Publications

December 2011 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Aviva Investors

By: George Serafeim

The Aviva Investors case describes the challenge of integrating sustainability considerations into the strategy and business practices of companies and into the decision making process of the investment community. Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Investment Management; Shareholder Activism; Disclosure; Stock Exchanges; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Sustainability Reporting; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Social Impact; Activism; Investment; Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; United Kingdom

January 2011 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Rebranding Gallagher

By: Rohit Deshpande and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Steve Tucker, the Deputy CEO of Gallagher Group Limited (GGL), the world's largest electric fence company, was about to present a new branding strategy to the company's senior managers and Bill Gallagher, Jr., CEO. After spending more than 18 months with brand... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Industrial Products Industry

Research Summary

Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Richard S. Tedlow is currently working on a book concerning historical examples of outstanding businesspeople who faced daunting challenges. The book is divided into two parts: "Getting It Wrong" and "Getting It Right." Many times,... View Details

April 2000
Article

The Fable of Fisher Body

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F. Spulber

General Motors' (GM) acquisition of Fisher Body is the classic example of market failure in the literature on contracts and the theory of the firm. According to the standard account, GM merged vertically with Fisher Body in 1926, a maker of auto bodies, because of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Failure; Contracts; Vertical Integration; Market Transactions; Investment; Trust; Production; Assets; Supply Chain; Opportunities; Technology; Auto Industry

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Article

Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science

By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John

In the past decade, behavioral science has seen the introduction of beneficial reforms to reduce false positive results. Serving as the motivational backdrop for the present research, we wondered whether these reforms might have unintended negative consequences on... View Details

Keywords: Open Science; Pre-registration; Exploration; Confirmation; False Positives; Career Satisfaction; Science; Research; Personal Development and Career; Satisfaction; Diversity

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02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

that these are the most difficult times in memory for many, if not most people. Parents struggle to balance the demands of remote work and homeschooling. Employees who live alone strain to stay focused while isolated from loved ones and... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Susan Seligson

Research Summary

"Creating Competitive Advantage Through Knowledge Management" (with Elie Ofek)

This project explores how the concept of Knowledge Management (KM) is likely to impact competition among professional services firms (e.g. Consultants, Accounting Firms and Advertising Agencies). Assuming that the "KM technology" exhibits economies of scale, first we... View Details

January 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

DJI- Striving for Innovation Amid Contestation

By: William C. Kirby and Daniel Fu

DJI was founded in a college dorm room in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong. By 2020, DJI, a company manufacturing drones, occupied a 77% share of consumer drone sales in the United States with a wide array of clients including law enforcement and government agencies. Its... View Details

Keywords: Drones; Hong Kong; China; Chinese Manufacturing; Chinese Dream; China's Political Economy

August 2021
Article

Business Education as If People and the Planet Really Matter

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Mounting concern over capitalism’s inability to address systemic challenges in our natural world (i.e. climate change) and social world (i.e. income inequality) is prompting reexamination of capitalism within business groups. This article argues that a concurrent... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Business Education; Transformation

April 2023
Article

Control and Fairness: What Determines Elected Local Leaders’ Support for Hosting Refugees in Their Community?

By: Kristin Fabbe, Eleni Kyrkopoulou, Konstantinos Matakos and Aslı Unan

When it comes to successful refugee reception, the local level matters. Research overwhelmingly examines host communities’ attitudes, but endorsement from local politicians is equally important to resolving conflicts and facilitating harmonious interaction. Yet the... View Details

Keywords: Values; Control; Refugee Resettlement; Local Elites; Contact; Fair-share; Conjoint Experiment; Refugees; Attitudes

September 2011 (Revised August 2013)
Case

China or the World? A Financial Reporting Strategy for Hong Kong's Capital Markets

By: Karthik Ramanna, Gwen Yu and G.A. Donovan

Set in 2010, the case discusses the strategic directions Hong Kong could pursue, particularly vis-a-vis China, as it seeks to preserve its preeminence in the region. In 2010, the Hong Kong Exchange announced that it would allow listed Chinese companies to report using... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Global Range; Local Range; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Hong Kong

July 2024
Article

Demographic 'Stickiness': The Demographic Identity of Departing Group Members Influences Who Is Chosen to Replace Them

By: Edward H. Chang and Erika Kirgios

People tasked with replacing a departing group member are disproportionately likely to choose a replacement with the same demographic identity, leading to demographic “stickiness” in group composition. We examine this effect in 2,163 U.S. federal judge appointments... View Details

Keywords: Loss Aversion; Diversity; Race; Gender; Decisions

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2013
Contribution

Work

By: Nien-he Hsieh

This chapter has two aims. First, in light of the continued dominance of market capitalism, one aim of the chapter is to examine contemporary approaches to traditional concerns about the impact of market capitalism on the manner in which work is carried out. By the... View Details

02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

microcosm of current concerns and suggested solutions, does it bode well for the formation of a consensus, political or otherwise, leading to progress? But a number of respondents raised the question of whether the most feasible solution... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

30 Nov 2021
In Practice

What's the Role of Business in Confronting Climate Change?

The 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP26, ended with a hard-fought pact that called on businesses and governments to meet their climate change goals faster. The event followed an August report by the Intergovernmental... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Dina Gerdeman

December 2022
Article

When and How Should Firms Differentiate? Quality and Advertising Decisions in a Duopoly

By: Dominique Olié Lauga, Elie Ofek and Zsolt Katona

A prominent hallmark of competitive interaction is the desire to differentiate from rivals. In this article, the authors examine under what conditions firms will differentiate through product quality versus advertising intensity. Firms select quality in a first stage,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Advertising; Product Positioning