Publications

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Financial Crisis: Hank Paulson in 2008

By: Adi Sunderam, Robin Greenwood, Sam Hanson and David Scharfstein

On the afternoon of Monday October 13, 2008, Hank Paulson Jr., the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, walked into the large conference room across the hall from his office in the Treasury Department. Joining him were Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke,... View Details

Keywords: Bailout; Regulation; Financial Crisis; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Making; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

18 May 2020
News

Big Structural Change

19 May 2021
Op-Ed

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

reflect persistent disparities based on race, gender, age, and educational attainment. Coming out of the crisis, providing more workers with pathways to economic stability will depend in large part on forging stronger connections between education and economic... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

served or failed us. Most felt that common sense had its place in combination with formal systems of knowledge, research, and planning. As Michael Aschenbach put it, "If you get lost in the woods, it is good to have survival... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

Summing Up If not useful growth, what are we measuring? And why? This column does not thrive on general agreement. And this past month discussants came close to general agreement on the proposition that economic growth is not measured... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Studio Realty

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Bret J. Baird

Studio Realty created an "electronic open house" technology, by which home buyers sitting in a comfortable setting, could tour a home, viewing its rooms, its exterior, and surroundings, by clicking on digital images. Studio Realty attempted to sell or license its... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Sales; Demand and Consumers; Failure; Innovation and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Real Estate Industry

2007
Chapter

Beyond Dependence: Conceptualizing Information and Accountability in NGO-Funder Relations

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

This paper explores the linkages between information systems and accountability in nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations (NGOs). The information systems in four NGOs are introduced: two Indian NGOs engaged in natural resource management and rural development, an... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Corporate Accountability; Information Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Information Technology; India; District of Columbia

December 2014 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Compass Group: The Ascension Health Decision

By: Ryan W. Buell

In 2012, Compass Group (Compass) was on the verge of closing a $2 billion deal with Ascension Health (Ascension), one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Under the deal, Compass would provide foodservice management and cleaning services for 86 of... View Details

Keywords: Operations Strategy; Sectorization; Operational Focus; Customer Compatibility; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Operations; Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Health Industry; United States

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

transport/ride launched in 1967), and numerous airports. However, these systems were largely designed to move a large number of people on a fixed schedule along a track from point to point to point. In today's revival, people movers are... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

November 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Goodyear and the Threat of Government Tire Grading

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis A. Yao and Elizabeth Raabe

In the spring of 1977, Goodyear CEO Charles J. Pilliod Jr. was looking at an internal report on government and legal events relevant to the tire industry. Two items caught his attention. First, he noticed that an industry suit to block the government's proposed system... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Lawsuits and Litigation; Auto Industry; Rubber Industry; United States

13 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

system, there are usually deputy leaders that lead the different parts of the system in close coordination with the ultimate leader. This was the case for the RBS system. Leading Besides developing,... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis

Web

Managing the Future of Work

Managing the challenges posed by the changing nature of work Managing the challenges posed by the changing nature of work Multiple forces of change – demographics, technology, automation, globalization – are coming together at an unprecedented pace and scale. How can... View Details

13 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Modularity on Intellectual Property and Value Appropriation

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & Joachim Henkel

September 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

d.light

By: Michael Chu, Krishna G. Palepu and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

Kenyan off-grid-solar pioneer d.light can power entire homes in rural Africa but must now decide how to fund the growth of its asset-heavy business model. Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman founded d.light in 2006 to transform lives through solar solutions enabling access to... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Energy; Business Model; Capital; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Financial Strategy; Renewable Energy; Strategy; Social Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry; Africa; Kenya; India

14 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces Its 2023-2024 Blavatnik Fellows

offers HBS alumni and Harvard-affiliated postdocs the opportunity to work closely with leading biotech industry and biomedical authorities, receive mentorship, and join a community of entrepreneurs shaping the future of science. To date,... View Details

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

2010
Working Paper

When Open Architecture Beats Closed: The Entrepreneurial Use of Architectural Knowledge

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge to open up a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying "bottlenecks" in the existing system, and then creating a new open architecture... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Design; Organizational Design; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry

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04 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA 2023): Engineering a Climate Change Solution by Cutting the Cost of Carbon Capture

closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” To keep temperature rise to 1.5°C and avoid a cascade of climatological catastrophes—flood, drought, famine, disease, species extinction, and many, many... View Details

2020
Working Paper

How Should U.S. Bank Regulators Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis?

By: Michael Blank, Samuel G. Hanson, Jeremy C. Stein and Adi Sunderam

Drawing on lessons from the 2007–2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and a simple conceptual framework, we examine the response of U.S. bank regulators to the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that the current regulatory strategy of “watchful waiting”—the same strategy that... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Bank Regulation; Recapitalization; Health Pandemics; Banks and Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Risk Management; United States