Publications

Research Summary

Quality in Service Operations

Rogelio Oliva is interested in understanding how the operational characteristics of service delivery processes interact with human resource and marketing policies to determine the long term productivity, quality, and profitability of a service operation. Specifically,... View Details

October 2019
Article

Does Political Uncertainty Increase External Financing Costs? Measuring the Electoral Premium in Syndicated Lending

By: Olivia S. Kim

This article investigates the impact of political uncertainty on contractual lending terms using a large sample of syndicated loans and a within-firm estimation approach to achieve identification. Firms pay 7 basis points (bps) more on loans originated when their... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Political Elections; Financing and Loans; Developing Countries and Economies

Summer 2021
Article

Predictable Country-level Bias in the Reporting of COVID-19 Deaths

By: Botir Kobilov, Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim

We examine whether a country’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to the downward biasing of the number of reported deaths from COVID-19. Using deviations from historical averages of the total number of monthly deaths within a country, we find that the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Deaths; Reporting; Incentives; Government Policy; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Country; Crisis Management; Outcome or Result; Reports; Policy

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Article

The Asymmetric Experience of Positive and Negative Economic Growth: Global Evidence Using Subjective Well-being Data

By: Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, George Ward, Femke De Keulenaer, Bert Van Landeghem, Georgios Kavetsos and Michael I. Norton

Are individuals more sensitive to losses than gains in terms of economic growth? We find that measures of subjective well-being are more than twice as sensitive to negative as compared to positive economic growth. We use Gallup World Poll data from over 150 countries,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Business Cycles; Welfare; Perception; Global Range

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Article

Matching in Networks with Bilateral Contracts

By: John William Hatfield and Scott Duke Kominers

We introduce a model in which firms trade goods via bilateral contracts which specify a buyer, a seller, and the terms of the exchange. This setting subsumes (many-to-many) matching with contracts, as well as supply chain matching. When firms' relationships do not... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Market Design; Marketplace Matching; Supply Chain

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August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Supplement

Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi and Alexander Jorov

The case describes the resolution to the January 2006 gas crisis, precipitated by the decision of Gazprom, the largest natural gas producer in the world, to cut off gas supply to Ukraine because of disagreement on the terms of future trade. The case also narrates the... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Non-Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Conflict Management; Reputation; Energy Industry; Russia; Ukraine

2007
Working Paper

Paths to Equality: Walking the Talk in Multi-party Negotiations

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Katherine L. Milkman and Markus Nöth

Past research has shown that communication in negotiations heightens social awareness, facilitates coordination, increases the utility for the other's positive outcomes, and thereby leads to more equal payoffs. But the role of specific communication strategies in... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Fairness; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Types; Behavior; Competition

July 2020
Case

Kathy Fish at Procter & Gamble: Navigating Industry Disruption by Disrupting from Within

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

When Kathy Fish, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer, and a 40-year company veteran, stepped into her role in 2014, she was concerned that the world’s leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady... View Details

Keywords: Female Protagonist; Organizational Change; Organizational Behavior; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Lean Startup; Experimentation; Metrics; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

November 2018
Case

Attijariwafa Bank: Egypt Expansion

By: Victoria Ivashina and Alpana Thapar

This case follows Attijariwafa Bank, a leading Morocco-based commercial bank, giving insight into its risk management practices and its international expansion over time. In particular, the case focuses on its planned acquisition of Barclays Bank Egypt in 2017. At this... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Risk Management; Small And Medium Enterprises; Acquisitions; International Expansion; Emerging Markets; Africa; SMEs

June 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Note

Rose Electronics Distributing Company

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Itamar Frankenthal (HBS ’13) wanted a $4.5 million bank loan to partially finance his planned acquisition of a small company, Rose Electronics. He received nine proposals which varied widely in term, interest rate, amortization schedule, and covenants. Frankenthal had... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Decision Making; Electronics Industry

March 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Background Note

Note on Why Leaders Lose Their Way

By: William W. George

In the seemingly never-ending revelations of corporate scandals that have been exposed since the fall of Enron, the media, politicians, and the general public have taken to characterizing such leaders as "bad people," even to the point of considering them evil. The... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Behavior

02 Dec 2021
News

Our Eight Favorite Books in 2021 for Healthy Living

01 May 2017
News

The Debate on Corporate Tax Reform Just Started for Real

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

$15 Billion in Five Years: What Data Tells Us About MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy

infrastructure that were likely to be able to use such large unrestricted grants effectively. The typical nonprofit in the US is very small in terms of revenue. The average grant size among organizations that reported them was $8.4... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew Lee, Brian Trelstad, and Ethan Tran

30 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Africa Rising: Understanding Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Complexities of a Continent with Professor Hakeem Belo-Osagie

Short Intensive Programs (SIPs) are courses that offer students a great opportunity to think about career choices, gain practical skills, and explore topics you might otherwise never get to study. These courses run for one week in January before the start of the Spring... View Details

October 2016 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Carrum Health: Scaling Bundled Payments

By: Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

Founded in 2014, Carrum Health helped self-insured employers located in three markets (San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California) save money on their employees’ planned surgeries. It did so by contracting directly with top-quality... View Details

Keywords: Health Financing; Health Insurance; Value-based Healthcare Reimbursements; Bundled Payments; Innovation; Scale; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; California; San Francisco; San Diego; Seattle

April 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Mercadona

This case presents the predicament of a company trying to do right by its customers and its employees as the economic crisis of 2008 hits home. Fifteen years earlier, this Spanish supermarket chain had adopted its own version of total quality management, called the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Service Operations; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Spain