Publications

Find at Harvard

16 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Now Is the Time for Entrepreneurs to Play Offense

dust has settled a bit, I am seeing the best entrepreneurs realize that now is the time to play offense. The "play offense" playbook is well known to many, but hard to execute during a downturn. With the start of the football season... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang

June 2021
Article

Short-Termism, Shareholder Payouts, and Investment in the EU

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

Investor-driven "short-termism" is said to harm EU public firms' ability to invest for the long term, prompting calls for the EU to better insulate managers from shareholder pressure. But the evidence offered—rising levels of repurchases and dividends—is incomplete and... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; EU; Payout Policy; Innovation; Investment; Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Acquisition; European Union

SSRN

Find at Harvard

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

time, managers gain the employees' engagement, and perhaps, more importantly, managers get to decide who benefits from its leniencies. “Moral gray zones enable both managers... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

15 Feb 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

Delivering Information Services: A 30-Year Perspective

offers executives a broader understanding of IT in the context of the company, industry, and world, while teaching them to think about IT management in a way that is appropriate for the 21st century.... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

18 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Who Really Determines CEO Salary Packages?

Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts. The answer could help to explain why CEO salaries tend to be very high across the board. “There’s always been this black box surrounding what happens in the boardroom,” says... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consulting

May 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Water Shortage and Property Investing in Mexico City

By: John D. Macomber, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Griffin James

A commercial property company evaluates water risks including the government's ability to remedy, the company's operating exposure and mitigation, and whether to relocate because of water risk. A real estate fund manager assesses investment prospects in Mexico City in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Utilities Industry; Mexico City

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas Eisenmann and Steven G. Blank

Provides practical guidelines for conducting market research to explore and validate demand for entrepreneurial offering. Explains how the research objectives of entrepreneurs might differ from those relevant to managers evaluating product or service offerings to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship

2019
Book

The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation

By: Gerald C. Kane, Anh Phillips, Jonathan Copulsky and Garth Andrus

Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions―but it... View Details

May 2009
Article

Authority versus Persuasion

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper studies a manager's trade-off between using persuasion and using interpersonal authority to get an employee to 'do the right thing' from the manager's perspective (when the manager and employee disagree on the right course of action). It... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

Read Now

August 2015
Supplement

Sustainability at IKEA Group: Video Supplement

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Michael W. Toffel

This video contains Q&A with IKEA Group's Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard and IKEA Group's Industrial Strategy Manager Per Berggren, the two primary case protagonists. They respond to student questions after the case was taught at an executive education class... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry

October 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Data Breach at Equifax

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Quinn Pitcher and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case discusses the events leading up to the massive data breach at Equifax, one of the three U.S. credit reporting companies, the organizational and governance issues that contributed to the breach, and the consequences of the breach. The case supplement provides... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Information Management; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Tatiana Sandino

Professor Sandino teaches the second-year MBA course Mastering Strategy Execution. She also teaches the main doctoral course in management accounting, Management Control and Performance Measurement. Professor Sandino has taught several other MBA courses including the... View Details

11 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

“Multinationals seemed to be hiring differently in the host market than at home” But it's not a total no-brainer. Many executives at multinational corporations considered hiring Korean women into management... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Does Spirituality Drive Success?

with each manager and learned the root of the problem. Workers were waiting for the company to make a large donation, a show of corporate support. But Rasul knew that, since Ballard is a publicly traded company, shareholders may not be... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace, Sean Silverthorne & Wendy Guild

February 2010
Case

Corporate Strategy at Berkshire Partners

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Boston

September 2007
Supplement

Leadership in Law: Amy Schulman at DLA Piper (Video Supplement)

By: Boris Groysberg

What does it take to build a successful career over time? Describes Amy Schulman's career progression and role as a star senior litigator and top executive at one of the world's largest law firms. It focuses on different stages in her career and what she did to be... View Details

Keywords: Law; Personal Development and Career; Time Management; Work-Life Balance; Governing and Advisory Boards

2013
Chapter

Effective Teamwork and Collaboration

By: Heidi K. Gardner

Book Abstract: The ability to attract, develop, and retain talent has become one of the biggest competitive issues for law firms. But although talent management is now recognized as a business issue of prime importance, law firms often lack the experience, vision, and... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Legal Services Industry

29 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Robots in the Boardroom

Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership StyleResearchers turn to machine-learning technology to look for links between a CEO's communications style and company performance. Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That MotivateUsing AI-based advanced analytics... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Patagonia

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Hyunjin Kim and Forest L. Reinhardt

Patagonia was deeply committed to the environment. This commitment, at times, conflicted with the company's goal to create the most innovative products in its industry. Patagonia's founder and executives welcomed imitation of both its environmental commitment and its... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Environmental Sustainability; Business Model; Business Strategy; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry