Work - Publications - Faculty & Research

02 Sep 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Overlooked Forces Shielding the US from Severe Economic Downturns?

given the length of the economic recovery from the depths of 2008. But are several basic forces at work that put the notion of an imminent recession to rest? In the early 1960s, in a class on business logistics at The Ohio State... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

4 Ways Managers Can Exercise Their 'Agency' to Change the World

harness the power of business to address some of society’s most significant problems, not as a separate part of employees’ lives—businessperson by day, volunteer by night—but as an integrated whole, working in a profitable company that... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

21 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Are Crummy Products Your Next Growth Opportunity?

a lower-cost business model. This strategy has worked well for Wal-Mart, for example, but you still remain vulnerable to competitors disrupting your success from below. The third model Christensen termed new-market disruption, whereby you... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers

may actually hurt you, and if you can't respond adequately on your own, you can put a spanner in the works by forcing regulators in your industry to institute antitrust proceedings. For example, among telecommunications companies, the... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat & Fariborz Ghadar

24 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 24, 2018

Bird, Yanhua Z., Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract—Exploitive working conditions have spurred companies to pressure their suppliers to adopt labor codes of conduct and to conform their labor practices to the standards set... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 4, 2008

Working PapersBarriers to Acting in Time on Energy and Strategies for Overcoming Them Author:Max H. Bazerman No abstract is available at this time. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-063.pdf Fear of Rejection? Tiered... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How Business Strategy Tamed the “Invisible Hand”

devised, which paved the way for the use of quantitative analysis in formal strategic planning. In 1944, John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern published their classic work, The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. This work essentially... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

changes on jobs, tax base, and blight as you lose thousands and thousands of stores around the country?” Q: Are some malls still working well? Alvarez: Some you see succeeding are experience-based malls, ones that have restaurants, movie... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Challenges that Face Bricks-and-Mortar Stores

their entrances more visible as people walked into a branch, the bank was able to substantially improve consumer acceptance. Lesson 4: Recognize That Customers' Response To Technology Varies. It is very difficult to create one customer interface that View Details

Keywords: by Raymond Burke; Retail

31 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Bypass Marketing: Are Docs Influenced?

brand over another based on their patients' requests? A recent study, Physicians Report on Patient Encounters Involving Direct to Consumer Advertising, focused on one aspect of pharma DCTA: What do physicians think about all of this? What follows is an HBS View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

19 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Privacy Protection Notices Turn Off Shoppers

make you feel less safe by making you conscious of just how much you are giving away? A new working paper finds that it’s more likely to be the latter. “Even if a privacy policy is meant to be assuaging, it can prime you to think about... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

someone who works in London, for instance, to attend our program in Mumbai. It will let them be in a different environment and build different relationships." View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

03 Feb 2011
What Do You Think?

Are We Going “Back to the Future” In Researching Management?

which we take collaboration to the level of megacommunities from the private and public sectors working together to solve large-scale social problems." Others, including Jay Somasundaram, wonder about the relative roles of the... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

01 Aug 2005
What Do You Think?

Is There an “Efficient Market” in CEO Compensation?

consider showing up for work?" Bill Bittner observed that, "Those boards that recognize the need for change early can use the existing talent to make it happen, and save both money and careers." Anshu Vats said, " . . . unless we can transform the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

Working PapersMandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability Authors:Francois Brochet, Alan Jagolinzer, and Edward J. Riedl Abstract This study examines the effect of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Want to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part I]

and suppliers in its fast-growing market, and to facilitate possible acquisitions. Prior to jointly founding IWA, the three had worked in management consulting and investment banking: each, however, did have substantial experience with... View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

installations. Q: What are you working on next? A: These days, online shoppers face deceptive offers that promise discounts ("$10 off your next order") while they attempt to check out at ordinary retail Web sites. Because an... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

26 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

What Developing-World Companies Teach Us About Innovation

and one lucky family wins the entire amount at the end of the week. What they also learned is that although these funds were intended for building, winnings were often diverted to such other purposes as weddings and celebrations of festivals. View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull, Alejandro Ruelas-Gossi & Martin Escobari

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

However, this project was a failure. As one former securities analyst noted, "None of this stuff worked the way it was supposed to." 76 This history seems especially relevant given GM's current attempts to create yet another... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities

John Walson launched the first commercial cable television system in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, an Appalachian town eighty-six miles from Philadelphia. 1,2 Walson worked as a lineman for Pennsylvania Power & Light and also owned a... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Media & Broadcasting; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

Publications