Small Firms - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

A Penny for Your Thoughts? For Big-Picture Ideas, the Right Pay Structure Matters

upgrading its management techniques. Hoping to spur employees to develop ideas for bettering the company’s performance, the firm launched a system in which workers who put forth ideas were recognized with View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

New Video: Books@Baker Interview with Felix Oberholzer-Gee Click to watch. Some companies gain advantage by commanding premium prices. Others lean on their world-class talent. But, a small slice of companies manages to do both—and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

addresses, it's difficult to get started in these businesses. Entry and potential entry are an important part of competition. We need to make sure new firms can easily begin operations so that existing providers can't hold customers... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

13 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Expanding My Worldview Through FIELD Global Immersion

Eight of us (six HBS students, a translator, and a driver) packed into a nine-passenger minivan for a winding drive through the bustling streets of Seoul. Our driver navigated us to a small office building as child-like anticipation grew... View Details

17 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Welcome to Retirement. Who Am I Now?

friends and relatives or start small businesses as a new source of fulfillment. One woman who had been mentoring junior workers at her old firm volunteered her coaching services through a community... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation

20 Jul 2021
Research & Ideas

Bankruptcy Spells Death for Too Many Businesses

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is supposed to allow companies to shed debt and get a fresh start. Ideally, creditors recover most of what they’re owed as the restructured firm begins turning a profit. Yet, more companies are liquidated... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Aug 1998
News

Spangler Family Gift Endows New Campus Center

and real-estate firm and in banking, where, among other achievements, he led a merger of the Bank of North Carolina with the North Carolina National Bank Corporation - now NationsBank - in the early 1980s. With the enrollment of his two... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

30 Aug 2018
Blog Post

My Difficult Decision to Leave Google for HBS

I was way off about timing. HBS paid off before I left campus. Let me share three reasons: First, I learned to ask what else? That question has helped me create richer solutions. I remember leaning forward in my seat during a class discussion in my second-year... View Details

Web

Finance Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

for Outstanding Contributions to the HBS community in 2019 and 2021. Victoria Ivashina : Winner of the 2021 Journal of Financial Intermediation Best Paper Award for "Large Banks and Small Firm Lending"... View Details

18 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Who Really Determines CEO Salary Packages?

ask? And more specifically, what are the sources of influence on the decisions that they make?” At large public companies, boards of directors are usually in charge of how and what to pay their CEOs. It’s an expensive decision. Among the 350 top View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consulting

25 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

What CEOs Do, and How They Can Do it Better

employees," says Sadun. In extrapolating from the data, Sadun cautions the sample size used in the study was relatively small (though exponentially bigger than any past research on the topic), and that the results of the study... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Jan 2023
What Do You Think?

How Would the Leadership Style of Girl Scouts' Frances Hesselbein Fare Today?

small business, for-profit management experience, her reputation was built in the nonprofit world. How would Frances Hesselbein’s style of leadership fare in today’s world? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

How to Predict if a New Business Idea is Any Good

In 2008, entrepreneur Brian Chesky and his two San Francisco roommates made the rounds of Silicon Valley VC firms with what they thought was a great idea: a website and mobile app that would allow homeowners to open their homes to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Accommodations; Financial Services

Web

Investor - Entrepreneurship

(TEM) SUMMER Intern with a VC firm and serve as a Rock Summer Fellow. FALL Take EC Courses applicable to VC/Investing: Venture Capital and Private Equity Private Equity Finance Financial Management of Small... View Details

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

database of startups and investors, to analyze collaboration patterns. The authors also sorted through press releases, news articles, and regulatory filings to augment and verify the data. Of the Crunchbase startups examined, 16 percent—1,689 companies—were acquired.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

30 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Breaking Barriers and Building Community: Get to Know the HBS Women’s Student Association (WSA)

Helaina, Maude, and more. Our inaugural Female Founders Pitch Competition awarded $15K to the top three winners, amongst five final teams who pitched to 5 VC judges from firms such as Bessemer, Co-efficient, and Matrix, live on stage.... View Details

01 Sep 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

basic lesson in comparative advantage that we learned years ago in Economics 101. Would elimination of tariffs on Chinese product, much of it better suited for production in China, make at least a small contribution to the needed... View Details