Publications

April 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Background Note

Household Furniture Industry in 1986

By: Michael E. Porter and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Profiles the household furniture industry in the United States in 1986. Designed for use with Masco Corp. (A) and (B). View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2017
Article

Inflation Bets or Deflation Hedges? The Changing Risks of Nominal Bonds

By: John Y. Campbell, Adi Sunderam and Luis M. Viceira

The covariance between U.S. Treasury bond returns and stock returns has moved considerably over time. While it was slightly positive on average in the period 1953–2009, it was unusually high in the early 1980s and negative in the 2000s, particularly in the downturns of... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Bonds; Interest Rates; Investment Return; Risk Management

Read Now

November 2001
Background Note

Sexual Harassment Law and Policy

By: Michael A. Wheeler, Georgia Levenson and Arturo Corso

Outlines the recent development of legal principles regarding sexual harassment, including procedures in the United States and state courts, what circumstances constitute harassment, the resolution of these conflicts and the resulting consequences for the individuals... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Policy; Working Conditions; Code Law; Outcome or Result; Conflict and Resolution; United States

April 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW)

By: Robert J. Dolan

In 1992, BMW attempts to revive its position in the United States market. In 1991, unit sales had fallen to 53,000 from 88,000 in 1987. The new CEO of North America considers a multifaceted plan to turn around the situation. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Sales; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; North America

Mar 2012
Article

Rethinking School

Economists have found that the higher a country's academic test scores, the faster its GDP grows. That puts the United States' perennially mediocre test scores in a particularly ominous light. Progress is being made, says Childress, of... View Details

April 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Background Note

Note on U.S. Pension Accounting

By: Robert C. Pozen and Brij Khurana

The purpose of this note is to describe the manner in which publicly traded corporations and local governments in the United States account for their pension plans. View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Accounting; United States

Research Summary

Areas of Interest

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Primary Topics: complexity, dispute resolution, ethics, improvisation, moral leadership, negotiation, psychodynamics

Additional Topics: alliances, cognition, conflict, creativity, crisis management, decision-making, electronic... View Details

22 Jan 2014
News

High-Tech Immigrant Workers Don’t Cost US Jobs

12 Mar 2020
News

A proposal to cap provider prices and price growth in the commercial health-care market

02 Sep 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Overlooked Forces Shielding the US from Severe Economic Downturns?

dependable distribution with internet-enabled inventory control extending all the way into consumer households and businesses. The result is that inventory value in relation to sales in the United States has... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

Video

Andrew Pratt - Making A Difference

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Freeing Patient Data to Enable Innovation

Patients are not actually the customers in the United States health care system, a fact largely to blame for the dearth of communication and data sharing between providers, according to experts at a recent... View Details

Keywords: Re: Karim R. Lakhani; Health

27 Jan 2011
News

U.S. Competitiveness Problem?

19 Sep 2011
News

How to Bring Our Companies' Foreign Profits Back Home

15 Apr 2014
News

Calderón: Economic Arguments Needed to Bolster Climate Change

November 1987 (Revised March 1988)
Case

Searching for Trade Remedies: The U.S. Machine Tool Industry--1983

By: David B. Yoffie

In 1983 the National Machine Tools Builder Association was predicting a declining market for the United States and rising imports. Machine tool manufacturers had to decide if they should ask the U.S. government for help, and if they did, which administrative channels... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Machinery and Machining; Government and Politics; Law; Production; Business and Government Relations; Competition; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; Germany; United States

Find at Harvard

19 Apr 2014
Interview

How the U.S. is Lagging on Quality of Life

By: Michael E. Porter

Fareed Zakaria speaks with Michael Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business School, about a groundbreaking new Social Progress Index and how the United States is lagging on many indicators. View Details

Keywords: Social Progress Index; Social Issues; United States