Publications

29 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Star Power! How to Win in Professional Services

organization, in which professionals who go down in the elevator one evening may not return the next morning. Together, these dynamics ensure that the CEO's role in the professional service firm's decision making is both constrained and... View Details

Keywords: by Jay W. Lorsch & Thomas J. Tierney

22 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Career risks and professional growth: Finding a fulfilling career with Paige Arnof-Fenn (MBA 1991)

Coca-Cola, where I honed my skills and learned to blend creativity with data-driven decision making. I later joined three tech startups as head of marketing. Their fast-paced environments pushed me to adapt quickly and think on my feet... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

Profile

Michael O. Braimah

"I've had to relearn the concept of leadership," Michael says, of his experience thus far. "Before, I saw it as being at the front: the leader makes decisions and expects everyone to conform. HBS has exposed me to... View Details

22 Aug 2018
Blog Post

MBA Students Reflect on Their Summer Internships

clear. This guided my decision to intern with the National Park Service (NPS). My objective was to test the portability of MBA principles to practical and timely resources challenges.” Summer Snapshot: Interning at a Robotics Start-UpBy... View Details

Web

Buy Now, Pay Later: Credit, Information, and the Courts

the charge of libel. 15 This decision secured the future of credit reporting. 13 Ingrid Jeacle and Eamonn J. Walsh, “From Moral Evaluation to Rationalization: Accounting and the Shifting Technologies of Credit,” Accounting, Organizations... View Details

Web

Multimedia Development | Information Technology

disruption from new technology. It explores the resurgence of older technologies, examining if a legacy technology like film can find sustained market growth amidst digital advancements. The focus is on CEO Jeff Clarke's decision on... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

Innovation as P&G’s Key

the company had lost its fabled touch with consumers, whom he calls “the boss.” He rallied the company around the goal of delighting consumers at two “moments of truth”: first, when they purchase the product, and second, when they use it. “Consumers are now at the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

24 Jul 2018
News

How Amy Hood Won Back Wall Street and Helped Reboot Microsoft

to the failing performance and then encouraging everyone to focus on making hard decisions quickly," says Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith, whose office shares a small hallway with Hood’s. So what was the plan to... View Details

01 Sep 2004
News

Steve Barger (MBA 1974)

tanks and installing sewer lines. Obviously our work is not glamorous, but we do tough jobs, and we do them better than anyone else. Most of our improvement ideas come from our employees. Everyone is invited to our company planning meetings, and we make View Details

Keywords: Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

January–February 2023
Article

Data-Driven COVID-19 Vaccine Development for Janssen

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Michael Lingzhi Li, Xinggang Liu, Jennings Xu and Najat Khan

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred extensive vaccine research worldwide. One crucial part of vaccine development is the phase III clinical trial that assesses the vaccine for safety and efficacy in the prevention of COVID-19. In this work, we enumerate the first... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Testing and Trials; Forecasting and Prediction; AI and Machine Learning; Research; Pharmaceutical Industry

January 8, 2025
Article

Why Retailers Are Turning to Third-Party Marketplaces

By: Antonio Moreno

Some traditional retailers—including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy—are adopting third-party marketplaces, which connect customers with external sellers and thereby offer customers a much broader selection. Many other traditional retailers are considering whether to... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost vs Benefits; Retail Industry

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March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

EyeControl: Inspiring Communication

By: Paul A. Gompers and Danielle Golan

Eye-controlled communication device startup EyeControl was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2016 by cofounders with a shared personal connection to locked-in syndrome—a neurological disorder that left sufferers cognitively sound, yet paralyzed, with the exception of eye... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Communication Technology; Business Startups; Expansion; Finance; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Educators

July 2019
Case

Instabeat—One More Lap?

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Nicole Tempest Keller and Alpana Thapar

This case follows Lebanese entrepreneur, Hind Hobeika, an engineer and competitive swimmer who spends seven years trying to launch a wearable heartrate monitor and motion sensor to help swimmers track their performance while swimming. While the Beirut-based... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Manufacturing; Prototyping; Female Protagonist; Business Startups; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Design; Organizational Culture; United States; Lebanon

Educators

July–August 2014
Article

Where to Launch in Africa?

By: Eugene F. Soltes

A case study in the management of new business enterprises in developing countries is examined. A dilemma facing a Malawian entrepreneur in whether to locate a packaging industry new business in his native Malawi or in the larger market of Nigeria is examined.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Developing Countries and Economies; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Africa

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2016
Working Paper

Consequences to Directors of Shareholder Activism

By: Ian D. Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin and Suraj Srinivasan

Using a comprehensive sample for 2004–2012, we examine the impact of shareholder activist campaigns on the careers of directors of targeted firms. We find that activism is associated with directors being almost twice as likely to leave—and performance-sensitivity of... View Details

Keywords: Shareholder Activism; Hedge Funds; Independent Directors; Director Reputation; Accountability; Shareholder Voting; Voting; Retention; Investment Funds; Management Teams; Investment Activism

Read Now

2013
Working Paper

From Green Users to Green Voters

By: Diego Comin and Johannes Rode

We estimate the effect of the diffusion of photovoltaic (PV) systems on the fraction of votes obtained by the German Green Party. The logistic diffusion of PV systems offers a new identification strategy. We take first differences and instrument adoption rates (i.e.... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Political Elections; Technology Adoption; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Germany

October 2013
Article

How Much to Make and How Much to Buy? An Analysis of Optimal Plural Sourcing Strategies

By: Phanish Puranam, Ranjay Gulati and Sourav Bhattacharya

While many theories of the firm seek to explain when firms make rather than buy, in practice, firms often make and buy the same input—they engage in plural sourcing. We argue that explaining the mix of external procurement and internal sourcing for the same input... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Forecasting and Prediction; Framework; Prejudice and Bias; Mathematical Methods

May 2006
Case

Nokia in 2003

By: Paul M. Healy

Examines the challenges facing a money manager who owns stock in Nokia, the leading wireless handset provider. Two analysts covering the stock make very different predictions about the economies of the industry, Nokia's future performance, and stock recommendations.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation; Problems and Challenges; Electronics Industry

Educators

October 2008
Article

The Effect of Macro Information Environment Change on the Quality of Management Earnings Forecasts

The 1990s were characterized by substantial increases in the performance of and investor reliance on financial analysts. Because managers possess superior private information and issue forecasts to align investors' expectations with their own, we predict that... View Details

Keywords: Information; Performance Expectations; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; Forecasting and Prediction