Publications

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May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value

June 2023
Case

The Business of Campaigns

By: Vincent Pons and Mel Martin

In 2022, the U.S. Congress examined the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, the latest in a long series of campaign finance reforms. According to its authors, the law would be the “most consequential overhaul of federal... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; United States

2021
Working Paper

The Great Unequalizer: Initial Health Effects of COVID-19 in the United States

By: Marcella Alsan, Amitabh Chandra and Kosali I. Simon

We measure inequities from the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality and hospitalizations in the United States during the early months of the outbreak. We discuss challenges in measuring health outcomes and health inequality, some of which are specific to COVID-19 and others... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Inequality; Health Pandemics; Demographics; Equality and Inequality

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2012
Working Paper

The Determinants of National Competitiveness

By: Mercedes Delgado, Christian Ketels, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern

We define foundational competitiveness as the expected level of output per working-age individual that is supported by the overall quality of a country as a place to do business. The focus on output per potential worker, a broader measure of national productivity than... View Details

Keywords: Country; Competition; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics

June 2015
Case

B Lab: Can it Scale Business as a Force for Good?

By: Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee

To achieve its goal of redefining success in business, B Lab recognizes it needs to scale. Its strategy to do so requires B Lab to depend heavily on new partners, venture into new markets, influence new audiences, and to strike a balance between standards and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Social Entrepreneurship

January 1998
Case

Jeffrey Smith

Jeffrey Smith and David Johnson have apparently irreconcilable differences over their firm's strategy, which have led Jeffrey to conclude that he must fire David. Focuses on whether Jeffrey has used his influence in such a way as to avoid conflict. If he has no other... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Conflict and Resolution

2014
Article

Are Patents Creative or Destructive?

By: Tom Nicholas

Current debate over patent aggregation has led to renewed interest in the long-standing question concerning whether patents are a creative or a destructive influence on the process of technological development. In this paper I examine the basic patent tradeoff between... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Incentives; Patents; Technological Innovation; Motivation and Incentives

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21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54887 forthcoming Production and Operations Management The Operational Value of Social Media Information By: Cui, Ruomeng, Santiago Gallino, Antonio Moreno, and Dennis J. Zhang... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Web

Faculty & Research

Journal of Financial Economics 165 (March 2025). Optimal Illiquidity By: John Beshears , James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian We study the socially optimal level of illiquidity in... View Details

02 Nov 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Response to Environmental Demands: Opening the Black Box

Keywords: by Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel

23 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 23, 2018

social issues unrelated to their core business, ranging from environmental issues to LGBT rights and race relations. In the first study of this phenomenon, we implement two field experiments to provide evidence on how CEO activism can... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

08 Sep 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Blinded by Experience: Prior Experience, Negative News and Belief Updating

Keywords: by Bradley R. Staats, KC Diwas & Francesca Gino

Research Summary

The Exercise and Development of Leadership

My research in this stream contributes to three recent trends in leadership scholarship. The first is the resurgence of a perspective less preoccupied with leaders' impact on organizational performance and more with their function as sources and symbols of the... View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 26 Jun 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Sustainable Business Strategy

Learn how to become a purpose-centered business leader while examining the critical role that businesses play in solving the world's big problems, including climate change, income inequality, and social injustice. Program Dates: June 26, 2019 - July 17, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EST, 06 Feb 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Sustainable Business Strategy

Learn how to become a purpose-centered business leader while examining the critical role that businesses play in solving the world's big problems, including climate change, income inequality, and social injustice. Program Dates: February 6, 2019 - February 27, 2019 View Details

May 2024
Article

Selfish Corporations

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Niels Gormsen and Timothy McQuade

We study how perceptions of corporate responsibility influence policy preferences and the effectiveness of corporate communication when agents have imperfect memory recall. Using a new large-scale survey of U.S. citizens on their support for corporate bailouts, we... View Details

Keywords: Public Opinion; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Policy

03 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Applying the Care Delivery Value Chain: HIV/AIDS Care in Resource Poor Settings

Keywords: by Joseph Rhatigan, Sachin Jain, Joia S. Mukherjee & Michael E. Porter; Health

2022
Article

Indonesia and the Third Indochina War: The End of Containment

By: Mattias Fibiger

The Third Indochina War called forth dramatic changes in the international relations of Southeast Asia. Foremost among these changes was a shift in the geopolitical orientation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The organization’s founders... View Details

Keywords: Cold War; War; National Security; Southeast Asia; Indonesia; China