Publications

December 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Exercise

Negotiating Peace Accords in Bellicoso for the Head of the Bellicosan Labor Union (BLU): General Instructions and Confidential Information

Bellicoso is a multi-party conflict resolution simulation based loosely on the bitter civil war in El Salvador. It is designed to explore issues in: 1) the management of interactions between external negotiations between sides and internal negotiations within them, 2)... View Details

Keywords: War; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Participants; Government and Politics; Conflict and Resolution; El Salvador

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams

By: David A. Garvin and Elizabeth Collins

Key topics include team design, team management, job design, employee empowerment, implementing change, and high performance workforces. In 2004, John Amasi, the director of production for a manufacturer of plastic pipe, introduced the concept of self-directed teams... View Details

Keywords: Work Force Management; Employee Empowerment; Motivation; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Manufacturing Industry; Texas

01 Jun 2024
News

Turning Point: On the Line

Leonard Dick (MBA 1990) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) Leonard Dick (MBA 1990) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) Day 116 was bizarrely poetic. Or poetically bizarre. And not just because I was an HBS grad participating in his second strike. To that point in last year’s... View Details

Keywords: labor strike; television; media; unions

November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
Case

DoubleDutch

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble

Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Marketing Management; Strategy Implementation; Business Marketing; Sales Force Management; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Asia

2016
Working Paper

Signaling without Certification: The Critical Role of Civil Society Scrutiny

By: Susan A. Kayser, John W. Maxwell and Michael W. Toffel

In response to stakeholders' growing concerns, companies are joining voluntary environmental programs to signal their superior environmental management capabilities. In contrast to the literature's focus on certification programs that require a third-party audit, we... View Details

Keywords: United Nations; Labor Standards; Supplier Relationship; Procurement; Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Quality And Safety; Risk; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Reputation

SSRN

Read Now

Livia is a development economist whose research focuses on labor market frictions and determinants of labor market participation in low-income settings, with a particular emphasis on barriers to youth employment and female labor market participation. In a separate line... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ashish Nanda

Ashish Nanda’s research focuses on leadership, particularly in the context of professional services and institutions of higher education. He has published case studies and articles on professional services in three primary streams: management of professional service... View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; Professionalism; Strategy; Leadership; Higher Education; Asia; India; Latin America; China

2008
Working Paper

Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game

By: Hannah Riley Bowles and Kathleen L. McGinn

We propose a two-level-game (Putnam, 1988) perspective on gender in job negotiations. At Level 1, candidates negotiate with the employers. At Level 2, candidates negotiate with domestic partners. In order to illuminate the interplay between these two levels, we review... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Jobs and Positions; Game Theory; Gender

Read Now

October 2008
Article

Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game

By: Hannah Riley Bowles and Kathleen McGinn

We propose taking a two-level-game perspective on gender in job negotiations. At Level One, candidates negotiate with employers. At Level Two, candidates negotiate with household members. In order to illuminate the interplay between these two levels, we review research... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Negotiation; Research; Organizational Culture; Body of Literature; Jobs and Positions; Gender; Labor

Read Now

March 1993 (Revised May 2009)
Case

CF MotorFreight in 1992

By: David B. Yoffie

In June 1992, CFMF management finds that despite a number-two ranking nationwide among long-haul carriers, two smaller rivals are far more profitable for the year-ended 1991. Management confronts the issue of encroaching competition from the country's smaller regional... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions; Business or Company Management; Distribution; Competition; Consolidation; Truck Transportation

Research Summary

Examples of current projects

By: William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurship, innovation and growth
Transformations for profitable growth
Corporate innovation and venturing
High-skilled immigration and the structure of US firms
Agglomeration forces and cluster... View Details

May 2018
Supplement

Abe on Womenomics, part 1: Introductions & Japan's Corporate Culture: Excerpt from Opening Address to the World Assembly of Women, Tokyo, August 28, 2015

By: Boris Groysberg

This video supplement part one of a lightly edited 2015 speech by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in which he describes Womenomics--policies and aspirations to promote greater economic participation by Japan's women, thereby promoting economic growth, greater... View Details

May 2018
Supplement

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – Speech on Womenomics in Japan: Opening Address to the World Assembly of Women, Tokyo, August 28, 2015

By: Boris Groysberg

This video supplement is a lightly edited 2015 speech by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in which he describes Womenomics--policies and aspirations to promote greater economic participation by Japan's women, thereby promoting economic growth, greater work/life... View Details

Keywords: Gender Equality; Japan; Leadership; Government-business Relations; Shinzo Abe; Economic Growth; Aging Society; Womenomics; Abenomics; Labor Market Discrimination; Workplace Culture; Women And Leadership; Change Management; Leading Change; Gender; Business and Government Relations; Growth and Development; Employment; Working Conditions

Research Summary

Markets of Progress: Coffee, Commerce, and Community in the Soconusco, Chiapas, 1867-1920

Markets of Progress presents a new holistic story of rural development in Mexico at the turn of the century. In the Soconusco, as in regions throughout the world, the accelerating circulation of commodities and capital, ideas and immigrants reshaped society... View Details

Keywords: Commodities; Coffee; Mexico; Foreign Investment; Institutions; Immigration; Developing Agriculture; Development; Export Crop; Emerging Market; Property Rights; Labor History; History; Capital Markets; Business History; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Latin America; Mexico; Central America

28 Sep 2016
HBS Seminar

Benjamin Pugsley, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

13 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Diversity in Innovation

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang; Financial Services; Education

01 Apr 2022
Blog Post

The Africa Business Conference at HBS: Reimagining the Road Ahead

Business School. This past weekend, the Africa Business Club had the immense privilege of hosting 1,000 participants at our annual Conference. Co-organizing the Conference in the capacity of CFO and Conference Lead was a huge View Details

2022
Book

Les multinationales suisses dans l'arène politique (1942–1993) [Swiss Multinationals in the Political Arena (1942–1993)]

By: Sabine Pitteloud

En décembre 2020, les Suisses votaient sur l’initiative populaire « pour des multinationales responsables ». Cet épisode récent a rappelé que la régulation de l’activité des sociétés multinationales fait l’objet de luttes politiques, auxquelles participent les... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Enterprise; Multinational Companies; Multinational Corporations; Lobbying; Business ＆ Government Relations; Labor Relations; Relocation; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Corporate Regulation; Transnational Regulation; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; International Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Switzerland

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco