Publications

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

the threshold for research and development (R&D) investment in an economically viable product. Further, the small size of patient populations for orphan drugs, together with the increasing prevalence of biologics among orphan drugs,... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2017 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Coaching Makena Lane

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Makena Lane has a gift for producing results, even in the challenging retail context of the 2010s, but she also has a knack for “ruffling some feathers” in the process. Recruited to a Fortune 500 grocery and pharmacy retailer after climbing to Associate Principal in... View Details

January 2022
Case

Tomorrow.io Goes to Space

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Abhishek Nagaraj and James Barnett

This case study explores the evolution of Tomorrow.io, a weather forecasting technology company, as it pivoted toward building and launching space-based weather radar satellites. This strategic shift was driven by the company's ambition to overcome data limitations in... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Competency and Skills; Engineering; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Performance; Information Technology; Aerospace Industry

December 2010
Article

Acquisitions as Exaptation: The Legacy of Founding Institutions in the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry

By: Christopher Marquis and Zhi Huang

This study focuses on the imprinting of institutional environments, particularly how founding institutions impact intra-organizational capabilities and how such imprints may have different external manifestations in subsequent historical eras. We introduce the concept... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Commercial Banking; Organizations; Theory; Policy; Government and Politics; Management Practices and Processes; Strategy; Competency and Skills; United States

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Read Now

26 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 26

hiring more workers. Publisher's link: http://people.hbs.edu/mluca/oDesk.pdf May 2015 HR Certification Institute Leave No Slice of Genius Behind: Selecting and Developing Tomorrow's Leaders of Innovation By: Kanter, Rosabeth M. Abstract—... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

products, but they became worldwide brands because of the capabilities of Unilever. Their success rested on the choices made on strategy and organization, on the recruitment and development of managers, on the allocation of spending... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

pandemic is likely to change how companies do business. Here’s what they said: Michael Beer: Organizations will develop trust-based cultures with employees The coronavirus challenge demands an organization-wide, honest conversation that... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

April 2021
Case

Glass-Shattering Leaders: Jack Rivkin

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Jack Rivkin’s innovative approach to hiring, developing, and retaining employees created opportunities for female analysts to thrive at the equity research department he led, and also made the entire department more effective. Rivkin fostered a culture of gender... View Details

Keywords: Gender Inclusivity; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Gender; Talent and Talent Management

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

perverse effect of perpetuating the problem. Drawing on a case study of a professional service firm, we develop a multilevel theory to explain why organizations are caught in this conundrum. We present data suggesting that the work-family... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

July 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Background Note

Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations

Students are required to do a team project. During the project, they are to do a benchmarking study of a business process to determine best practice or to study a single business process for the purposes of discovering improvement opportunities. The student teams are... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Business Processes; Management Skills

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30 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest or Colgate?

human time or human understanding of complexity, I can identify the things that GPT suggests actually matter, and then iterate on those with real data and real consumers to get human-based results,” she says. Developing the right prompt... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

09 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Marketing a Country: Promotion as a Tool for Attracting Foreign Investment.

promotion. A government can carry out investment promotion itself, but this approach has the disadvantage that the government organization may be unable to acquire skills that are required if the activity is to be managed properly. The... View Details

Keywords: by Louis T. Wells & Alvin G. Wint

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

a company? A: The OSM is analogous to a military general's chief of staff. The general is responsible and accountable for developing the strategy to win wars and battles. But a general almost always has a chief-of-staff, often several... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

understand customers and their needs deeply. Develop the ability to respond to this understanding with better-tailored assortments, replenishment of the hits, and timely markdowns on what is left over. Execute well, especially at the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

28 Mar 2012
What Do You Think?

Are Factory Jobs Important to the Economy?

too-commonly used term, not mine) are tradable on international labor markets. They especially follow the migration of manufacturing activity involving jobs requiring lower skills and compensation. Efforts to revive high value-added... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

As chairman and CEO of the leading vaccine producer in the world, pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Ken Frazier has one of the highest-profile positions in global business. But Frazier, who is leading one of the firms on a charge to View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

March 2023
Background Note

A Primer on OKRs

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

The OKR framework is a popular goal-setting and strategy execution tool that uses goal setting through “Objectives” and measuring performance using “Key Results” on a periodic basis to measure and drive performance. The OKR framework has been adopted and practiced at... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Talent and Talent Management; Framework; Corporate Governance; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Performance Productivity; Performance Efficiency