Publications

August 2006 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Natura: Global Beauty Made in Brazil

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Explores the globalization strategies of Natura, Brazil's largest cosmetics company. Founded in 1969, Natura grew using a direct selling model. Led by its three founders, the firm made distinctive use of Brazil's diversity and became characterized by high ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Brazil

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 26 Oct 2016
Webinars: Career

Avoid the Mid-Career Slump

Do you feel stuck in your career? Are you working hard yet not making as much progress as you would like? Are you afraid you are plateauing prematurely or, even worse, heading for burnout? Or maybe you feel you're not performing to your potential? Welcome to the... View Details

23 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Are Great Teams Less Productive?

to help organizations better access, integrate, and leverage the talents and insights of their employees. An earlier career as an organizational change consultant led me to realize how many thoughtful, caring individuals were stymied in their genuine desires to View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

December 2015
Article

What Is Disruptive Innovation?

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael Raynor and Rory McDonald

For the past 20 years, the theory of disruptive innovation has been enormously influential in business circles and a powerful tool for predicting which industry entrants will succeed. Unfortunately, the theory has also been widely misunderstood, and the "disruptive"... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Theory

Find at Harvard

17 Jun 2015
News

Is Small Beautiful?

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 13 Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This is the first chapter in Part 3. Its purpose is to contrast the value structure of platform systems with step processes from a technological perspective. I first review the basic technical architecture of computers and argue that every computer is inherently a... View Details

Keywords: Platform Systems; Step Processes; Computer Architecture; Modularity; Information Technology; Digital Platforms

SSRN

2024
Working Paper

Consumers Hold Autonomous Vehicles Liable Even When Not at Fault

By: Julian De Freitas, Xilin Zhou, Margherita Atzei, Shoshana Boardman and Luigi Di Lillo

The deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the accompanying societal and economic benefits will greatly depend on how much liability AV firms will have to carry for accidents involving these vehicles, which in turn impacts their insurability and associated... View Details

Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles; Moral Judgment; Liabilities; Harm; Insurance; Moral Sensibility; Legal Liability; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Public Opinion

SSRN

September 2018
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

In mid-2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Commercialization; Service Industry

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Boston Scientific Corporation (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Charlie Attlan

Boston Scientific Corporation just bought Guidant at a record breaking price to expand their cardiovascular franchise. They need to rationalize their product portfolio to make the acquisition work. What should they sell and why? View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development; Product Marketing; Product Development; Franchise Ownership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

03 May 2017
HBS Seminar

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, The New York Times and Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

12 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship and Multinationals Drive Globalization

Entrepreneurship and Multinationals: Global Business and the Making of the Modern World, and his views on subjects ranging from whether globalism has been a force for good to what Nazi Germany tells us about... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Pharmaceutical

13 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Breaking Through the Self-Doubt That Keeps Talented Women from Leading

information to use in hiring decisions perpetuate existing gender gaps. “How can we increase the number of talented women in the pipeline for these top positions?” Coffman asks. “And, once they are there, how do we make sure employers... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

22 Jun 2015
News

An HBR Refresher on Breakeven Quantity

03 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Is the Future of MBA Education?

meeting, make a presentation, and give performance feedback. The third theme was the need for MBAs to develop a better sense of the realities of organizations within which... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

Ostensibly, Shah was trying to refocus employees. New research from Harvard Business School Professor Joseph B. Fuller offers a different take. When workers feel tension between their work and private lives,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

2019
Chapter

Behavioral Economics and Health-Care Markets

By: Amitabh Chandra, Benjamin Handel and Joshua Schwartzstein

This chapter summarizes research in behavioral health economics, focusing on insurance markets and product markets in health care. We argue that the prevalence of choice difficulties and biases leading to mistakes in these markets establish a special place for them in... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Consumer Behavior; Economics; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Markets

Find at Harvard

Summer 2018
Article

Scale versus Scope in the Diffusion of New Technology: Evidence from the Farm Tractor

By: Daniel P. Gross

Although tractors are now used in nearly every agricultural field operation and in the production of nearly all crops, they first developed with much more limited application. Early diffusion was accordingly rapid in these narrower applications but limited in scope... View Details

Keywords: Technology Diffusion; Spatial Technology Diffusion; Farm Tractors; R＆D; General-purpose Technologies; Technology Adoption; Agribusiness; Transportation; Research and Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

January 1998 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem (Condensed)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Viacom has built a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and bold acquisitions. Now its expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions on how to deal... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry