Publications

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23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

Yammer's scalability, software development, and organizational culture. David Sacks, CEO of Yammer, debated the challenges and opportunities related to competition, product, and culture as he thought about the offer on the table. Purchase... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

July 2013
Case

Sample6: Innovating to Make Food Safer

By: Robert F. Higgins and Kirsten Kester

Tim Curran, CEO of Sample6, a start-up biotechnology company developing a novel food safety diagnostics platform, must decide how to partner with food industry players. How can he best convince leaders in this mature industry to adopt a new technology and improve food... View Details

05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

What Kind of Leader Are You? How Three Action Orientations Can Help You Meet the Moment

hand. Ironically, a leader’s past success can often become their greatest liability. Ryan Raffaelli, the Marvin Bower Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, says leaders often fall into one of three “action orientations” that... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

Kevin J., and Tatiana Sandino Abstract—We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

29 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

How Organizations Create Social Value

Focus. Nonprofits start with a sharp focus on a problem—a focus that over time broadens as related issues are addressed. (Sometimes a nonprofit's cause is broadened to appeal to a larger donor base.) By contrast, the focus of View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

Web

The Diamond Model - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Conditions Related & Supporting Industries Many things matter for competitiveness. Successful economic development is a process of successive upgrading , in which the business environment improves to enable... View Details

July 2005 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Foreign Direct Investment and Ireland's Tiger Economy (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Vinati Dev and Stephen McIntyre

Describes Ireland's transformation from one of Europe's poorest countries to one of its richest in just 10 years, earning it the title Celtic Tiger. The spectacular story of growth and recovery is attributed, in large part, to foreign direct investment (FDI),... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Macroeconomics; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Republic of Ireland

January 2022
Background Note

The Florange Law: Encouraging Long-Termism in Equity Markets?

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Tonia Labruyere

This note provides background information on a French law (“the Florange law”) passed in 2014 that the French government said would encourage long-term shareholdings. The note describes the law, what led to it, the reactions it evoked, and similar initiatives in other... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Activism; Institutional Investing; Corporate Governance; Policy; Rights; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Accounting Industry; France

February 1979 (Revised December 1983)
Case

Allied Chemical Corp. (A)

By: George C. Lodge and Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes Allied, the chemical industry, and the effects of the Kepone problem (a toxic pesticide dumped into the James River) as of 1976. The executive in the case must decide whether the company should support the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act and an... View Details

Keywords: Pollutants; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Laws and Statutes; Welfare; Legal Liability; Business and Government Relations; Chemical Industry

2022
Working Paper

How Do Investors Value ESG?

By: Malcolm Baker, Mark Egan and Suproteem K. Sarkar

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives have risen to near the top of the agenda for corporate executives and boards, driven in large part by their perceptions of shareholder interest. We quantify the value that shareholders place on ESG using a revealed... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 1989 (Revised April 1991)
Case

General Electric: Valley Forge (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

A series of eight vignette cases designed to be taught in one classroom session. This case describes a potential problem in the way that General Electric has billed the government under a large defense contract. Designed to allow students to discuss what actions top... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Contracts; Policy; Accounting; Management Teams; Business and Government Relations; Industrial Products Industry

January 2025
Case

Intuition Robotics: An AI Companion for Older Adults

By: Amit Goldenberg, Elie Ofek and Orna Dan

Intuition Robotics, a startup that makes an AI companion robot to alleviate older adults’ loneliness, debates whether to pursue a B2C model or B2G route. If it opts for the government vertical, it must determine how to negotiate a favorable deal. Two weeks after... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Offer; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (state, US)

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

As health insurance reform is hotly debated in Washington, DC, what strategies should be central for the benefit of patients' health? HBS faculty with expertise in business administration, economic development, and operations strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

2016
Working Paper

Private Networks of Managers and Financial Analysts and Their Externality on a Firm's Information Environment

By: Zengquan Li, T.J. Wong and Gwen Yu

When emerging market firms raise external capital, they face a tradeoff where greater transparency may lead to a lower cost of capital but at the cost of revealing proprietary information in their relational business practices. We find that firms overcome this... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market; Financial Analysts; Information; Emerging Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Corporate Governance

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September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

The Future of Iraq Project (B)

By: Noel Maurer and Sogomon Tarontsi

The first round of bidding on the rights to develop Iraq's oil field did not go as planned. All the bidding groups wanted to charge a fee per barrel that the Iraqi government considered too high. As a result, the Iraqi government conducted the auction a second time,... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Foreign Direct Investment; Contracts; Auctions; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Iraq

May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Supplement

Odebrecht's 'Transformation Journey' (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo

The case describes the changes in Odebrecht’s board of directors while the company had to file for court-supervised reorganization and cope with an ongoing feud within its founding family, and the new challenges that the Group’s leadership has to face. The changes in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Reputation; Mission and Purpose; Business and Government Relations; Engineering; Family Business; Emerging Markets; Construction Industry; Brazil; Latin America

2008
Report

Survey Questionnaire on Environmental Management Practices: Summary of Results by Industry and Practices

By: Magali Delmas and Michael W. Toffel

This document provides a summary of the results of a survey on Environmental Management Practices (EMP) conducted by the University of California at Santa Barbara during October and November 2003. The survey was sent to 3255 facilities in 8 industrial sectors: pulp,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Surveys; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Non-Governmental Organizations

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November 1987 (Revised March 1988)
Case

Searching for Trade Remedies: The U.S. Machine Tool Industry--1983

By: David B. Yoffie

In 1983 the National Machine Tools Builder Association was predicting a declining market for the United States and rising imports. Machine tool manufacturers had to decide if they should ask the U.S. government for help, and if they did, which administrative channels... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Machinery and Machining; Government and Politics; Law; Production; Business and Government Relations; Competition; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; Germany; United States