Publications

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

Based on the fact that stores prioritize carrying products for which local demand is high, we test the hypothesis that introducing the STS functionality increased the retailer’s overall sales dispersion. We find that, on average, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing

and on and on—a coalition of associates that spanned the earth and in the end proved nearly as dysfunctional as the real United Nations often seems. Outsourcing woes cost the 787 an estimated three extra years of development, required... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati; Manufacturing; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

Fall 2011
Article

A Brief Postwar History of U.S. Consumer Finance

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano

In this brief history of U.S. consumer finance since World War II, the sector is defined based on the functions delivered by firms in the form of payments, savings and investing, borrowing, managing risk, and providing advice. Evidence of major trends in consumption,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Finance; Consumer Credit; U.s. History; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Credit; Trends; History; United States

Find at Harvard

24 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

The FDA: What Will the Next 100 Years Bring?

agency is also feeling growing pains. Its 9,000 employees and $1.95 billion budget are straining to meet the demands of technological and global change. It has lost key senior managers, and low morale is a growing problem. Can the FDA... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Health

27 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 27

Working Papers Money or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets? (revised) Authors: Shawn Cole, Thomas Sampson, and Bilal Zia Abstract Why is demand for formal financial... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Jan 2011
Op-Ed

Funding Unpredictability Around Stem-Cell Research Inflicts Heavy Cost on Scientific Progress

field. A typical grant proposal is 25 single-spaced pages and takes months to prepare. The NIH responds in approximately nine months. Because the demand for money exceeds the supply, only 20 percent of the proposals get NIH funding. A... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman; Biotechnology; Health; Pharmaceutical

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

2011) Abstract In a vitally important relationship famously caricatured as the "Mad Mullahs" v. the "Great Satan," the fraught negotiating history and future of Iran and the United States View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

Students of recent United States real estate history can't help but notice unsettling parallels between the red-hot commercial market of the late 1980s and today. Then, as now, money gushed into the market, driving office and retail... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

10 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 10

across the United States: proximity to historical mining deposits is associated with bigger firms and fewer start-ups in the middle of the 20th century. We use mines as an instrument for our entrepreneurship measures and find a persistent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

economy of the '90s brought a golden age and aura to VC firms in the United States. In 1999, venture capitalists controlled more than $46 billion, with skyrocketing returns to match the risks of their early-stage investments. Europe,... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

24 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

These Coronavirus Heroes Show Us How Crisis Leadership Works

in Galway, Ireland. He has publicly committed to double production from 5,000 to 10,000 units per month, but that is just the start. Next come the challenges of getting supplies from all over the world, hiring and training new employees,... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

responses by firms that receive poor ratings, especially those that face lower cost opportunities to improve and that operate in highly regulated industries. Our empirical analysis examines how nearly 600 firms in the United States... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 13, 2010

http://hbr.org/2010/10/the-power-of-alumni-networks/ar/1 Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets? Authors:Shawn A.Cole, Thomas Sampson, and Bilal Zia Publication:Journal of Finance (forthcoming)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2021
Case

Codecademy: Where to Next?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Max Mailman and Sarah Ascherman

In March 2020, Zach Sims, co-founder and CEO of online education platform Codecademy, prepared for a meeting with his Chief of Staff Kunal Ahuja to discuss the company’s goals. Codecademy billed itself as the largest online resource for computer science literacy and... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Business Model; Change Management; Venture Capital; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Teams; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; United States

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

CVS Health: Promoting Drug Adherence

By: Leslie John, John Quelch and Robert Huckman

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

The case describes a program that CVS Health recently implemented to improve medication adherence, an important problem from a societal, public policy, and firm... View Details

25 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 25

investment decisions. Our research, however, documents other critical criteria that investors use to make these decisions: the gender and physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs themselves. Across a field setting (three entrepreneurial pitch competitions in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1995 (Revised August 1996)
Case

Land Rover North America, Inc.

Charles Hughes, president and CEO of Land Rover North America, Inc., is debating product positioning options for the new Land Rover Discovery. The positioning decision must consider the role of the Discovery vis-`a-vis other vehicles in the LRNA line, the brand's... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Brands and Branding; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United Kingdom

June 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Valero Energy Corporation and Tight Oil

By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Eric Adamson, Aaron Byrd, Ned Chiverton, Mariko Meier and Rob Rain

Valero Energy, an incredibly successful US refiner, needs to make some decisions about tight oil. As production of light tight oil increases—from Eagle Ford, Bakken and elsewhere—Valero considers whether to add topping capacity to handle it, on top of its recent... View Details

Keywords: Petroleum; Oil ＆ Gas; Energy; Environment; Refining; Globalization; Tight Oil; Strategy; Natural Environment; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Policy; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States