Publications

News

Case Study: Second Thoughts About a Strategy Shift

17 Feb 2015
HBS Case

HBS Cases: The Battle for San Francisco

by 30,000 by 2020, using city revenues to subsidize affordable housing, as well as a resolution to preserve a portion of the Mission District, the city's historically Latino neighborhood that has been increasingly gentrified. A View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

15 Jan 2019
News

Gillette, Brexit and Molasses

March 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Robert Moses

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Alexis Lefort

Robert Moses was Park Commissioner in New York City for nearly 50 years. In this position, he had more influence on the face of urban New York than anyone before or after. View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; New York (city, NY)

Article

Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?

By: Edward L. Glaeser and William R. Kerr

Why are some places more entrepreneurial than others? We use Census Bureau data to study local determinants of manufacturing startups across cities and industries. Demographics have limited explanatory power. Overall levels of local customers and suppliers are only... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Employment; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry

Read Now

In this paper, I analyze how the physical layout of cities affects innovation by influencing the organization of knowledge exchange. I exploit a novel data set covering all census block groups in the contiguous United States with information on innovation outcomes,... View Details

March 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Manchester Bidwell Corporation (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The head of Manchester Bidwell Corp. ponders what it will take to replicate its social services in 100 cities across North America and internationally--an effort that ultimately would cost several hundred million dollars. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Social Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Welfare; North and Central America

13 May 2020
Blog Post

Crisis Leadership with Nikhil Patel: The Critical Importance of Trust

says, “and parked underneath a tree to meet with gang members. We asked them, ‘What could the city do over the next three, six, and twelve months to improve lives and reduce gun violence?’” The point, Patel understood, was to build trust... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government; Social Enterprise

13 Aug 2019
Video

Using micromobility to reduce carbon emissions

23 May 2023
Cold Call Podcast

The Entrepreneurial Journey of China’s First Private Mental Health Hospital

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Education

February 4, 2017
Article

Historical Transformations in Boundary and Land Use in New Delhi's Urban Villages

By: Sudev J Sheth

New Delhi’s “urban villages” are the result of government land acquisitions that began in 1912 and continued into the 1960s. Since the 1980s, growing demand for real estate within the city has engendered unprecedented residential and commercial development in these... View Details

Keywords: India; Urban Planning; Eminent Domain; Land Politics; Real Estate; History; City; Planning; Urban Scope; India; Delhi

Find at Harvard

07 Dec 2015
News

Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries

June 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Open Innovation at Siemens

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Katja Hutter, Stephanie Healy Pokrywa and Johann Fuller

The case describes Siemens, a worldwide innovator in the Energy, Healthcare, Industry, and Infrastructure & Cities sectors, and its efforts to develop and commercialize new R&D through open innovation, including internal and external crowdsourcing contests. Emphasis is... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Management; Crowdsourcing; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Research and Development; Information Technology; Energy Industry; Health Industry; Green Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry

In February 2014, Amsterdam became the first city to issue new regulations specifically to allow home-sharing. Airbnb's Molly Turner, Global Head of Civic Partnerships; her colleagues at the San Francisco based home-sharing platform; and her counterparts in... View Details

November 1996 (Revised September 1997)
Case

BancZero New Product Development

By: Marco Iansiti and Alberto Moel

The Mexico City office of a large U.S. bank is asked by clients to develop currency swaps, a derivative financial product. This case deals with the new product development process in financial services, and the problems and issues that are raised in product development... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Banks and Banking; Financial Instruments; Situation or Environment; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Banking Industry; Mexico City; United States

May 2019
Supplement

Amazon's HQ2 (C): Choices

By: Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin

This supplement discusses Amazon’s 2018 decision to split its HQ2 between two locations--Long Island City in New York and National Landing outside Washington, DC—as well as the ensuing response from local politicians and the public. View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Headquarters; Local Government; Incentives; Business Headquarters; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics

2013
Article

Where Not to Eat? Improving Public Policy by Predicting Hygiene Inspections Using Online Reviews

By: Jun Seok Kang, Polina Kuznetsova, Yejin Choi and Michael Luca

Restaurant hygiene inspections are often cited as a success story of public disclosure. Hygiene grades influence customer decisions and serve as an accountability system for restaurants. However, cities (which are responsible for inspections) have limited resources to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Food; Governance Compliance; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Public Administration Industry; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry