Publications

November 2009
Case

An Entrepreneur's Journey: Simi Nwogugu

By: John A. Davis and Shirley Spence

This multimedia case follows Simi Nwogugu's life from childhood in Lagos, Nigeria to Mount Holyoke and Wall Street, back to Lagos to found a chapter of Junior Achievement, through marriage and HBS to motherhood and disenchantment with opportunities for mothers in the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Work-Life Balance; Customization and Personalization; Business Ventures; Nigeria; United States

20 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

Incubators: The New Venture Capitalists?

kicking off a panel discussion at Cyberposium 2000. "But I think it's fair to characterize the incubator space as rather a sleepy one." Until now, that is. Once largely the domain of universities and public economic development... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

2023
Working Paper

No Revenge for Nerds? Evaluating the Careers of Ivy League Athletes

By: Natee Amornsiripanitch, Paul A. Gompers, George Hu, Will Levinson and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

This paper compares the careers of Ivy League athletes to those of their non-athlete classmates. Combining team-level information on all Ivy League athletes from 1970 to 2021 with resume data for all Ivy League graduates, we examine both post-graduate education and... View Details

Keywords: Outcome or Result; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career; Human Capital

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June 2019
Case

Rachael Ray: Cooking Up a Brand

By: Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams and Kerry Herman

Rachael Ray built a remarkable career and brand, first as a cooking personality, and then as a lifestyle maven. This case explores her early career, decisions taken along the way, and the successes she achieved in publishing, television and as a spokesperson. As her... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Entrepreneurship

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Black Employees Not Only Earn Less, But Deal with Bad Bosses and Poor Conditions

A racial salary gap has persisted in the US for more than 50 years among minority groups, with Black people currently earning 30 to 35 percent less than Whites. Now new research shows that in addition to receiving smaller paychecks, Black workers are also less likely... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

09 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 9, 2018

(website) Uninformed Consent By: John, Leslie K. Abstract—Companies want access to more and more of your personal data—from where you are to what’s in your DNA. Can they unlock its value while respecting consumers’ privacy? Publisher's... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 1989
Case

Steve Shirley

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Traces the career development of a well-known British entrepreneur who, as a young girl, was forced to flee the Nazi's occupation of Central Europe. Details her early work experiences in the heavily male dominated workplace of post-war Britain and follows the... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Great Britain

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Power of Leadership Groups for Staying on Track

times. How True North Groups Work In a True North Group you gain experience in giving and receiving feedback in nonjudgmental ways without taking it personally. This approach is more likely to enable individuals to absorb the feedback and use it for View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

12 Sep 2023
Book

Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

working memory, and less anxiety. Keep friendships in person and offline. “Social media is dangerous if it’s a substitute for in-person relationships,” Brooks says. Don’t be transactional. Value family and friends for who they are, not by... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

December 2014 (Revised March 2018)
Case

John D. Rockefeller: The Richest Man in the World

By: Tom Nicholas and Vasiliki Fouka

By the late nineteenth century scale and managerial hierarchies had extended to several major industrial sectors of the U.S. economy. Although the precise mechanisms often varied, this process mainly involved horizontal integration, some form of legal or administrative... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Wealth; Business History; Vertical Integration; Consolidation; Personal Development and Career; Energy Industry; United States

September 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Explore, Inc.

By: Allen S. Grossman, James E. Austin, Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Documents the creation of a national before and after-school day care program aimed at bridging the gap between school and parents' work schedules. This high-growth, for-profit social enterprise organization operated in what was historically the domain of nonprofit or... View Details

Keywords: Microeconomics; Growth and Development; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Mission and Purpose; Performance Expectations; Quality; Social Enterprise; Travel Industry

December 1994 (Revised February 1995)
Case

Anne Livingston and Power Max Systems (A): Interviewing with the PowerPlayer Software Engineering Team

Follows the entry and early experiences of engineer Anne Livingston, an African American woman, as she joins Power Max Systems in 1991 as software engineering manager for the new product development group. Power Max is facing stiff competition and wants to be first to... View Details

Keywords: Race; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture; Gender; Information Technology Industry

18 Apr 2022
HBS Case

Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

murder of 17 students and teachers in Parkland. And with those words, Stack, a gun owner and gun rights supporter, set in motion a series of corporate actions that may serve as a model for other CEOs trying to balance their personal... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

2013
Book

What You're Really Meant To Do: A Road Map for Reaching Your Unique Potential

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

How do you create your own definition of success—and reach your unique potential? Building a fulfilling life and career can be a daunting challenge. It takes courage and hard work. Too often, we charge down a path leading to "success" as defined by those around us—and... View Details

Keywords: Career Planning; Vocational Guidance; Job Satisfaction; Satisfaction; Personal Development and Career; Customization and Personalization

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2008
Working Paper

Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya

By: Nava Ashraf, Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan

In much of the developing world, many farmers grow crops for local or personal consumption despite export options which appear to be more profitable. Thus many conjecture that one or several markets are missing. We report here on a randomized controlled trial conducted... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; Profit; Product Marketing; Standards; Failure; Risk and Uncertainty; Non-Governmental Organizations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Service Industry; Kenya; Europe

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01 May 2024
What Do You Think?

Have You Had Enough?

(Illustration created using image generated by Midjourney, an artificial intelligence tool.) Last month, I posted a column in HBS Working Knowledge titled, “What’s Enough to Make Us Happy?” Over the last few months, I’ve been asking myself the same question: “What’s... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

09 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer

up from 73 percent in 2008. Mikes and her colleagues first examined the banks' "risk management tool-makers." Often viewed as risk "compliance champions," these functional experts don't influence decisions directly. At first sight, they spend their days behind the... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Banking

11 Jun 2024
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2024

As the vacation season looms, Harvard Business School faculty members share recommendations for a little light reading. Spoiler alert: Lessons in Chemistry tops two of their beach-read lists. For those whose brains can’t—or won’t—turn off, HBS faculty also suggest some... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

June 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Alex Montana at ESH Manufacturing Co.

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Kernish

Alex Montana sat at his desk pondering the career decision before him. Alex was director of the North American division of ESH Manufacturing, a $4.6 billion, Cleveland-based company with operations on three continents. ESH's CEO had just offered Montana a promotion to... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Manufacturing Industry; Cleveland