Publications

10 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

In Empowering Black Voters, Did a Landmark Law Stir White Angst?

the Voting Rights Act, we see that areas where the effects of the law were stronger displayed more negative racial attitudes.” The 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act, a federal law that cracked down on discriminatory voting practices across the southern View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

monkeybusinessimages How to handle religion in the workplace is a contentious and litigious issue that many business leaders struggle with. The subject is so third-rail hot that even Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

2009
Chapter

Creating Superior Customer Value in a Connected World

By: Ranjay Gulati

"In the early twenty-first century, customers are more demanding than ever, and difficult economic times make them all the more so. As customers tighten their wallets and increase their demands, firms face greater pressure to provide superior customer value. Reducing... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Product Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value Creation

December 2006 (Revised December 2007)
Case

The Convention on Biological Diversity: Engaging the Private Sector

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was a U.N. treaty that by 2006 had been signed by virtually every country in the world except for the United States. The treaty established three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Private Sector; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Genetics; Environmental Sustainability

21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

sales people. The article discusses reasons for that gap, the implications, and an example of what one leadership team did to link better its business strategy with sales investments and behaviors.... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

November 2013 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Valuing Yahoo! in 2013

By: Luis M. Viceira and Atul Khosla

In late July 2013, Danielle Engle, Managing Director of Clairemont Capital, was contemplating what to do about a large investment her fund had in the stock of Yahoo! Inc. In mid-2012, Clairemont had invested nearly $75M in Yahoo! after the tech company settled a highly... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Decision Making; Investment Activism; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

Spring 2014
Article

Attracting Long-Term Investors Through Integrated Thinking and Reporting: A Clinical Study of a Biopharmaceutical Company

By: Andrew Knauer and George Serafeim

Faced with a large percentage of investors that chase short-term returns, companies could benefit by attracting investors with longer-term horizons and incentives that are more consistent with the long-term strategy of the company. The managers of most companies take... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Asset Management; Long-term Investing; Short-termism; Sustainability; Integrated Reporting; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Pharmaceuticals; Leadership; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Finance; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2002 (Revised July 2004)
Case

RWE and the Proposal for a German Electricity Regulator

In April 2001, Dietmar Kuhnt, CEO of the German energy giant RWE, had to make a decision that would affect his company's future. Profits in the electricity sector depended heavily on regulatory rules that influenced industry structure and pricing. RWE had emerged... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Germany

18 Dec 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Grooming Next-Generation Leaders

as foundational skills, critical business functions, strategy formulation and implementation, and personal leadership. For the organization, according to Sasser and Narayandas, talent is key to competitive... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School, who spent five years as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) before joining the HBS faculty. “And so we have this sort of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 2009 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Al Capone

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

In 1929, Chicago, IL mob boss Al Capone was at the height of his power. As head of the extensive crime organization known as "The Outfit" during most of U.S.'s Prohibition Era (1920-1933), Capone oversaw hundreds of brothels, speakeasies, and roadhouses which served as... View Details

Keywords: Bootlegging; Entrepreneurship; Crime and Corruption; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Business History; United States; Chicago

August 2015 (Revised January 2022)
Case

George Washington and the Foundations of American Democracy

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

George Washington is perhaps the most well-known of the U.S.'s founding fathers because of his political and military achievements. However, Washington also operated a number of successful business ventures out of his Mount Vernon estate, and he became a landowner on... View Details

Keywords: Government; History; George Washington; Democracy; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Business History; Leadership; United States

June 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Sino-Ocean Land: Responding to Change

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Jeffrey Hu and Runjiao Xu

In 2010, Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited was a highly successful, large real estate developer based in Beijing, China. Sino-Ocean Land had three main business segments—property development, property investment/management, and other real estate related businesses. From... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Property; Policy; State Ownership; Business Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Beijing

June 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Facebook Confronts a Crisis of Trust

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

The case, “Facebook Confronts a Crisis of Trust,” starts with the crisis Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing in March 2018 over Cambridge Analytica’s accessing data from 87 million Facebook accounts in order to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential... View Details

2024
Working Paper

The Consequences of Export Controls in Target Countries

By: Xueyue Liu, Yu Liu and Jaya Y. Wen

Export controls are a common instrument of national security, but their economic consequences are not well understood. This paper evaluates how these controls affect firm performance and adaptation in targeted countries. We use variation in a 2007 US policy,... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Performance Productivity; Adaptation

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January 2019
Case

Arrow Electronics—The Apollo Integration

By: Stephen P. Kaufman

Having already made 10 acquisitions of competitors in the last decade, the CEO and Senior Vice President of Arrow are evaluating the acquisition of another small competitor to boost sales, become #1 in a niche market segment, and achieve economies of scale. They are... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Valuation; Performance Evaluation; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Strategic Planning; Growth and Development Strategy; Electronics Industry; United States