Publications

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

certified charter companies. Thanks to its innovative business model and proprietary technology platform, the firm was providing its clients with all the benefits of owning a fleet of aircraft with none of the associated View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1990 (Revised November 2004)
Case

O.M. Scott & Sons Co. Leveraged Buyout

By: George P. Baker III and Karen Wruck

Documents the organizational changes that took place at O.M. Scott & Sons Co. in response to their leveraged buyout. Provides the opportunity for students to discuss the effects of high leverage on management decision making, and the differences between operating as a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management; Business Conglomerates; Cost of Capital; Financial Services Industry

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Code of Change

efforts and occasional spurts of good financial performance, the company's returns to shareholders remained low and well below the cost of capital. Over an extended period of time, Scott Paper had managed to destroy wealth. This was... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Nitin Nohria

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

costs (i.e., providing an infrastructure that can be used for many transactions between the different sides of the platform). All multi-sided platforms perform at least one of these three functions and many... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

November 2007 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Ice King

By: Tom Nicholas and Sandra Nicholas

Provides an opportunity to examine the risk-reward tradeoff and the travails of entrepreneurial venturing in the nascent U.S. economy. Traces the origins and development of Frederic Tudor's Ice Company, a business which developed during the 19th century to hack chunks... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Cost vs Benefits; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Business History; Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; United States

19 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Is India’s Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities?

Keywords: by Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami & William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

Sweden has long seemed like a social-welfare capitalist dream come true, where companies and labor unions collaborate in harmony with government support. Swedish citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, and they enjoy publicly View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

16 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Auditing Oligopoly and Lobbying on Accounting Standards

Keywords: by Abigail M. Allen, Karthik Ramanna & Sugata Roychowdhury; Accounting; Banking

12 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Customers at the Back of the Line Are Anxious—Can You Keep Them from Leaving?

because they hoped the other line would move more quickly. Tabulating the total time each participant spent in line, however, Buell found that those who switched at least once actually ended up spending an average of 57 seconds longer in line—meaning their aversion to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service

24 May 2021
Op-Ed

Can Fabric Waste Become Fashion’s Resource?

COVID-19 has broken fashion’s supply chain. As a result, an already wasteful industry has become more wasteful. Even before the pandemic, the global apparel industry was producing about 92 million tons of textile waste a year. That’s about one garbage truck’s worth of... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Shelly Xu; Fashion

31 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

What is the Function of Fear in Leadership?

reminds us that, “a recent tidal wave of harassment claims highlights the costs of failing to create a psychologically safe workplace for women.” Edmondson has the numbers to back up her arguments. She has, for example, conducted many... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

When Celebrity ‘Crypto-Influencers’ Rake in Cash, Investors Lose Big

activity." Among the 58 percent of influencers in the sample who described themselves as crypto “experts,” “analysts,” or “educators” in their Twitter profiles, the results were more pronounced. The advice of these influencers cost... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

24 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 24

and Frances X. Frei Publication:Chap. 8 in Operational Control in Asset Management: Processes and Costs. 1st ed., edited by Michael Pinedo, 154-168. Denmark: SimCorp StrategyLab, 2010 Abstract This chapter examines patterns in the cost... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

regulations to permit restaurants to include alcoholic beverages with takeout, curbside, and delivery orders. Consumers have appreciated that convenience, which, if continued, provides an enhanced revenue source for restaurants. The View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

06 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Cut Salaries or Cut People? The Best Way to Survive a Downturn

eugeniek Companies looking to shed costs in an economic downturn rarely cut compensation—typically, they slash jobs instead. New research confirms the wisdom of that decision. The study concludes that when a company cuts employee pay the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

How to Demotivate Your Best Employees

company. Perfect attendance was defined as not having any unexcused absences or tardy shift arrivals during the month. The plant managers had all the right intentions when they implemented the award program. Absenteeism and tardiness View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Service

February 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Pharmaceutical Industry, The: Challenges in the New Century

By: Stephen P. Bradley and James Weber

Provides a broad overview of the numerous internal and external forces that were driving change in the global pharmaceutical industry in 2003. These forces--including downward price pressures, political and social pressures, increased development costs, new... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Change; Cost; Price; Globalization; Government and Politics; Brands and Branding; Industry Growth; Society; Competition; Consolidation; Technology; Pharmaceutical Industry