Publications

17 Mar 2020
News

When the RFP for Amazon’s HQ2 arrived in September 2017, Stephen Moret (MBA 2001) had been on the job as president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) for only eight months. The commonwealth was not known for the generous... View Details

November 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

The Big 3 Roar Back

By: William W. George

The "Big 3"—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler—were all headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Born between 1903 and 1928, they dominated the automobile industry in the U.S. for decades until they became complacent. In the 1970s they started losing share to... View Details

Keywords: Production; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Industry Clusters; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

2023
Working Paper

Rapport in Organizations: Evidence from Fast Food

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Parker Howell, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

Common identity often provides a foundation for workplace rapport. Though gender is perhaps the most frequently studied dimension of identity among workers, little is known about how gender match between managers and their workers might affect team performance. Using... View Details

Keywords: Management; Relationships; Gender; Labor and Management Relations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Food and Beverage Industry; Colombia

Keywords: April White; Printing and Related Support Activities; Printing and Related Support Activities; Printing and Related Support Activities; Printing and Related Support Activities; Printing and Related Support Activities; Printing and Related Support Activities

Read Now

01 Mar 2014
News

Book Review: The Old West

than the quarterly bottom line. "In truth, whilst emerging countries continue their inexorable march towards economic supremacy, albeit with a few wobbles on the way, we in the West seem to be sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff," Pinto writes. View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

01 Sep 2011
News

Capitalism’s False Mantra

Related Links Martin discussing his book One of the most influential papers defining the role of business, “Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure,” was coauthored in 1976 by Michael Jensen, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management

15 Apr 2017
News

Bringing Markets to Myanmar

chance to be an agent of empowerment in this process. Skydeck is produced by the External Relations department at Harvard Business School and edited by Craig McDonald. It is available at iTunes or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.... View Details

Keywords: National Security and International Affairs; Government

Web

Introduction - The Worker - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

ideology and addressed Davenport’s concern that business school students tended “to look upon labor as a commodity and to ignore the human relations involved.” Among the collection’s holdings were the kinds... View Details

01 Jun 2008
News

Smartphones Get Smarter

When Apple’s Steve Jobs announced a new licensing deal for Microsoft software that makes Apple’s iPhone more attractive to businesspeople, venture capitalist John Doerr (MBA ’76) of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers was also on hand, the New York Times reported (March... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

22 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Immigrant Technologist: Studying Technology Transfer with China

entrepreneurship in China? A: Our interviews in Beijing and Shanghai emphasized that China is not for everybody. Even though the country generates a lot of excitement, offers a huge consumer market, and retains a lower-cost but very well-educated View Details

Keywords: Re: William R. Kerr; Technology; Computer

04 Oct 2024
In Practice

Research-Based Advice for the Seasonally Overwhelmed and Schedule Challenged

of September as the start of my year (even before I joined the HBS faculty) because many of the commitments in my portfolio were anchored to the academic calendar. Whether it was community chamber orchestras or semi-professional choirs, my musical pursuits always... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Jun 2015
News

Faculty Q&A: Reemerging Technologies

Your research examines industries that once seemed doomed but have experienced a comeback. How does this happen? I did my dissertation work on the Swiss watch industry, and I looked at what it takes for a technology to reemerge. For over two centuries, Swiss mechanical... View Details

18 Oct 2024
News

My Worst Job

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Dan Morrell: Hi, this is Dan Morrell host of Skydeck. When I was in high school, I worked as a dishwasher at a steakhouse chain in upstate New York. It was not glamorous work. I would clock out covered in a... View Details

04 Jun 2008
News

Whistle While You Work

Evil Empire once again, you won’t hear jukebox music that celebrates work and jobs. In fact, it’s a slam dunk you’ll hear the opposite (e.g., “Sixteen Tons,” “Get a Job,” “Workin’ for the Man,” “Take This Job and Shove It” .your favorite here). Herman Melville, who... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

22 Feb 2022
News

An Rx for Small Business Recovery

Karen Gordon Mills served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) during the height of the Great Recession. “Back then, I thought small businesses were weathering the worst financial crisis of my lifetime,” says Mills, now... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

December 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Yellow Corporation: On the Verge of Bankruptcy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

Yellow Corporation, one of the country’s oldest and largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, was nearing its 100th anniversary in 2024. Whether it would reach that milestone, however, was uncertain as the company was attempting to restructure its operations to... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Capital Structure; Restructuring; Financial Management; Ethics; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Truck Transportation; Change Management; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; United States

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

The Market and the Mountain Kingdom: Change in Lesotho's Textile Industry

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Regina M. Abrami, Noel Maurer and Aldo Musacchio

In Maseru, the capital of the Kingdom of Lesotho, the stirrings of industrialization and modernization were promising, and more than 50,000 workers, mostly women, were employed in the textile sector; the figure reflected more than a threefold increase in just a few... View Details

Keywords: History; Labor Unions; Trade; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Financial Crisis; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business and Government Relations; Decision Choices and Conditions; Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Lesotho