Publications

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

Yanhua, Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract— Exploitive working conditions have spurred companies to pressure their suppliers to adopt labor codes of conduct and to conform their labor practices to the standards set forth in... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

28 Nov 2023
Book

Economic Growth Draws Companies to Asia. Can They Handle Its Authoritarian Regimes?

case of China, businesspeople outside of China have found the regime’s efficiency and the country’s market size and innovation ecosystem attractive, and with good reason. But many people misunderstand how power is practiced in China. The key View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2024
Case

Eat App: Building and Monetizing an End-to-End Dining Experience Solution

By: Elie Ofek and Ahmed Dahawy

Founded in 2015 in Bahrain, Eat App was an up-and-coming player in the global restaurant management software business. In early 2024, having shifted to a product-led growth strategy, the company’s co-founders faced a host of decisions that could greatly impact their... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Marketing; Negotiation Deal; Internet and the Web; Value Creation; Profit; Revenue; Applications and Software; Product; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Bahrain; United Arab Emirates; Abu Dhabi; Dubai

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

says. “I think that’s a big reason why Target’s adoption of a data-driven approach has been so successful.” Related Reading: Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores? Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

noted in The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Harvard Business School Press, 1997), firms innovate faster than our lives change to adopt those innovations, creating... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

October 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

UnDosTres: Building the Paytm of Mexico

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Max Hancock and Amy Klopfenstein

Arpit Gupta, Naveen Sharma, and Vikram Deswal co-founded the mobile payment app UnDosTres in Mexico City in 2015. In the past, Gupta had worked at Paytm, an India-based payment app valued at over $1 billion. In Mexico, the co-founders hoped to recreate Paytm’s success.... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Advertising; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Adaptation; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Mexico; India

02 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Four VCs on Evaluating Opportunities

Hoel (hbs Mba '93) Managing Director, Menlo Ventures I always look at the market first. By that I mean a strategic view that includes evaluating market growth, market size, competition, and customer adoption rates. If a company has a... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Barley

01 Jun 2024
News

Redefining How Businesses Operate

In her LinkedIn profile, Rebecca Hu (MBA 2023) describes herself as a “biologist-turned-technologist obsessed with building great software products.” A product manager at the language learning app Duolingo, Hu immersed herself in electives and activities centered... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

26 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

The Power of the Noncompete Clause

associate professor of technology and operations management, their paper—available for download—is titled "Noncompetes and Inventor Mobility: Specialists, Stars, and the Michigan Experiment." What they found: While noncompetes... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Jun 2023
News

Curb Appeal

rate—the amount of waste that it recycles and composts—has for years lingered below 18 percent, a fraction of what some other major American cities have achieved. And DSNY has been slow to adopt tools such as rat-proof containers and... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photography by Vance Jacobs; Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities; Government

22 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That Motivate

advanced analytics that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). “Chung has seen companies dramatically improve productivity after adopting advanced analytics to guide compensation.” In an ideal world, a company would use trial and error... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

local municipality. We have to update it nearly every day as things change. It’s almost impossible to operate a restaurant like that, and consumers are confused—they don’t know how to behave.” Adoption of specific reopening protocols and... View Details

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

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

hoc process at many firms. Most adopt a simple decision rule: look at the best reps, and try to hire more like them. But you'll never have enough stars for all sales positions and, in fact, don't want stars in all jobs. In any... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Sony

By: Stefan Thomke, Atsushi Osanai and Akiko Kanno

Sony used to be synonymous with "innovation" and "cool products." The case reveals how the company lost its edge and describes the leadership initiatives to restore its former glory. In 2012, Kazuo (Kaz) Hirai becomes CEO and successfully transforms Sony, including a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Product Differentiation; Transformation; Leadership Style; Technology Adoption; Leading Change; Electronics Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Video Game Industry; Japan

18 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

The Internet of Things Needs a Business Model. Here It Is

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been near the top of the technology-hype lists for years. In 2018, Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies ranked IoT platforms as cresting the “peak of inflated expectations” stage and ready to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

not take a great deal of capital nor technological expertise to launch an entrepreneurial venture in many beauty products—although for such a venture to have any hope of success, high levels of imagination and creativity have always been... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

September 2012 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Philips-Visicu

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Natalie Kindred and Sara M. McKinley

Would the advent of global payment models and ACOs create sufficient demand for a telemedicine offering covering the care continuum, from hospitals to the home? This was the decision facing Royal Philips Electronics (Philips), the Netherlands-based producer of... View Details