Publications

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

July 2022
Teaching Note

TraceTogether

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah Mehta

This Note provides guidance for teaching "TraceTogether," HBS Case No. 820-111. View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Crisis Management; Health; Health Pandemics; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Adoption; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

June 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Supplement

Accounting for Leases at American Airlines (B)

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Julia Kelley

This is a supplement to the “Accounting for Leases at American Airlines (A)” case. The (B) case describes American Airlines’ financial results for the first quarter of 2020, as well as the continuing effects of coronavirus on the airline industry. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Finance; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leasing; Health Pandemics; Accounting Industry; Air Transportation Industry; North and Central America; United States

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

practitioners admire in organizations like Tesla, Amazon, and Salesforce. THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS More Business-Related Pandemic Coverage from Around Harvard and Beyond COVID-19 Business Impact Center (Harvard Business School) How to... View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

find.” Of course, given the limitations the coronavirus pandemic has placed on large gatherings, hackathons have necessarily been suspended over the past year, though Wu says some have successfully transferred at least some of their... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

06 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Unexpected Exercise Advice for the Super Busy: Ditch the Rigid Routine

Months of binge watching, doom scrolling, home schooling, and stress eating have left many people more determined than ever to start a new fitness regimen in January. Even a global pandemic that is closing gyms and keeping people indoors... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

It is no secret that immigration has reshaped American innovation. Immigrants are the backbone of America’s most innovative industries, provide a quarter of our patent applications, and are numerous among our science and engineering superstars. Taken from World... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

week, two weeks, or more? If you don’t know, find out now and work to shorten ramp-up time and increase productivity in your sales team after the crisis. THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS More Business-Related Pandemic Coverage from Around Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

2020
Working Paper

Working (From Home) During a Crisis: Online Social Contributions by Workers During the Coronavirus Shock

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Wesley W. Koo and Xina Li

Prior research has documented that during mortality-related crises workers face psychic costs and are motivated to make social contributions. In addition, management practices that encourage workers to make social contributions during a crisis create value for firms.... View Details

Keywords: Crisis; Social Contributions; Work From Home (WFH); Cannot Work From Home (CWFH); Social Distancing; Online Communities; Coronavirus; COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Employees; Working Conditions; Internet and the Web; Crisis Management

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25 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Steer Clear of the Blind Spots That Derail Experiments

Should companies let employees keep working remotely after the COVID-19 pandemic ends? Assessing the impact of remote work has involved a lot of guesswork for business leaders, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Consider the Chinese... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

they know well; but I am not certain that they’ve really considered the alternatives and what workplace would fit into their broader strategy. And then you have other companies and executives that went remote during the pandemic and are... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

October 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations During COVID-19 (C)

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2020 as Ozgur Tort and Mustafa Bartin, CEO and chief large-format and online retail officer of Migros Ticaret A.S. (Migros), Turkey’s oldest and one of its largest supermarket chains, are navigating Migros through COVID-19 and the unprecedented... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Strategic Planning; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

October 2020 (Revised November 2023)
Case

COVID-19 Testing at Everlywell

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

In March 2020, as COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the U.S., Everlywell founder Julia Cheek considers how to respond as a small start-up specializing in at-home lab testing. After making dramatic budget cuts, she decides to pivot the organization to address the... View Details

22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

conference. As the economic fallout of COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, some risk-management parallels between climate change and the coronavirus crisis were becoming clear. As Litterman said, “If you have enough time, you can solve just about... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

15 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Find Your Pragmatic Path through Radical Uncertainty

Henri-Louis Bergson’s injunction: “Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.” THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS More Business-Related Pandemic Coverage from Around Harvard and Beyond COVID-19 Business Impact Center (Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson, Eugene B. Kogan, and Shirley Spence

November 24, 2020
Article

4 Strategies to Make Telehealth Work for Elderly Patients

By: Umar Ikram, Susanna Gallani, Jose F. Figueroa and Thomas W. Feeley

As providers have ramped up their use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, one group—the elderly—has experienced particular challenges in adopting the technologies. This article describes the strategies four innovative provider organizations have used to engage... View Details

Keywords: Telehealth; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Internet and the Web; Age; Technology Adoption; Strategy

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2020
Working Paper

Consumers Punish Firms That Cut Employee Pay in Response to COVID-19

By: Bhavya Mohan, Serena Hagerty and Michael Norton

Two experiments, including one incentive compatible study, examine the impact of cutting pay for executives versus employees in response to COVID-19 on consumer behavior. Study 1 explores the effect of announcing cuts or no cuts to CEO and employee pay, and shows that... View Details

Keywords: Employee Furloughs; CEO Pay Cuts; Pay Ratios; Purchase Intention; Health Pandemics; Employees; Wages; Executive Compensation; Consumer Behavior

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November 2024 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details