American Dream - Publications - Faculty & Research

23 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Lessons on Life, Graffiti, and Value: 'It's in That Darkness That You Can Actually Develop and Evolve'

sociologist at Harvard Business School. His parents were an interracial couple who fell in love in the 1960s, when mixed marriages faced scorn and sometimes worse in many parts of the US. Even so, he said, they always believed in the promise and potential of the View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

18 Dec 2019
Book

6 Skills That Wise Companies Harness for World-Changing Innovation

As a boy, Soichiro Honda, the eventual founder of Honda Motor Co., was infatuated with airplanes. At age 10 he biked 20 kilometers to see American pilots performing aerobatics near his home in Japan, climbing a tree to watch the show. It... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

23 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings

that I've done over the course of the last 10 years has been field-based, working in conjunction with HBS student teams, partners in business and the nonprofit sector, and especially through the nonprofit that I founded, Doorways to View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

06 Feb 2013
What Do You Think?

Is ‘Conscious Capitalism’ an Antidote to Income Inequality?

home by asking, "As HBS alumni, don't we have an obligation to lead out on this topic and set an example? We must encourage, cajole and inspire each other to make the American dream available to all. But we... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

The Founder of Modern Venture Capital

students. He realized his dream of establishing the first Master of Business Administration program in Europe by helping establish the European Institute of Business Administration. Doriot learned the art of bringing science and industry... View Details

Keywords: Education; Financial Services

12 Sep 2007
Op-Ed

Building Sandcastles: The Subprime Adventure

inflation, a stake in the community. As home prices rose, millions of renters, particularly those with less-than-stellar credit, yearned to seize the American dream. But traditional banks shunned "credit-impaired" borrowers.... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Business of Babies

wish not to see, she said. "We have a business that doesn't feel like a business," said Spar. "Nobody wants to acknowledge the extent of commercialization." Yet Americans alone spent $2.7 billion on fertility... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

of rapid technological change. Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals Authors:Rafael Di Tella Publication:CATO Papers on Public Policy 1 (2011) Abstract We describe the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

11 Jun 2019
Book

These Aren't Beach Books, but Managers Should Read Them Anyway

says Tarun Khanna, is that startups must create their own trust. Fintech, Small Business, & the American Dream Karen Mills describes how technology is opening up new capital for entrepreneurs. Creative... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

12 Jul 2020
Book

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2020

features racial violence and the quest for justice in the South. I also recommend Transaction Man: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream by Nicholas Lemann, which provides insight into... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

26 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 26

identifying the types of GPs that drive the identified correlation between GPs and reduced shareholder value. Publisher's link: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1718488 August 2013 American Journal of Managed Care... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Mar 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

8 Ways To Be An Environmentally Conscious Manager

iPhoto In an interview about his recent book Profits and Sustainability, which portrays the iconoclastic entrepreneurs who built green startups in the 19th century, Harvard Business School historian Geoffrey Jones notes that being a business-environmentalist can be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy

13 May 2002
Book

Bringing the Master Passions to Work

maniacal 'toon,"' screams Dr. Doom in Steven Spielberg's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His eyes are red and sinister and pop out of his head. His dream is to build the modern highway, with restaurants and gasoline stations pouring their... View Details

Keywords: by Mihnea C. Moldoveanu & Nitin Nohria

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

those traditions. This book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, students, and anyone looking for a comprehensive reassessment of political economy. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54712 July 2018 View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

19 Nov 2019
Op-Ed

Gender Bias Complaints against Apple Card Signal a Dark Side to Fintech

creditworthy customers are being shut out, that’s a problem. Even worse, if we don't understand why, we can’t fix it. About the Author Karen G. Mills is a Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School and the author of Fintech, Small Business & the View Details

Keywords: by Karen G. Mills; Financial Services

22 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

CEO Succession: The Case at Ford

been at a tobacco company. But in fact, at American Express, where he had a significant run, he was running the largest customer for computers perhaps in the world, the American Express travel business. And... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Auto; Employment

11 May 2015
Research & Ideas

A Road Map to Fix America’s Transportation Infrastructure

Any highway commuter who has wasted hours stuck in traffic can see the cracks in the United States' transportation system, as can any airline passenger who has been stranded overnight in an airport. Yet while many agree that the need for infrastructure change is... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

Restoring American Competitiveness, which lays out their views in detail. Despite their dire analysis, Pisano and Shih remain cautiously optimistic that the United States can regain its competitive footing. Roger Thompson: When it comes... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

28 May 2007
Research & Ideas

How Property Ownership Changes Your World View

What happens when a person owns property? Aside from the well-established financial benefits of equity and potential access to credit, there is the equally strong pull of the American Dream and everything it... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How the Giants of Enterprise Seized the Future

dreams in the pages of upscale women's magazines. Indeed, when Revson first saw The $64,000 Question, he was angry with his advertising agency for buying it. There was no glamour, no mystery. The advertisements were plain vanilla.... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

Publications