Publications

02 Dec 2019
Video

Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ghandour, Founder of Dubai-based courier company Aramex and a leading entrepreneur in the Gulf, speaks about the "youth bulge" in the Arab world, his decision to prioritize educational provision... View Details

11 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

E-Commerce Unplugged

Companies that spent decades understanding consumer-buying psychology traditionally assumed that specific products could satisfy discrete consumer needs. Now, they will need to define consumers by their fundamental life intentions (the... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria & Marty Leestma

December 1997
Case

Making the Grade (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

Focuses on the dilemma of a young professor at a graduate school of business. He must decide what final grade to give a student who has worked extremely hard, but he is constrained by the school's "forced curve" grading policy. Designed to explore the multiple purposes... View Details

Keywords: Design; Management Systems; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Education Industry

23 Nov 2013
News

It’s complicated

Research Summary

How and When Does Hierarchy Emerge in Firms?

Despite understanding that formal structure within firms is crucial for maintaining coordination and control as young firms grow, relatively little is systematically known about the initial formation of hierarchy in firms. By exploiting access to a dataset of all... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Start-up Growth; Startup Management; Organizational Design; Entrepreneurship; Brazil

August 1989 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Grosvenor Park

By: William J. Poorvu and Katherine Sweetman

Dick Dublin believes he has designed a townhouse development which will appeal to mobile young professionals. Dublin has removed some market risk by locking in a forward commitment for low interest rate loans for future purchasers at Grosvenor Park. The pricing... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Projects; Financing and Loans; Property; Financial Strategy; Price; Strategic Planning; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Maryland

09 Feb 2015
News

Good Business Needs Bad Lobbyists

December 2012 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Plastiq

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Gaurav Jain, Liroy Haddad, Luke Langford and Matt Noble

The young CEO of a venture-backed startup needs to figure out his go to market strategy and the right profile for his first key sales hires. Should he develop partnerships with channels that would provide leverage or build out a direct sales force? And should the sales... View Details

Keywords: Payments; Sales; Channels; Credit Cards; Digital Platforms; Selection and Staffing; Cost vs Benefits; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Management Systems

01 Aug 2022
News

Profits over Planet? Experts Eye Companies at Crucial Moment for Climate Change Fight

13 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

How 'Small C' Change Can Beat Large-Scale Rebuilding

to success. The recent Champions League victory of FC Bayern Munich under new head coach Hansi Flick illustrates this powerful lesson. The dynamics of a comeback: A view from inside By making the historic treble of winning the Champions... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, and Sebastian Flegr; Sports

January 2008
Article

The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In 1979, a young associate professor at Harvard Business School published his first... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Five Forces Framework; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy

Find at Harvard

29 Jan 2021
Op-Ed

How Influencers, Celebrities, and FOMO Can Win Over Vaccine Skeptics

convince more people to get vaccinated. [div class=infogram-embed data-id=_/4llCHjEqY1XunMkYbjrB][/div] Three steps to speed vaccine adoption Governments are prioritizing certain groups to receive the vaccine, with medical professionals and certain government personnel... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim

24 Apr 2012
News

For radio, the digital disruption is delayed

Profile

Tiffany Pham

What’s the story behind MOGUL? “When I first moved to America, I did not know a word of English, but it was by watching films, reading books, and listening to the radio that I ended up learning how to speak the language. Through that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Entertainment / Media; Technology

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Women’s Summit Celebrates ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit’

factors such as hard work, help from others, or luck. That gap in self-confidence starts as young as middle school, she added, but can be reversed as more and more trailblazing women pave the way—women like Sharon Baum (HBS MBA '65), whom... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Koch & Harvard Gazette

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Gurus in the Garage

and growth. That triumph can be attributed to the Valley's distinctive geography, history, and culture. Why The Triumph Viewing the valley from the flight approach to San Francisco International, one is struck by how small the region is.... View Details

Keywords: by Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

Teaching

Overview

Ryann has extensive teaching experience in varied instructional settings. She was appointed the Qualitative Advisor for the Harvard University Sociology Department senior thesis writers in 2015-2016, and supervised two senior thesis writers in prior years. She served... View Details

January 2022
Article

Who Creates New Firms When Local Opportunities Arise?

By: Shai Benjamin Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Davide Malacrino and Timothy McQuade

We examine the characteristics of the individuals who become entrepreneurs when local opportunities arise. We identify local demand shocks by linking fluctuations in global commodity prices to municipality level agricultural endowments in Brazil. We find that the firm... View Details

Keywords: Firms; Entrepreneurs; Demand Shocks; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Demographics; Opportunities; Brazil