Publications

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08 Nov 2024
Op-Ed

How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis

African people, businesses, and nations are becoming increasingly stressed by climate-related perils like droughts, river flooding, extreme heat, and rising sea levels. This is leading not only to the destruction of assets but also challenges to lives and... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Green Technology; Energy

May 2011
Case

The Morrison Company

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Paul Meyers

The Morrison Company develops and manufactures radio frequency identification tags (RFID) known as smart labels for the retail and pharmaceutical industries. RFID technology is a fast-growing and increasingly competitive industry. Sales have risen dramatically over the... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Information Technology; Strategy; Production; Organizational Structure; Infrastructure; Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Electronics Industry

July 2011
Case

Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary

This case profiles the evolution of Sodexo's diversity initiative. Diversity became a key priority for Sodexo, North America in 2001 after a class-action lawsuit was filed and certified in Washington, D.C. against Sodexo Marriot Services, Inc., the food services... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Business Strategy; Globalization; Management Teams; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Age; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Washington (state, US)

2012
Book

The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force That Transforms Performance

By: James Heskett

The contribution of culture to organizational performance is both substantial and quantifiable. This book presents the results of field research that demonstrates how an effective culture can account for up to half of the differential in performance between... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Framework; Policy; Retention; Books; Analytics and Data Science; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Research

14 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

offered new insight into how best to create psychologically safe workplaces, detailed in a new analysis by Edmondson and Harvard doctoral researcher Derrick P. Bransby that distills insights from 185 View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

A Lesson from Google: Can AI Bias be Monitored Internally?

Dr. Timnit Gebru was the co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI research team – until she raised concerns about bias in the company’s large language models and was forced out in 2020.

Her departure sent shockwaves through the AI and tech community and raised... View Details

13 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

cigarettes. “Even though there was a functional need for men to drink lower-calorie soda, men couldn't bridge the gender gap image-wise without a new brand and product just for them” Research shows that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Auto

29 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement

among the world's largest private companies. It represents hundreds of athletes and other celebrities, and reportedly is commercially involved in an average of 10 major sports View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

04 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 4, 2008

research by judgment and decision-making scholars, psychologists have developed a detailed picture of the ways in which human judgment is bounded. This paper argues that the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 1995 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein

Based on a Silicon Valley company that has developed the capability to compete in a rapidly growing, highly turbulent environment. This capability hinges on its flexible and rapid development process, which the case characterizes in detail. Focuses on the development... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Product Launch; Managerial Roles; Expansion; Design; Applications and Software; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; California

January 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

Womenomics in Japan

By: Boris Groysberg and David Lane

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-002. View Details

January 2008
Article

The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In 1979, a young associate professor at Harvard Business School published his first... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Five Forces Framework; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy

March 1999 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Pandesic: The Challenges of a New Business Venture (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Clark Gilbert

Pandesic is a joint venture of SAP and Intel designed to develop turnkey information architectures for marketspace companies. The case explores the problems of developing the joint venture from the perspective of its general management. Describes the development of its... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Design; Information; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing Communications; Performance

October 2014
Article

Do Analysts Add Value When They Most Can? Evidence from Corporate Spinoffs

By: Emilie Feldman, Stuart C. Gilson and Belen Villalonga

This paper investigates how securities analysts help investors understand the value of diversification. By studying the research that analysts produce about companies that have announced corporate spinoffs, we gain unique insights into how analysts portray diversified... View Details

Keywords: Analysts; Spin-offs; Diversification Discount; Information Asymmetry; Value Creation; Business Subsidiaries; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Investment

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2024
Working Paper

Charting (and Updating) the Path: A Bayesian Perspective on Entrepreneurial Learning

By: Joshua L. Krieger

This chapter explores two distinct modes of entrepreneurial learning: assessing venture viability and choosing between alternative development paths. It introduces a framework for decomposing venture viability into technological feasibility, commercial potential and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Learning

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November 2023
Case

Apple Inc. in 2023

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple became the first trillion dollar market cap company, the first two trillion dollar company, and the first three trillion dollar company. Since the COVID pandemic, Apple gained over 20% of the world smartphone market and 50% of the U.S. market,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Technology Industry