Publications

July 2011
Case

Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary

This case profiles the evolution of Sodexo's diversity initiative. Diversity became a key priority for Sodexo, North America in 2001 after a class-action lawsuit was filed and certified in Washington, D.C. against Sodexo Marriot Services, Inc., the food services... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Business Strategy; Globalization; Management Teams; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Age; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Washington (state, US)

February 2024
Article

Representation and Extrapolation: Evidence from Clinical Trials

By: Marcella Alsan, Maya Durvasula, Harsh Gupta, Joshua Schwartzstein and Heidi L. Williams

This article examines the consequences and causes of low enrollment of Black patients in clinical trials. We develop a simple model of similarity-based extrapolation that predicts that evidence is more relevant for decision-making by physicians and patients when it... View Details

Keywords: Representation; Racial Disparity; Health Testing and Trials; Race; Equality and Inequality; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry

2021
Working Paper

Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William Kahn and Robin Ely

This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop a theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. companies, treating White men as the dominant group and Black people as an illustrative subordinate group. We theorize that this persistence is rooted... View Details

Keywords: Systems Psychodynamics; Organizational Inequality; Masculinity; Equality and Inequality; Race; Gender; Identity; Power and Influence

Read Now

Web

Get Involved - Entrepreneurship

race to Demo Day where teams pitch their ventures to investors and entrepreneurs. Read More Rock 100 Initiative Rock Center support for entrepreneurs extends far beyond graduation. The Rock 100 initiative brings together high impact... View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

My First Job

furniture business when a fire started in the factory’s ventilation system. The fire alarms were loud, and every instinct I had learned in school told me to leave the building, but the president of the company grabbed my arm and told me to follow him. We View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Web

Business, Government & the International Economy Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Alberto F. Cavallo : Received a National Science Foundation Trans-Atlantic Platform-Digging into Data Grant, 2017–2019. Marco E. Tabellini : Recipient of a Russell Sage Foundation Presidential Authority Grant in the Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Program for “From... View Details

13 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

Bojinov says. “That’s not something managers had to think about [before the pandemic]. Now, they do.” About the Author Lane Lambert is a writer based in the Boston area. [Image: iStockphoto/SDI Productions] Related reading from the Working Knowledge Archives Unfinished... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

12 Nov 2018
Blog Post

Student Portraits - Armed Forces Alumni Association

speed building, we raced towards the desert floor. “Sight picture, how do you feel?” I asked. “I’m steep, sir,” the student replied, as she tilted the nose down to make the correction. Tiny corrections now: a little left, a slight bunt... View Details

Web

General Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations in 2006. William C. Kirby : Awarded a Dr. Phil. Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctorate) by the Freie Universita t Berlin Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften in 2006. 2005 Gerald C.... View Details

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

think, is recognizing that global management is all about legitimizing diversity. We often talk about diversity in terms of race or gender. But it is really about a total perspective. It is about legitimizing diverse views in an... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

plane, not socialism nor communism, not government operation nor the exercise of the police power, but rather the development from within the business group of effective social control of those mechanisms which have been placed in the hands of the View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

January 2024
Case

Vibrant Health

By: Henry McGee and Sarah Mehta

This case is about nutritional supplements company Vibrant Health, among the 100 largest Black-owned businesses in the U.S. After acquiring the company from its white founder in 2007, co-owners Ted and Paige Parker significantly grew its sales. Set in September 2023,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Race; Entrepreneurship; Nutrition; Ownership; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Eastern United States

March 2021
Teaching Plan

The Black New Venture Competition

By: Karen G. Mills, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin A. Sinozich and Gabriella Elanbeck

Black entrepreneurs encounter many unique obstacles when raising capital to start and grow a business, some stemming from deep systemic discrimination. During their second year at Harvard Business School (HBS), MBA students Kimberly Foster and Tyler Simpson decided to... View Details

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Wes Hall and the BlackNorth Initiative

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Marilyn Morgan Westner and Reza Satchu

Wes Hall founded Kingsdale Advisors and built it into one of Canada’s leading shareholder services and advisory firms. Influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a series of social injustices—specifically the death of George Floyd in police custody—Hall... View Details

Keywords: Racism; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Race; Social Issues; Ethics; Canada; North America