Publications

2024
Working Paper

Private Equity and Digital Transformation

By: Brian K. Baik, Wilbur Chen and Suraj Srinivasan

We study the role which private equity (PE) plays in digital transformation. We find that PE investment is associated with greater investments into portfolio firm’s digital technologies, as measured by IT expenditures and the hiring demand for AI skills. This... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Private Equity; Selection and Staffing; Investment Portfolio; Value Creation

February 2009
Teaching Note

Pitney Bowes: Employer Health Strategy (TN)

By: Michael E. Porter and Jennifer F Baron

Teaching Note for 709458. View Details

Keywords: Health; Employees; Cost; Policy; Situation or Environment; Innovation and Invention; Contracts; Programs; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; United States

March 2008
Exercise

Exercise: Challenging Operational Assumptions

By: Frances X. Frei

This exercise provides students with an opportunity to thoroughly test an operating assumption. Students state an assumption as a testable hypothesis, collect and analyze relevant data, and communicate the results. At HBS, it is incorporated in a second-year elective... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Employees; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Service Operations; Performance Improvement

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June 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

The Board of Directors at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Examines the resignation of Philip Purcell as chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley as a result of poor performance and cultural problems, as well as his relationship to the board of directors. View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Resignation and Termination; Performance; Rank and Position

Educators

1985
Chapter

The Federal Civil Service Retirement System

By: Dutch Leonard

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Retirement; Government and Politics; Public Sector

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18 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Leading Innovation is the Art of Creating ‘Collective Genius’

projects on time with limited computing resources while also limiting friction among the forces. The crazy solution: Brandeau asked Disney Animation (Disney bought Pixar in 2006) if the studio could borrow 250 computers, an idea someone... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

14 Feb 2018
News

A ‘Hopeaholic’ Promotes Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality in the Workplace

demonstrate how they can be more innovative and successful by fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. Coleman, who previously was managing director of the Nobel Peace Prize–nominated Feminist Majority Foundation, believes diversity... View Details

May–June 2024
Article

Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs

By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Karim R. Lakhani and Roberto Fernandez

Competence development in digital technologies, analytics, and artificial intelligence is increasingly important to all types of organizations and their workforce. Universities and corporations are investing heavily in developing training programs, at all tenure... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Gender; Training; Recruitment; Personal Development and Career

March 1, 2023
Editorial

To Overcome Resistance to DEI, Understand What’s Driving It

By: Eric Shuman, Eric Knowles and Amit Goldenberg

Employees often resist DEI initiatives, which of course hinders their effectiveness. The authors—experts in the resistance to social-change efforts—write that the key to overcoming resistance to any effort is figuring out why people are resisting. When it comes to DEI... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Conflict and Resolution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employees

April 2008 (Revised March 2015)
Case

TheLadders (A)

By: Peter A. Coles, Benjamin Edelman, Brian J. Hall and Nicole Bennett

Despite strong appeal among job seekers and outside recruiters, TheLadders' corporate job listings seem to lag. Could raising prices help solve the problem? TheLadders considers this strategic paradox. View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Price; Recruitment; Job Search; Marketing Strategy; Employment Industry

Educators

September 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Boeing Company's Accounting for Executive Stock Compensation, The

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Executive stock options are experiencing increased use and the Financial Accounting Standards Board is proposing changes in accounting in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Stock Options; Financial Reporting; United States

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June 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Supplement

Jonah Creighton (B)

By: Anne Donnellon and Joshua D. Margolis

Covers Jonah's two-hour meeting with the company's executive vice president who is next in line to become president, and the outcome of the discriminatory hiring incident that initially troubled Jonah. View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Outcome or Result; Problems and Challenges; Prejudice and Bias

12 Nov 2024
HBS Case

Inside One Startup's Journey to Break Down Hiring (and Funding) Barriers

Launching a social justice startup takes more than a moving story. Ask Harley Blakeman, the 32-year-old founder of Honest Jobs. He has perfected his elevator pitch, but that doesn’t mean launching his business has been easy. A once-homeless teenager from Florida,... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Employment

2007
Working Paper

The Impact of Shareholder Activism on Financial Reporting and Compensation: The Case of Employee Stock Options Expensing

By: Fabrizio Ferri and Tatiana Sandino

In this paper we examine the economic consequences of over 150 shareholder proposals to expense employee stock options (ESO) submitted during the proxy seasons of 2003 and 2004–the first case where the SEC has allowed an accounting matter to be subject to an advisory... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Financial Reporting; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations

July 2019
Teaching Note

AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

A Teaching Note for the "AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow" case study (HBS#820-017). The case describes how AT&T designed and implemented a program to retrain 100,000 of its workers. The case first reviews the technological forces that compelled AT&T to... View Details

2014
Report

Bridge the Gap: Rebuilding America's Middle Skills

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Jennifer Burrowes, Manjari Raman, Dan Restuccia and Alexis Young

The market for middle-skills jobs—those that require more education and training than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree—is consistently failing to clear. That failure is inflicting a grievous cost on the competitiveness of American firms... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Human Capital; Education; Competency and Skills; Macroeconomics; United States