Publications

20 May 2013
Op-Ed

Making America an Industrial Powerhouse Again

As part of his administration's strategy to rejuvenate American manufacturing, President Obama has called for the creation of a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to advance and diffuse... View Details

Keywords: by Gary Pisano; Manufacturing

2014
Teaching Note

Microfinance Services in Rural Areas--Farmers' Self-reliance Branch of CFPA Microfinance in Shangyi County (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Yang Siqun and Shen Meihua

Microfinance is introduced into China in the 1990s. It had gone through 3 phases since the beginning, namely the pilot phase when all Microfinance practices are sponsored by charity funds based on projects, the promotion phase when the government subsidized some... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Rural Entrepreneurship; Value Added; China; China

October 2005
Case

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Capital; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

Find at Harvard

Program

General Management Program

are designed to broaden your business perspective, management expertise, and leadership skills. You will learn how to identify, frame, and solve complex business problems; build cooperation among... View Details

24 May 2021
Blog Post

Rebekah Emanuel: Host of Season 3 of the Climate Rising Podcast

Rebekah Emanuel (MBA 2015), Director of Social Entrepreneurship for the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) and host of the third season of the BEI’s Climate Rising podcast, reflects on the role of... View Details

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Research Summary

Competing on a Common Platform

Why have over 100 firms joined the Eclipse Foundation to collectively produce an open source platform and tools for software application development? What are they trying to accomplish? This research analyzes IBMs divestment of the Eclipse Java Integrated Development... View Details

2014
Working Paper

The Triumph of the Humble Chief Risk Officer

By: Anette Mikes

This paper tracks the evolution of the role of two chief risk officers (CROs), and the tools and processes they have implemented in their respective organizations. While the companies are from very different industries (one is a power company, the other is a toy... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Managerial Roles

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August 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Northvolt: Making the World's Greenest Battery

By: Jurgen R. Weiss and Emilie Billaud

In 2021, the demand for lithium-ion batteries increased rapidly, particularly for electric vehicles. Anxious not to be reliant on Asian players, Europe was keen on developing its own home-grown capacity to control the value chain, maintain employment in Europe, and get... View Details

April 1993
Background Note

Note on High-Commitment Work Systems

By: David A. Garvin and Norman Klein

Describes the history, theory, and practice of high-commitment work systems. The history reviews classical approaches (i.e. Frederick Taylor), the human relations movement, the human resources approach, quality of work life, and empowerment. The theory examines the... View Details

Keywords: Design; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Managerial Roles; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Strategy

29 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Rich or Royal: What Do Founders Want?

What motivates entrepreneurs? Money? Control? In truth, some entrepreneurs are expecting to get rich. Others want to grow and control a new venture. But most would probably answer: "both." The... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Financial Services

26 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Great Ideas Get Stuck in Universities

Roche and Boudou considered several explanations for their findings: whether the technology driving the startup was too new or not good enough, and whether the founders took too central a role in View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Biotechnology; Health

Web

Faculty & Research

for the MIF: the potential for groundbreaking innovation versus more immediate patient outcomes, higher risk versus greater certainty, and the challenge of balancing financial... View Details

January 2025
Case

Negotiating with Data: Analytics FC (A)

By: Jillian Jordan and Livia Alfonsi

Analytics FC was a UK-based sports consultancy that focused on international football (soccer), leveraging cutting-edge data-analytic techniques to support clubs, federations, and players. In 2022, Alex Greenwood, an elite female defender, approached the company for... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Negotiation Preparation; Gender; Analytics and Data Science; Sports; Reputation; Value Creation; Consulting Industry; Sports Industry; Europe; United Kingdom

August 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan, Francois Brochet and Christine Johnson

In May 2018, Berkshire Hathaway announced an unprecedented loss of more than $1 billion for the first quarter of 2018. Warren Buffett blamed this loss on the new accounting rules for equity securities which he criticized. In the case ‘Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire... View Details

Keywords: Equity Securities; FASB; Fair Value Accounting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Services Industry