Publications

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

social value or destroying it? In the process, the course delves into the intersection of business, government, and civil society. For the full listing, click here . Capitalism and the State (CATS) (Fall 2024) Debora L. Spar Capitalism... View Details

30 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators

PeopleImages Convicted stockbroker Bernie Madoff knew exactly what he was doing when he stole billions from clients, yet the financial advisor didn’t pull off the biggest Ponzi scheme in the United States by himself. He had the help of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 23, 2018

cross-occupational survey (Study 1), we found that idle time occurs frequently across all occupational categories; we estimate that employers in the United States pay roughly $100 billion in wages for time that employees spend idle.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

lowlights What are 1-2 highlights from your experience? This could be a memory of your first big product launch, closing a hard funding round or even just that night that all hell broke loose and you fixed a hairy bug at 2 a.m. What made... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

24 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

Why It's Best to Take Tests Early in the Day

The research provides food for thought as policymakers debate the efficacy and fairness of education initiatives like No Child Left Behind, the 2001 United States Act of Congress requiring federally funded... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

03 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 3

An Overview of Infrastructure Finance Challenges and Opportunities This overview describes how the United States funds and finances infrastructure investment to maintain its economic competitiveness. It... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2012 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Rock Health

By: Robert F. Higgins and Ian McKown Cornell

Rock Health was a San Francisco–based nonprofit organization offering accelerator services to spur innovation at the intersection of healthcare and technology. The company was the creation of Halle Tecco (HBS '11) and her HBS classmate Nate Gross (HBS '11), who met... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Incubation; Healthcare Technology; Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Health Industry; San Francisco; California; United States

March 2025
Case

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely... View Details

15 Aug 2022
Book

University of the Future: Finding the Next World Leaders in Higher Ed

case studies of several universities from Boston and Beijing to Berlin and Berkeley. Why are publicly funded universities so important? “Public institutions in the United States educate three-quarters of all... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

November 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rebuilding Puerto Rico

By: Laura Alfaro, Laura Phillips Sawyer and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria swept over Puerto Rico, devastating the island’s infrastructure and agriculture. The natural disaster was layered atop years of mounting financial distress. Before the hurricane, Puerto Rico had accumulated $74 billion in debt and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Financial Crisis; Infrastructure; Borrowing and Debt; Economy; Strategic Planning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Puerto Rico

January 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case

New Urban Mechanics

By: Mitchell Weiss

Funding to scale Citizens Connect, Boston's 311 app, is both a blessing and a burden and tests two public entrepreneurs. In 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics with a grant to scale Citizens Connect across the... View Details

Research Summary

Research

The founding and expansion of new firms is central to innovation and economic growth, but the determinants of a new idea’s success are difficult to ascertain. The decision to form a new firm and its ultimate outcome are impacted by ownership structure, financing... View Details

01 Jan 2012
News

E. Roe Stamps IV, MBA 1974

Summit reins to five of their partners in 2001. “From the very beginning, we knew that we wanted to build the kind of firm that could succeed without us,” says Stamps, whose low-key, friendly manner belies—or perhaps accounts for—his remarkable success. While Summit’s... View Details

23 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 23, 2019

expression of corporate purpose and guide for decision-making for most publicly owned firms in the United States (and the United Kingdom). I argue that narrowing the compatibility gap between capitalism and justice and reversing declining... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Open English

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa Mazzanti

Open English, a Miami-based startup offering online English language learning services, had more than 30,000 active students across Latin America in 2012. The company had just closed a $43 million financing round in order to rapidly scale its service to the next level.... View Details

Keywords: Technology Strategy; Product Management; Startup; Online Learning; Digital Platforms; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; Miami; Venezuela