Publications

Research Summary

Overview

My research focuses on cross-boundary teaming within and between organizations and on how leaders enable the complex collaborations through which execution and innovation are accomplished in a dynamic environment. In one stream of my research, I study collaboration... View Details

July 2016
Article

Do Prices Determine Vertical Integration?

By: Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger and Andrew F. Newman

What is the relationship between product prices and vertical integration? While the literature has focused on how integration affects prices, this paper provides evidence that prices can affect integration. Many theories in organizational economics and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Price; Vertical Integration; Product

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August 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Danaher Corporation (Abridged)

By: Bharat Anand, David J. Collis and Sophie Hood

Between 1985 and 2007, Danaher has been one of the best-performing industrial conglomerates in the U.S. This case examines the corporate strategy of this diversified, global corporation. It describes the firm's portfolio strategy and the Danaher Business System—a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy

17 Sep 2014
News

Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter to Launch New U.S. Cluster Mapping Tool

Research Summary

The Political Power of Weak Interests

By: Gunnar Trumbull

One of the most broadly accepted theoretical claims of public policy is the proposal that interests shared by a large set of actors tend to be under-represented in public policy. From Mancur Olson to George Stigler to James Q. Wilson, our most influential theorists... View Details

January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

The Carlyle Group

By: Robert G. Eccles and Carin-Isabel Knoop

This case describes the investment philosophy, organizational structure, management processes and culture of the largest private equity firm in the world measured in terms of assets under management ($89 billion). The Carlyle Group is distinctive in several ways,... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Assets; Private Equity; Investment; Global Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Information Technology; Asia; Washington (state, US)

28 Aug 2020
Video

Sanjay Bansal

Sanjay Bansal, former head of Ambootia tea estates in Darjeeling, India, discusses the near-feudal conditions which prevailed in the tea industry in this region, and the acute social problems faced by the Nepalese-speaking labor force, which was predominately female.... View Details

2019
Chapter

Origins and Development of Global Business

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. Emerging out of the industrialized Western economies, global firms created and co-created markets and ecosystems through their... View Details

Keywords: Global Business; Multinational; Globalization; Business History; Strategy; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

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16 May 2023
Blog Post

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at HBS (part 2)

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. The Asian Affinity Business Association (AABA), in collaboration with students and organizations across campus, is proud to share and honor the stories of our community... View Details

January–February 2013
Article

When the Crowd Fights Corruption

By: Paul M. Healy and Karthik Ramanna

Corruption is the greatest impediment to conducting business in Russia, according to leaders recently surveyed by the World Economic Forum. Indeed, it's a problem in many emerging markets, and businesses have a role to play in combating it, according to Healy and... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Emerging Economies; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Globalization; Russia; Georgia (nation, Asia); India

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September 2023
Case

Derek Aguirre

By: Leslie Perlow and Hannah Weisman

Derek Aguirre is the executive director of a nonprofit organization in Detroit, Michigan that uses the sport of squash as a vehicle to support young people in low-income urban areas. The case discusses his path to pursue meaningful work and his reflections on the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Job Search; Happiness; Well-being; Work-Life Balance; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Business Startups; Sports; Education; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; Education Industry; Education Industry; United States; Boston; Detroit

Research Summary

Formulating technology commercialization strategies

Even if young organizations succeed in acquiring the specialized talent necessary to further develop a recently-discovered technology, they may face an uncertain path in commercializing the original invention. Initial conceptions of what might constitute a useful... View Details

April 2014
Case

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Bethany S. Gerstein and Melissa Valentine

In 2006, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals was a fast-growing biotechnology company. Its leadership team was divided over whether to keep R&D organized in functional departments or transition to interdisciplinary teams. As a small company, Merrimack's R&D organization had... View Details

Keywords: Teamwork; Interdisciplinary Collaboration; R＆D; Biotechnology; Complexity; Innovation Management; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

July 2010 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Erik Peterson at Biometra (A)

By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas DeLong and Jevan Soo

Describes the problems facing a recent MBA graduate in his job as general manager of a medical device company owned by a parent corporation. Raises issues of corporate divisional relationships and the difficulties facing an inexperienced manager who seems to be... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Product Launch; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry