Publications

February 2025
Article

Seeing the Whole: Configurational Cognition and New Venture Resource Mobilization

By: Goran Calic, François Neville, Santi Furnari and C. S. Richard Chan

Research is scant on how multiple venture attributes combine as “whole packages” of signals (or cognitive configurations) in resource holders’ eyes, shaping a venture’s ability to mobilize resources. Drawing on a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 1,395 crowdfunding... View Details

Keywords: Crowdfunding; Mission and Purpose; Entrepreneurship; Communication; Perception

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15 Sep 2022
Blog Post

6 Things to Know About Sustainability at HBS

Sustainability is a core value at HBS, and we endeavor to build a healthier, more sustainable, and inclusive community. We know that environmental sustainability is of growing interest to our student community and teamed up with the HBS... View Details

March–April 2019
Article

Operational Transparency: Make Your Processes Visible to Customers and Your Customers Visible to Employees

By: Ryan W. Buell

Conventional wisdom holds that the more contact an operation has with its customers, the less efficiently it will run. But when customers are partitioned away from the operation, they are less likely to fully understand and appreciate the work going on behind the... View Details

Keywords: Operational Transparency; Customers; Services; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Customer Satisfaction; Behavior; Service Industry

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January 2019 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited: Continuing a Legacy

By: Forest Reinhardt, Gunnar Trumbull and Mahima Rao-Kachroo

Founded in 1963 by Bhavarlal Jain (Bhau), who believed in “providing solutions for every problem,” Jain Irrigation in 2018 had a global footprint and $1.1 billion in revenue. Bhau had insisted that his business add value to farmers' lives and promote sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; India

Research Summary

A Model of Delegation in Contests (with Stefan Brandauer), 2004

We analyze a contest between two groups where group members have differing valuations for the contested rent. Generically the pivotal group member with the median valuation of the rent will not act himself but will want to send a group member that has preferences... View Details

August 2020
Case

Zoom Video Communications: Eric Yuan's Leadership During COVID-19

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Christopher Stanton, Andy Wu and George Gonzalez

In the first half of 2020, worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought explosive growth to the Zoom Video Communications platform, as people replaced in-person work and social events with videoconferencing. Months into the pandemic, CEO Eric Yuan... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Technology; Customer Value and Value Chain; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Strategy; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; California

28 Jan 2016
Blog Post

Why Get an MBA?

These days you don’t have to look far to find someone questioning the value of an MBA. It seems like every week brings another article on rising costs and evolving employers. Even if you don’t believe the naysayers, does anyone actually... View Details

16 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Phenomenological Assumptions and Knowledge Dissemination within Organizational Studies

Keywords: by Corinne Bendersky & Kathleen L. McGinn

20 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Users Love Ello, But What’s the Business Model?

As yet, there is no foolproof way to monetize social capital. If there were, Ello would be well on its way to financial success. The upstart social networking site set the internet abuzz recently by... View Details

Keywords: Re: John A. Deighton & Sunil Gupta; Publishing; Financial Services

April 2013
Article

Who Is Governing Whom? Executives, Governance, and the Structure of Generosity in Large U.S. Firms

By: Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee

We examine how organizational structure influences strategies over which corporate leaders have significant discretion. Corporate philanthropy is our setting to study how a differentiated structural element—the corporate foundation—constrains the influence of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Leadership; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

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February 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Porsche: The Cayenne Launch

By: John Deighton, Jill Avery and Jeffrey Fear

Can an online discussion forum supply insight into the evolution of brand meaning? In 2003 Porsche launched a sport utility vehicle, dividing Porsche purists from newcomers to the brand. Vocal members of online and offline Porsche communities ridiculed the Cayenne SUV... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Social and Collaborative Networks; Auto Industry

2019
Article

When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive

By: Stephen Turban, Dan Wu and Letian Zhang

Does diversity make a company more productive? Many say yes—some researchers argue that gender diversity leads to more innovative thinking and signals to investors that a company is competently run. Others say no—conflicting research indicates that gender diversity can... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Diversity; Performance; Performance Productivity