Publications

May 2006
Case

A123Systems

By: H. Kent Bowen, Kenneth P Morse and Douglass Cannon

A 123Systems was a young company that was founded on basic materials science research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A co-founder of the company, Yet-Ming Chiang, was a full professor at MIT and served as scientific adviser. Intellectual property based... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Research and Development; Commercialization; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Product Development; Battery Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

2011
Working Paper

The Architecture of Transaction Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Hierarchy in Two Sectors

By: Jianxi Luo, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Daniel E. Whitney and Christopher L. Magee

Many products are manufactured in networks of firms linked by transactions, but comparatively little is known about how or why such transaction networks differ. This paper investigates the transaction networks of two large sectors in Japan at a single point in time. In... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Market Transactions; Networks; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

September–October 2021
Article

Internalization of Advertising Services: Testing a Theory of the Firm

By: Alvin J. Silk, Birger Wernerfelt and Shuyi Yu

In 1956, a group of trade associations representing publishers and independent advertising agencies signed a consent decree aimed at ending a set of trade practices that for half a century effectively precluded advertisers from owning and operating in-house agencies.... View Details

Keywords: Internationalization; Specialization; Theory Of The Firm; Advertising Agencies; Advertising; Organizational Structure; Theory

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15 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Looking For a Job? Some LinkedIn Connections Matter More Than Others

and anecdotal information, but despite having over 65,000 citations in the last 50 years, there have been no large-scale experimental causal tests of this theory as it relates to employment.” Enlisting a LinkedIn algorithm To put the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Unconventional Insights for Managing Stakeholder Trust

Keywords: by Michael Pirson & Deepak Malhotra

Research Summary

Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization

This is a descriptive study of the structure of communications in a modern organization. We analyze a dataset with millions of electronic mail messages, calendar meetings and teleconferences for many thousands of employees of a single, multidivisional firm during a... View Details

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

president of media strategy and digital media for the NFL, was faced with the challenge of determining the league's strategic approach to the wireless market—and presenting his views to NFL team owners. What... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2020 (Revised November 2024)
Case

NextView Ventures

By: Jo Tango and Nori Gerardo Lietz

David Beisel, Rob Go, and Lee Hower are non-partners at different-and-established venture capital (VC) firms. They decide to leave their positions to start a new seed-stage VC firm. The case covers the genesis of the firm, the formulation of its strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Strategy

June 2012
Article

Reality versus Propaganda in the Formation of Beliefs about Privatization

By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky

Argentina privatized most public utilities during the 1990s but re-nationalized the main water company in 2006. We study beliefs about the benefits of the privatization of water services amongst low- and middle-income groups immediately after the 2006 nationalization.... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; Business and Community Relations; Household; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Public Ownership; Utilities Industry; Argentina

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20 Oct 2015
First Look

October 20, 2015

William R., and Martin Mandorff Abstract—We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

From Cotton Mill to Business Empire: The Emergence of Regional Enterprises in Modern China

The demise of state-owned enterprises, the transformation of collectives into shareholding cooperatives, and the creation of investment opportunities through stock markets indicate China’s movement from a socialist, state-controlled economy... View Details

01 Mar 2014
News

Seeing Is Deceiving

August 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations (B)

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2020 as Ozgur Tort and Mustafa Bartin, CEO and chief large-format and online retail officer of Migros Ticaret A.S. (Migros), Turkey’s oldest and one of its largest supermarket chains, are looking over the results of the fulfillment pilot the... View Details

Keywords: Grocery; Business Model; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Turkey

January 2023
Case

Cleave Therapeutics: Taking a Risk on Oncology Drug Discovery

By: Regina Herzlinger and Brian Walker

What should a successful executive (HBS Baker Scholar) assess as her next move as the CEO of a firm with a promising and yet uncertain new drug? Amy Burroughs’ mandate to successfully commercialize Cleave Therapeutics’ drug for a cancer with no current successful... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Leadership; Health Testing and Trials; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Condition; Partners and Partnerships; Pharmaceutical Industry

2016
Working Paper

Through the Grapevine: Network Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts

By: Susanna Gallani

Effective design of executive compensation contracts involves choosing and weighting performance measures, as well as defining the mix between fixed and incentive-based pay components, with a view to fostering talent retention and goal congruence. The variability in... View Details

Keywords: Compensation Design; Board Interlocks; Compensation Consultants; Network Centrality; Homophily; Quadratic Assignment Procedure; Blockholders; Executive Compensation

SSRN

March 1998
Case

Bumper Acquisition (A2), A: Confidential Information for Medallion Capital, Inc.

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Located in Mundelein, IL, Thermo-Impact, Inc. is a rapidly growing, private firm that manufactures automotive bumpers. In 1995, a number of large automotive supply companies and a private equity investment firm offer to buy Thermo-Impact. The cases in this series focus... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Valuation; Negotiation Participants; Decision Making; Negotiation Process; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Illinois

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Article

B Corps: Can It Remake Capitalism in Japan?

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article examines the B Corporation movement that originated in the United States in 2006. The founders sought to create a new type of company whose governance structure mandated them to consider financial, social and environmental performance. A certification... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; Sustainability; B Corporations; Stakeholder Capitalism; Governance; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Japan