Publications

May 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Pal's Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth

By: Gary P. Pisano, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats

Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service restaurant business. With a deep emphasis on process control and improvement, zero defects, extensive training, and a high level of employee engagement, Pal's... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Operations Strategy; Motivation; Values; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Values and Beliefs; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

04 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

The Business of Life

encourages its members to keep the Sabbath Day holy. He sees no dichotomy. "You know, it's a travesty that somehow our society has gotten to a point where people have the view that science and academia are inconsistent with a spiritual life, and the View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

28 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Can Navigate Politicized Conversations and Inspire Collaboration

we've found that even when people passionately disagree, they usually have some shared values or common beliefs that can bring them together. Hedge your claims. “I think it's very possible that the pandemic may overwhelm our medical... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

08 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Knowing What Your Boss Earns Can Make You Work Harder

sure employees were being honest in their beliefs about others’ compensation, the researchers, working with the bank’s HR department, offered monetary rewards for employees who accurately guessed the average salaries of others. They found... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

06 Dec 2017
What Do You Think?

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

on a belief voiced by some that they are evil, destroy jobs, avoid taxes, lie to regulators, or provide a weapon for Russia. Rather, he is concerned about the way they have benefitted from (and perhaps caused) market failure. He asks,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Web Services

Research Summary

Overview

By: Kris Johnson Ferreira

Professor Ferreira's research primarily focuses on how retailers can use algorithms to make better revenue management decisions, including pricing, product display, and assortment planning. In the retail industry, anticipating consumer demand is arguably one of the... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Analytics; Revenue Management; Pricing; Assortment Planning; Field Experiments; Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry

18 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

How New Managers Become Great Managers

start; landing stretch assignments; and building a network of developmental relationships. In framing each of these four challenges from the point of view of the emerging leader, I hope to underscore my belief that management, especially... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill

October 1993
Case

Analyst's Dilemma (A), The

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A young investment banker returns home one night to find that her roommate and best friend has been laid off from Universal Bank because Universal is shutting down its capital finance group. Her roommate makes her promise to keep this information confidential because... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Leveraged Buyouts; Conflict of Interests; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Nonprofit Brands

rely on the reputation of the nonprofit and the belief they have that the organization is doing, and will continue to do, good work. Edelman PR tracks consumer trust in global brands and has found that many global NGOs such as Amnesty... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

ways." Haunted by a belief that scientific, technological, and material progress was outstripping society's capacity for moral self-governance, and that the professions that had traditionally provided social and moral leadership... View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

2017
Book

The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return

By: Mihir Desai

The Wisdom of Finance takes well-known financial concepts and applies them to our most pressing life issues. The book is philosophical in its approach, but Desai's thesis is peppered with real-life examples of how financial types can and should see the world... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Institutions; Ethics; Values and Beliefs

Find at Harvard

27 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Your Employees Don’t Want to Be Facebook ‘Friends’

Organizations and Human Resources at Université du Québec à Montréal; and Wharton doctoral candidate Serenity Lee. "Sharing information about one’s personal lifestyle and beliefs online with the wrong colleague may expose employees to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

April 2017 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying to political activism. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must... View Details

June 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Larry Miller

By: Francesca Gino, Frances X. Frei, Hise Gibson and Alicia Dadlani

Under the leadership of Larry Miller, chairman and former president of Nike’s Air Jordan brand, annual revenues for the Jordan brand soared from $150 million to over $4 billion. But for over 40 years, Miller guarded a secret. When he was younger, he spent nearly a... View Details

Keywords: Race; Ethnicity; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Job Offer; Employment; Social Issues; Perspective; Personal Development and Career; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; Portland; Oregon

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Most Accountants Aren’t Crooks—Why Good Audits Go Bad

relationship, potential loss of the contract, and possible unemployment. But the costs of a positive report when a negative report is called for—protecting the accounting firm's reputation or avoiding a lawsuit, for example—are likely to be distant and uncertain. It's... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore; Accounting; Financial Services

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details