Publications

January 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Paydiant

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Elizabeth C. Williamson and James Weber

Kevin Laracey, founder of Paydiant, needed to figure out how to launch a payment processing company with a new technology based on smart phones. Consumers had increasingly turned to electronic payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards to make purchases.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Cooperation; Technology Adoption; Retail Industry

01 Aug 2005
What Do You Think?

Is There an “Efficient Market” in CEO Compensation?

Summing Up Paul Jackson sums up the thinking of most respondents to this month's column with the comment, " . . . nothing about CEO compensation seems to be 'efficient.'" Brad Millet adds, "The CEO market for mega-organizations operates in View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

31 Mar 2020
News

How To Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin

The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Investment; Profit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

November 1992 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Decisions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Productivity; Leadership; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Ownership; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

March 2010
Article

Nameless + Harmless = Blameless: When Seemingly Irrelevant Factors Influence Judgment of (Un)ethical Behavior

By: Francesca Gino, Lisa L. Shu and Max Bazerman

People often make judgments about the ethicality of others’ behaviors and then decide how harshly to punish such behaviors. When they make these judgments and decisions, sometimes the victims of the unethical behavior are identifiable, and sometimes they are not. In... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Ethics; Behavior

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March 2018
Article

Financing the African Colonial State: The Revenue Imperative and Forced Labor

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

Although recent studies on African colonial tax systems have deepened our understanding of early fiscal capacity building efforts in the region, they have largely ignored the contributions from a widely used but invisible source of state revenue: that of labor... View Details

Keywords: Colonial Institutions; Labor Coercion; Taxation; Africa

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July 2012
Class Lecture

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work

By: Teresa M. Amabile

What really makes people happy, motivated, productive, and creative at work? Professor Amabile's research, based on analyzing nearly 12,000 daily diaries of team members working on collaborative projects, reveals some surprising answers. Inner work life—a person's... View Details

Keywords: Employee Motivation; Fostering Performance; Improving Creativity; The Importance Of Progress; Employee Attitude; Enhancing Work Life; Improving Productivity; Inner Work Life; Motivation and Incentives; Working Conditions; Creativity; Performance Productivity; Attitudes; Employees

12 Dec 2023
Book

HBS Faculty Books of 2023: Find Happiness, Fix Things, and Fail Well

Fast and Fix Things. Failing Well: How Your ‘Intelligent Failure’ Unlocks Your Full PotentialWe tend to avoid failure at all costs. But our smarter missteps are worthwhile because they can force us to take a View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

12 Sep 2023
Research & Ideas

How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

more comfortable using technology to make financial decisions. It turns out, Di Maggio says, that “having a broader view of the financial picture of the client helps [advisers] keep their clients and helps... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Financial Services

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Pivots and Incentives at LevelUp

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

LevelUp's mobile payments service lets users scan a smartphone barcode rather than swipe a credit card. Will consumers embrace the service? Will merchants? LevelUp considers adjustments to make the service attractive to both consumers and merchants, while trying to... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Payments; Smartphone; Credit Cards; Interchange Fee; Mobile Marketing; Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Mobile Technology; Technology Networks; Food and Beverage Industry; Banking Industry; United States

2018
Book

American Capitalism: New Histories

By: Sven Beckert and Christine Desan

The United States has long epitomized capitalism. From its enterprising shopkeepers, wildcat banks, violent slave plantations, huge industrial working class, and raucous commodities trade to its world-spanning multinationals, its massive factories, and the centripetal... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; History; Finance; Trade; Economy; Policy; United States

November–December 2024
Article

Group Size and Its Impact on Diversity-Related Perceptions and Hiring Decisions in Homogeneous Groups

By: Aneesh Rai, Edward H. Chang, Erika Kirgios and Katherine L. Milkman

Why do some homogeneous groups face backlash for lacking diversity, whereas others escape censure? We show that a homogeneous group’s size changes how it is perceived and whether decision makers pursue greater diversity in its ranks. We theorize that people make... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Perception; Decision Making; Groups and Teams; Selection and Staffing; Size

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May 2016 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Hillside Beach Club: Delivering the Ultimate Family Vacation in the Mediterranean

By: Rajiv Lal and Gamze Yucaoglu

In 2015, Edip Ilkbahar, HBC’s founder and CEO, was looking over the plans for a new branch in Cyprus. Since the inception of the company by the Alarko Group of companies in 1994, Ilkbahar’s company had enjoyed high occupancy, high guest satisfaction, and high... View Details

Program

Women on Boards

contributing to corporate governance at the highest level. Details Build your readiness for a board position Explore how different types of corporate boards function Examine the best practices of... View Details

June 2008
Case

Rackspace Hosting in Late 2000

By: James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser

The leadership team of Rackspace, faced with accommodation of its service offering and dwindling financial reserves, decides to make customer focus the rallying cry of its new strategy. This short case was designed as the discussion igniter for a series of short video... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Finance; Management Teams; Service Operations; Customer Ownership; Strategy