Publications

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Hedge Funds

entrust their money to one of the big investment banks or brokerages—Citibank, Chase, Merrill Lynch, or Bear Sterns—which then invests it for them in hedge funds. Funds of funds, the word is on Wall Street, are the next bubble—the next place for financial View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Marius Leibold, Sven Voelpel and Kerry Herman

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards (DTV) is a South African wine producer that is considering whether to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its wine-making process. GMOs promise to lower the costs of wine production significantly through increased yields and reduced... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Genetics; Transition; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Product Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Biotechnology Industry; South Africa

2009
Working Paper

The Devil Wears Prada: Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and Xi Zou

Although the concept of luxury has been widely discussed in social theories and marketing research, relatively little research has directly examined the psychological consequences of exposure to luxury goods. This paper demonstrates that mere exposure to luxury goods... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Marketing; Behavior; Power and Influence; Luxury

Read Now

20 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar & Gui Yang; Financial Services

March 1986 (Revised December 1986)
Case

British Telecommunications, PLC

Presents a description of international equity markets, including comparisons of the U.S., Japanese, and British markets and recent trends toward deregulation of these markets. The decision focus of the case is on the initial public offerings of British... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Canada; London; Tokyo

25 Mar 2018
News

When consumer packaged goods start acting like software

December 2011
Article

Globalization and Beauty: A Historical and Firm Perspective

By: G. Jones

This paper uses the beauty industry to explore the impact of globalization over the very long run. As the first wave of modern globalization started in the nineteenth century, there began a massive homogenization of beauty ideals around the world that has, to some... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Business Ventures; Trends; Societal Protocols; Value; Brands and Branding; Perception; Entrepreneurship; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Read Now

06 Sep 2016
Blog Post

What Makes the HBS MBA unique?

around leadership and working in groups. During FIELD 2, students are put into teams and work with a company in an emerging market on a business problem. FIELD 2 culminates with students going in country for a little over a week. FIELD... View Details

November 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Kodak and The Digital Revolution (A)

By: Giovanni M. Gavetti, Rebecca Henderson and Simona Giorgi

The introduction of digital imaging in the late 1980s had a disruptive effect on Kodak's traditional business model. Examines Kodak's strategic efforts and challenges as the photography industry evolves. After discussing Kodak's history and its past strategic moves in... View Details

Keywords: History; Information Technology; Business Model; Leadership; Disruption; Industry Growth; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

03 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business

Norton, an associate professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. "But we didn't know if the ritual caused the healing." “We see in every culture—and throughout history—that people who perform rituals report... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

Impact of the New Medium - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

holiday sales season, the demonstration took place at Jordan Marsh in Boston, one of the region's leading department stores. To orchestrate the rollout of the product, Polaroid hired J. Harold Booth, known for his success in sales and View Details

20 Dec 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

How to Design a Better Customer Experience

Click HereHarvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke describes how his Executive Education students use LEGO blocks to design customer experiences. (Video by Executive Education) Why do some product or service experiences have enough pizzazz to wow customers,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Entertainment & Recreation

15 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Mobile Money Services-Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Ishan Sachdev; Banking

June 1994 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Leland O'Brien Rubinstein Associates, Inc.: SuperTrust

By: Peter Tufano

Leland O'Brien Rubinstein Associates, Inc. (LOR), which profited by selling portfolio insurance to institutional investors, attempts to rebuild itself after the 1987 stock market crash by creating new products to meet the unsatisfied needs of equity investors. LOR... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2002
Article

The Determination of Unemployment Benefits

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert J. MacCulloch

While much empirical research exists on labor market consequences of unemployment benefits, there is remarkably little evidence on the forces determining benefits. We present a simple model where workers desire insurance against unemployment risk and benefits increase... View Details

Keywords: Unemployment; Compensation and Benefits

Read Now

April 2025
Article

The Impact of Minority Representation at Mortgage Lenders

By: W. Scott Frame, Ruidi Huang, Erica Jiang, Yeonjoon Lee, Will Liu, Erik J. Mayer and Adi Sunderam

We study links between the labor market for loan officers and access to mortgage credit. Using novel data matching the (near) universe of mortgage applications to loan officers, we find that minorities are significantly underrepresented among loan officers. Minority... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Demographic Economics; Financial Institutions; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Mortgages; Personal Finance

December 2021
Article

India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic

By: Matt Lowe, G.V. Nadhanael and Benjamin N. Roth

We document the impact of India’s COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain. Food arrivals in wholesale markets dropped by 69% in the three weeks following the lockdown and wholesale prices rose by 8%. Six weeks after the lockdown began, volumes and prices had fully... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Supply Chain; Health Pandemics; Food; Policy; System Shocks; Food and Beverage Industry; India

December 2022
Article

Conflicting Interests and the Effect of Fiduciary Duty: Evidence from Variable Annuities

By: Mark Egan, Shan Ge and Johnny Tang

We examine the variable annuity market to study conflicts of interest and the effect of fiduciary duty in brokerage markets. Insurers typically pay brokers higher commissions for selling more expensive annuities. Our results indicate that sales are four times as... View Details

Keywords: Variable Annuity; Brokers; Fiduciary Duty; Finance; Investment; Insurance; Conflict of Interests; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

SSRN

April–May 2019
Article

Disclosure Incentives When Competing Firms Have Common Ownership

By: Jihwon Park, Jalal Sani, Nemit Shroff and Hal D. White

This paper examines whether common ownership – i.e., instances where investors simultaneously own significant stakes in competing firms – affects voluntary disclosure. We argue that common ownership (i) reduces proprietary cost concerns of disclosure, and (ii)... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Externalities; Corporate Disclosure; Ownership