Publications

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Managing Innovation is Like Theater

If you don't know where you're going, any map will do.1 This conventional wisdom sounds right to many managers. It highlights the safety of having a clear objective for your management actions. It implies that all management actions are... View Details

Keywords: by Rob Austin & Lee Devin

28 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Meeting China’s Need for Management Education

by side with state-owned enterprises. Also, management education, which was banned as a topic of study during much of the past fifty years in China, has become over the past decade not only accepted but... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

the economics of producing and distributing traditional films and books versus digital (cell phone) content. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=508071... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

Publications January 2015 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Prosocial Norms in the Classroom: The Role of Self-regulation in Following Norms View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Feb 2016
HBS Case

Bigbelly's Big Bet on the Digital Trash Can

(SaaS) opportunities is one that many companies are exploring as they follow the friendly economics that can come from moving away from selling one-off products toward licensing products or services on a subscription basis. Think View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

December 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Smithfield Foods, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

Smithfield has become the number-one pork producer and processor in the world--given all the changes in the global agribusiness industry. How does the company develop its future strategy? A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Economy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Agribusiness; Globalization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Purchase

December 2008
Case

JBS Swift & Co.

By: David E. Bell and Cathy Ross

Brazilian meat packer JBS surprised many in the U.S. beef industry when it acquired Swift & Co.—a company more than five times its size—in 2007, then moved to acquire the U.S.'s fourth and fifth largest beef producers in 2008. The new JBS Swift slashed costs and... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Global Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Brazil

Purchase

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

display. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-053.pdf PublicationsInternational Differences in Entrepreneurship Authors:Josh Lerner and Antoinette Schoar, eds. Publication:Chicago: University of Chicago Press for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Working Paper

Electrification to Grow Manufacturing? Evidence from Mini-Grids in Nepal

By: Robyn C. Meeks, Hope F. Thompson and Zhenxuan Wang

Firms in developing countries often identify electricity as a major constraint to operations. Decentralized renewable energy sources could help alleviate these constraints. We investigate whether electrification in Nepal -- via microhydro plants and their mini-grids --... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Renewable Energy; Infrastructure; Economic Growth; Employment; Manufacturing Industry; Utilities Industry

SSRN

2010
Chapter

The Euro as a Reserve Currency for Global Investors

By: Luis M. Viceira and Ricardo Gimeno

This article explores the demand for the euro for risk management purposes and the evidence of stock market integration in the euro area. We define a reserve currency as one that investors demand either because it helps them hedge real interest risk and inflation risk,... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Inflation and Deflation; Capital Markets; Currency; Stocks; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

Read Now

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

April 2016 Review of Economic Studies Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring By: Stanton, Christopher, and Catherine Thomas Abstract—Online markets... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2004 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Clarence Saunders: The Comeback King

By: Nitin Nohria and Bridget Gurtler

Follows the rise and fall of the founder of the modern supermarket, Clarence Saunders. Prior to 1915, all staple shopping took place in the market or general store, where a clerk behind a counter pulled items from shelves for customers , measured them from a barrel, or... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Mission and Purpose; Business Processes; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Leadership Style; Advertising; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Order Taking and Fulfillment

December 2017
Response

Reply: Do Powerful Politicians Really Cause Corporate Downsizing?

By: Lauren Cohen, Joshua D. Coval and Christopher J. Malloy

While we commend the initiative of Snyder and Welch (2017), we lay out in this short reply why we remain highly confident in our results and our interpretation thereof. We welcome authors to continue to explore the data for themselves and look forward to the new... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Private Sector; Taxation; Interest Rates; Business and Government Relations; Investment; Employment; Power and Influence

March 2025
Case

GiveDirectly: Can Direct Cash Transfers End Extreme Poverty?

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Sarah Mehta and John Schultz

Founded in 2008, GiveDirectly was a nonprofit organization that used direct cash transfers—giving people cash via mobile money—to combat poverty worldwide. By August 2024, the organization had transferred over $800 million to poor people in targeted communities and... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Ethics; Growth and Development; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Research; Social Enterprise; Society; Africa; Asia; Latin America; North and Central America; United States

10 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 10

Publications February 2015 Academy of Management Review Reflections on the 2013 Decade Award: "Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited" Ten Years Later By: Benner, Mary, and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

06 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 6, 2018

strategies for the social media age, and launching a startup for a targeted audience. Students learn to analyze macro and micro economic data of an industry, synthesize consumer demographics and purchase... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

immediate impasse—and defining a meaningful path forward. Publisher's site: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu The Effect of Dividends on Consumption Authors:Malcolm Baker, Stefan Nagel, and Jeffrey Wurgler... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Oriflame S.A. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Karol Misztal and Daniela Beyersdorfer

A direct-selling cosmetics company involved in emerging markets exhibits significant foreign exchange risk exposure and profitability swings in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Students must review the company's use of derivative instruments and other hedging... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Crisis; Currency Exchange Rate; Financial Strategy; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry