... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

12 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Management Practices, Relational Contracts, and the Decline of General Motors

Keywords: by Susan Helper & Rebecca Henderson; Auto

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Historically Speaking: A Roundtable at HBS

their work. Joining the discussion was Professor Debora Spar, a political scientist who recently traced the historical development of several pioneering technologies. Leading Research: Let's begin by talking about what led to the writing... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

04 Feb 2019
Book

Green Businesses Are Incredibly Difficult to Make Profitable. Try It Anyway

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology; Energy

2022
Working Paper

Buy Now, Pay Later Credit: User Characteristics and Effects on Spending Patterns

By: Marco Di Maggio, Justin Katz and Emily Williams

Firms offering "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) point-of-sale installment loans with minimal underwriting and low interest have captured a growing fraction of the market for short-term unsecured consumer credit. We provide a detailed look into the US BNPL market by... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Fintech; Consumer Credit; Credit; Consumer Behavior

04 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Most Leaders (Even Thomas Jefferson) Are Replaceable

like to think of themselves as truly indispensable—impact makers, history movers, culture changers—few reach the bar set by Steve Jobs, Napoleon, or Martin Luther King Jr., Mukunda says. (Even some people... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

07 Nov 2011
Research & Ideas

The Forgotten Book that Helped Shape the Modern Economy

affairs, could create national wealth based on manufacturing. This production would be fueled by an imperialistic British Empire, which through its expansion would provide the needed raw materials. The book proved extremely persuasive at... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

to an intensive study of a defining moment in the history of an iconic brand: when Porsche launched its first sport-utility vehicle, dubbed the Cayenne, after a long history of creating sports cars. Porsches... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Auto

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

approach, spearheading efforts to cut the rising costs of programming at the network by directing staff members to choose less expensive content and rely less on pricey A-list actors. Horn’s strategy paid off: View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports; Media & Broadcasting; Education

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

now-classic book is popular not just among newbies but also among leaders with decades of experience. “Unless you manage the context in which your team resides, there's no way that your team can be successful.” "I've always been surprised View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Sep 2003
What Do You Think?

To Whom Should Boards be Accountable?

numbers by cutting the newsgathering budget. What is a board's responsibility to employees and customers, among others? And just how can it be exercised in the context of a rich history of shareholder... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2010

dispersed around the globe. But the one theme that has attracted the most HBS Working Knowledge readers over our 11-year history is how to improve personal leadership skills. A third of the articles on this page relate to improving work... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

Importance of Being Causal

Causal inference is the study of how actions, interventions, or treatments affect outcomes of interest. The methods that have received the lion’s share of attention in the data science literature for establishing causation are variations of randomized... View Details

12 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

Creating Value Across Borders

being created, while in others, the stock of technical knowledge that can potentially be transferred into new ventures is locked up in companies. The best example is Japan, where most innovations are generated within research laboratories operated View Details