Gap - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Dec 2017
What Do You Think?

Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?

from the US the ‘largest home market’ advantage, allowing them to subsidize pricing globally. I guarantee that Tencent, Alibaba and others will fill the gap left by a misguided break up.” David de Weese added, “It is not at all clear that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Web Services

2019
Working Paper

Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose

By: Malcolm S. Salter

In this paper, I address how the ascendance of the theory of shareholder value maximization into the central consciousness of public corporations and its canonization as the only legitimate expression of corporate purpose has contributed to both a widening breach... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Justice; Corporate Purpose; Shareholder Value Maximization; Ethical Reciprocity; Economic Systems; Business Ventures; Mission and Purpose; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Citation

SSRN

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2018
Working Paper

Zig-Zagging Your Way to Transformative Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Tricia Gregg

Achieving transformative impact has been much discussed by social entrepreneurs, funders, and consultants. These discussions have focused on issues of increasing impact and scale, but often with no clear distinction between the two terms. In order to provide clarity,... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Performance Efficiency; Growth and Development; Outcome or Result; Strategy

Citation

20 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Solving the Riddle of How Companies Grow Over Time

benchmarks? Defining what growth means Pisano and colleagues fill that gap in a new paper, Long-Term Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis of US Manufacturers 1959—2015, published in the journal Industrial and Corporate Change, the first... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

17 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Why Business Should Support Employees Who Are Caregivers

don’t realize that there are material returns associated with helping these workers,” says Fuller, a professor of management practice. “If I told an executive, ‘You could reduce your turnover of key personnel by 3 percent,’ they would say, ‘Where do I sign?’” The... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

08 Feb 2021
Book

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

all we’re told is ‘that’s not good enough’ then we’re going to give up.” Bazerman’s book closes that gap by drawing lessons from philosophy, yes, but also from behavioral economics, psychology, and negotiation theory to show how we can do... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Nonprofit Networking: The New Way to Grow

competitors rather than potential partners. The people who were suffering were the visually impaired. There was huge duplication of services in some areas, large gaps in others, and a waste of resources. "Peacock raised the capacity... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

09 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

OneTen: Creating a New Pathway for Black Talent

were engaged in an experiment they called ‘school desegregation.’ Being born in the inner city, my younger sister and I were put on busses and sent to better schools that happened to be almost all-white schools. And I got a much more rigorous education as a result of... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi E. Abdelal, Katherine Connolly Baden, and Boris Groysberg

Research Summary

Dissertation: Is the Ideal Worker Still Real? Sources and Consequences of Men's Professional Identities

My dissertation examines the implications of men's changing lives for their work identities and for gender inequality in organizations. Current theories of workplace gender inequality hinge upon the widely-shared cultural image of an "ideal worker,"... View Details

27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

December meeting, Firestone managers also decided to manufacture radials using modified bias tire equipment.16 This decision allowed Firestone to rapidly ramp up its radial production capacity to narrow the gap with Michelin and meet... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

just this week, Gap Inc. announced it will shut a fifth of its stores in North America over the next two years. Even in categories where only one retailer now exists—Best Buy in electronics and Barnes & Noble in books—the category... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

that I could do it myself, even if that meant stretching things a bit too far. Also, taking money from him would cause problems if things went sour." Brian's last point worries many other founders and investors. Just as cofounding with friends and family creates... View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

Research Summary

Corporate Lobbying Strategy and Foreign MNEs

“U.S. Defense Contracts and the Lobbying Strategies of Foreign MNEs: The Liability of Foreignness and Make-or-Buy Decisions about Political Goods”

Many firms engage in lobbying with the expectation that their lobbying efforts will... View Details

Keywords: Non-market Strategy; Political Strategy; Lobbying; Make V. Buy; Multinational Enterprise; Global Strategy; United States

Research Summary

Organisational Learning in Software Requirements Engineering and Management

The current research project addresses the continuing low success rate of software development projects, which has been frequently reported in empirical studies. For example, the 2004 Chaos Report by the Standish Group found that only 29% of 9,236 application... View Details

03 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Is the Future of MBA Education?

teaching excellence and innovation. Also visit the book's Web site. Martha Lagace: What led you to identify and study gaps and opportunities in MBA education? David Garvin: To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Harvard Business School in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

13 Apr 2021
Book

How Inclusive Managers Create Glass-Shattering Organizations

companies, and the gender pay gap persists. While young women are aware of these systemic problems, the more nuanced forms of sexism that persist today often take them by surprise, say Ammerman and co-author Boris Groysberg, the Richard... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

"button downed" and idealizes a more sophisticated, centralized approach. Both often "look down" on one another. Anything that can be done to bridge the gap is very useful. Several things can be done to encourage... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

13 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

e-mail Q&A with HBS Working Knowledge. (An excerpt follows from his new book, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis.) Martha Lagace: What leadership gaps do you see today in business and society? Bill George: I wrote 7 Lessons for Leading... View Details