Publications

September 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (B): New England Sales and Distribution

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a local gasoline/distillate sales and distribution business unit must communicate a new strategy to the unit's 300 employees. An initial strategic planning exercise identified a high-priority list of opportunities that blended the parent... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Adoption; Strategic Planning; Customization and Personalization; Management Practices and Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

March 2015
Case

Clifford Chance: Women at Work

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly and Stephanie Marton

It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to... View Details

Keywords: Women; Law; Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Human Capital; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Public Opinion; Problems and Challenges; Legal Services Industry; United States

2008
Working Paper

Resolving Information Asymmetries in Markets: The Role of Certified Management Programs

By: Michael W. Toffel

Firms and regulators are increasingly relying on voluntary mechanisms to signal and infer quality of difficult-to-observe management practices. Prior evaluations of voluntary management programs have focused on those that lack verification mechanisms and have found... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Information; Standards; Performance Improvement; Programs; Environmental Sustainability; Manufacturing Industry; United States

SSRN

Read Now

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

investment professionals. Asset Allocation by Institutional Investors after the Recent Financial Crisis Authors:Robert C. Pozen, Betsy Palmer, and Natalie Shapiro Publication:In Growing Old: Paying for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

The Value of Family Ownership, Control, and Management

In collaboration with Professor Raphael Amit of Wharton, Belén Villalonga is investigating how family ownership, control, and management affect firm value. Their forthcoming Journal of Financial... View Details

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

Can companies bet that a reunion would last? Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/717035-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 518-056 Amazon Buys Whole Foods The June 2017 news that e-commerce giant Amazon was paying $13.7... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

08 Nov 2016
First Look

November 8, 2016

this module by illustrating how to use a profit plan to test a strategy’s viability. This module shows how the profit plan plays a critical role in every business: setting performance goals for employees,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2012
Article

Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

US productivity growth accelerated after 1995 (unlike Europe's), particularly in sectors that intensively use information technologies (IT). Using two new micro panel datasets we show that US multinationals operating in Europe also experienced a "productivity miracle."... View Details

Keywords: IT Productivity; American IT Productivity; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; United States; Europe

03 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Celebrating Socioeconomic Diversity and Inclusion at HBS (Part 2)

While some took the SAT prep course without batting an eyelash, I had to think more deeply about when to take it so that I reaped the most benefit, how my family and I were going to pay for it, and how to... View Details

09 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Read All About It: Digital CEO Buys Traditional Media!

subscribers pay to get behind a firewall. Yet take a very long-term view of the evolution of the Web—something that Bezos is willing to do—and ask, as one possible scenario: In a world of micropayments on the Web (say at 1/10th of a cent... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Journalism & News; Publishing

13 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 13

paid forward in kind, greed was paid forward more than generosity. This asymmetry was driven by negative affect, such that a positive affect intervention disrupted the tendency to pay greed forward. Implications View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Building a Better Board

honest criticism will hurt the group's collegiality or, worse, result in reprisal—namely, getting kicked off the board and losing a gig that often pays six figures annually, plus stock options or shares. "At $150,000 a year—a typical... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

issue high-headline-rate and more complex products in low-rate environments. Finally, we find that high-headline-rate and more complex products are more profitable for banks, and that their ex post View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Dow at 20,000: What's That All About?

It took more than a century for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks thirty selected blue chip stocks, to hit 20,000, but it finally happened last Wednesday – a milestone marked by banner headlines and happy investors. In a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

terms of the proposed JV, Merck would pay Bayer $1 billion upfront for access to their pipeline of drugs and could pay up to another $1.2 billion in contingent payments based... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2003
Background Note

Identity Issues in Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

This note explains how identity dynamics underlie many of the observable interpersonal problems that team members encounter, ranging from lack of participation and low involvement to misunderstandings and dysfunctional emotional conflict. It provides a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Managerial Roles; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Emotions; Identity

Research Summary

Overview

I am a field researcher studying the relational nature of work. Organizations are inherently social institutions and provide myriad opportunities for relationship formation. My work begins with the simple insight that all relationships are not equal: interpersonal... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Motivation; Feedback; Personal Development; Needs; Organizational Design; Performance Productivity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Groups and Teams; Family and Family Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consulting Industry; Consumer Products Industry

24 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 24, 2008

Working Papers Firm-Size Distribution and Cross-Country Income Differences Authors: Laura Alfaro, Andrew Charlton, and Fabio Kanczuk Abstract We investigate, using firm-level data for 79 developed and developing countries, whether... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 1982 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Ellis Manufacturing Co.

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Ellis finds itself in a weakening competitive position largely due to the lack of rationalization in its plants. Driven by a strong traditionally decentralized sales organization, Ellis finds that all plants want control over all product lines. As a result, overall... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Brands and Branding; Performance Capacity; Competitive Strategy; Construction Industry