Publications

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November 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

'Care in Every Drop': Ayala Corporation and Manila Water (A)

By: Debora L. Spar, Paul Healy, Tricia Peralta and Julia M. Comeau

Since 1834, eight generations of the Ayala family have used their conglomerate to fund nation-building projects in the Philippines, including investments in tramcars, telecommunications, hospitals, and schools. In 1997, Ayala’s subsidiary, Manila Water, took control of... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Economic Growth; Social Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Natural Resources; Crisis Management; Failure; Privatization; Social Issues; Urban Development; Adaptation; Public Opinion; Mission and Purpose; Utilities Industry; Asia; Philippines

15 May 2017
Sharpening Your Skills

The Promises and Limitations of Big Data

replacement of physical assets by digital technologies. But a bigger and more impactful trend, according to researchers Frank V. Cespedes and Amir Peleg, is the use of online tools to improve physical asset utilization in many traditional... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Utilities; Utilities; Utilities; Utilities

22 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

A Randomized Field Study of a Leadership WalkRounds™-Based Intervention

Background: Leadership WalkRounds have been widely adopted as a technique for improving patient safety and safety climate. WalkRounds involve senior managers directly observing frontline work and soliciting employees' ideas about improvement opportunities. However, the... View Details

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker & Sara J. Singer; Health

07 Jul 2011
What Do You Think?

So We Adapt. What’s the Downside?

we convince ourselves that there isn't much to be learned from a mistake because the mistake doesn't matter. He prescribes such things as the utilization of spaces like universities in which to experiment safely, or a personal critic or... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

Are Paywalls Saving Newspapers?

used firm size as a proxy for reputation and utilized uniqueness and political slant indices to account for other company characteristics. The study did not take into account costs or any discounts or marketing efforts targeting new... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Journalism & News; Media & Broadcasting

July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details

Keywords: Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Labor Unions; Salesforce Management; Retention; Growth and Development; Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

strategy will provide focus to information-gathering and a roadmap for decision-making. Even then, many decisions will have to be made with imperfect data. Flexibility is important. Revisit your conclusions and pivot as needed. Utilizing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Fintech Borrowing

fintech lenders harvest deeper insight into those borrowers that banks typically reject after running a standard credit check. Fintech lenders claim to consult additional metrics like utility bills or rent payments to identify... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Launching Technology Ventures
Launching Technology Ventures (LTV) is designed for students who are actively working on their own startups or who will work at early-stage startups. The course material is, in particular, focused on new businesses in the... View Details

2020
Chapter

Business, Ethics and Institutions. The Evolution of Turkish Capitalism in a Comparative Perspective

By: Asli M. Colpan and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter offers a survey of the evolution of Turkish capitalism from the 19th century Ottoman Empire until the present day. It shows that Turkish business over the last century and a half was shaped in an institutional context similar to those in many developing... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Capitalism; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Government and Politics; History; Religion; Business History; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Overview of Research

My research examines approaches to improving the performance of our health care delivery system with a primary focus on health information technology. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of my program, my dissertation draws upon theories and insights from... View Details

Research Summary

Platform Competition

Technology has challenged the underlying foundations of business, and firms must evaluate and change strategies accordingly. Professor Halaburda studies the interaction of technology and economic theory, and her findings indicate that conventional wisdom and rules... View Details

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

January 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Colbún and Chile’s Energy Transition

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In May 2023, Colbún, Chile’s second-largest electricity generator, plans capacity expansions using renewable energy and storage. This strategy supports Chile’s commitment to carbon neutrality (also known as net zero emissions) by 2050. The case delves into the... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Infrastructure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Latin America; South America; Chile