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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(606)
- People (1)
- News (202)
- Research (334)
- Multimedia (7)
- Faculty Publications (107)
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- June 2010
- Article
Change for Change's Sake
By: Freek Vermeulen, Phanish Puranam and Ranjay Gulati
No one disputes that firms have to make organizational changes when the business environment demands them. But the idea that a firm might want change for its own sake often provokes skepticism. Why inflict all that pain if you don't have to? That is a dangerous... View Details
Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Innovation and Invention; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Creativity; Power and Influence; Adaptation
Vermeulen, Freek, Phanish Puranam, and Ranjay Gulati. "Change for Change's Sake." Harvard Business Review 88, no. 6 (June 2010).
- Research Summary
Evolution of the Global Beauty Industry
This research examines the global beauty industry, which includes cosmetics, deodorants, fragrances, hair care, oral hygiene and skin care. Today global sales of cosmetics and toiletries are in excess of U.S. $380 billion. This research examines the growth of this... View Details
- 27 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes
enacting those stereotypes," says Ely. For example, previous studies show that men in dangerous jobs, such as coal mining, often act infallible to impress their coworkers and bosses. Problem is, the infallible mindset can lead to... View Details
- November 2010 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
Energy Security in Europe (A): Nord Stream
By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Sogomon Tarontsi
Russian and German energy firms initiated the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline project with strong political support from their home governments but encountered resistance from other states. Although the pipeline would connect Russia with Germany directly, the project... View Details
Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Leadership; Distribution; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Russia; European Union; Germany
Abdelal, Rawi E., and Sogomon Tarontsi. "Energy Security in Europe (A): Nord Stream." Harvard Business School Case 711-026, November 2010. (Revised February 2013.)
- February 2002 (Revised September 2002)
- Case
Competition in Japanese Financial Markets, 2002
By: Tarun Khanna and Louis P. DiLorenzo, Jr
In early 2002, Japan, the world's largest economy, had been mired in a decade-long recession. A range of stimulus packages had failed to work their magic. The "Big Bang" financial deregulation reforms announced in 1998 had not quite produced the economic boom that the... View Details
Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Investment Banking; Financial Markets; Globalization; Financial Crisis; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Japan
Khanna, Tarun, and Louis P. DiLorenzo, Jr. "Competition in Japanese Financial Markets, 2002." Harvard Business School Case 702-455, February 2002. (Revised September 2002.)
- January 2025
- Technical Note
Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small
The “air conditioning paradox” is tied to climate change: the more the planet warms, the greater the need for cooling (due to the dangers of extreme heat as well as comfort within buildings), but the use of electricity-powered AC contributes to further warming. There... View Details
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Jacob A. Small. "Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background." Harvard Business School Technical Note 325-077, January 2025.
- September 2008
- Case
Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (A)
By: David A. Thomas and Lauren Barley
The case examines the tools a manager can use to keep her project on track and manage conflict and tension as Adobe prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the biggest software release in the company's 25-year history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is a group program... View Details
Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Launch; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Power and Influence
Thomas, David A., and Lauren Barley. Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (A). Harvard Business School Case 409-014, September 2008.
- 10 Apr 2007
- First Look
First Look: April 10, 2007
integrate their communities in order to mobilize volunteers and avoid the ever-present danger of forking and balkanization. This is enabled by two correlated but distinct social positions: social brokerage and boundary spanning between... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis
By: Robert C. Pozen and Peter Goodspeed Spring
In March of 2009, Lincoln Financial Group's CEO Dennis Glass was facing a difficult decision as to how he would replenish his company's capital, which could quickly fall to dangerously low levels as a result of the financial crisis. Though the cost of raising capital... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Capital; Private Equity; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Insurance Industry
Pozen, Robert C., and Peter Goodspeed Spring. "Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis." Harvard Business School Case 310-137, May 2010. (Revised January 2012.)
- 2024
- Book
When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day
By: Archon Fung, David Moss and Odd Arne Westad
Democracy is often described in two opposite ways, as either wonderfully resilient or dangerously fragile. Curiously, both characterizations can be correct, depending on the context. When Democracy Breaks aims to deepen our understanding of what separates democratic... View Details
Fung, Archon, David Moss, and Odd Arne Westad, eds. When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day. Oxford University Press, 2024.
- September–October 2017
- Article
Managing Our Hub Economy: Strategy, Ethics, and Network Competition in the Age of Digital Superpowers
By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani
A small number of digital superpowers—Alibaba, Amazon, Microsoft, and others—have become “hub firms” because they control access to billions of mobile customers coveted by all kinds of product and service providers. These hubs drive increasing returns to scale and... View Details
Iansiti, Marco, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Managing Our Hub Economy: Strategy, Ethics, and Network Competition in the Age of Digital Superpowers." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 84–92.
- Forthcoming
- Article
Asymmetric Mass Mobilization and the Vincibility of Democracy in Hungary
By: Laura Jakli, Béla Greskovits and Jason Wittenberg
Using an original dataset of partisan protest events in Hungary (n = 4836) spanning 1989 to 2011, we argue that left-liberal parties’ neglect in cultivating civil society during the post-communist period had deleterious downstream effects on Hungarian liberal... View Details
Keywords: Voting; Political Elections; Civil Society or Community; Government Administration; Hungary
Jakli, Laura, Béla Greskovits, and Jason Wittenberg. "Asymmetric Mass Mobilization and the Vincibility of Democracy in Hungary." Comparative Political Studies (forthcoming). (Pre-published online January 10, 2025.)
- March 2006 (Revised April 2008)
- Module Note
Conceptualizing the Customer Operating Role
By: Frances X. Frei
The module introduces students to the concept and implications of a customer operating role. Building on the first year operations curriculum in which only employees' and machines' operating roles are considered, it provides the additional perspectives needed to bring... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Performance Efficiency; Perspective; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations
Frei, Frances X. "Conceptualizing the Customer Operating Role." Harvard Business School Module Note 606-032, March 2006. (Revised April 2008.)
- 2008
- Book
Predictable Surprises
By: Max Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins
Most events that catch us by surprise are both predictable and preventable, but we consistently miss (or ignore) the warning signs. This book shows why such "predictable surprises" put us all at risk, and shows how we can understand, anticipate, and prevent them before... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior
Bazerman, Max, and Michael D. Watkins. Predictable Surprises. Paperback ed. Harvard Business School Press, 2008.
- October 2023
- Article
Laboratory Safety and Research Productivity
By: Alberto Galasso, Hong Luo and Brooklynn Zhu
Are laboratory safety practices a tax on scientific productivity? We examine this question by exploiting the substantial increase in safety regulations at the University of California following the shocking accidental death of a research assistant in 2008.... View Details
Keywords: Economics Of Science; Risk Perception; Safety Regulations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Working Conditions; Safety; Performance Productivity
Galasso, Alberto, Hong Luo, and Brooklynn Zhu. "Laboratory Safety and Research Productivity." Art. 104827. Research Policy 52, no. 8 (October 2023).
- December 2013 (Revised September 2017)
- Case
Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
The widespread cheating scandal that rocked the Atlanta public school system in 2010 and 2011 illustrates how high-stakes performance pressure, without sufficient risk controls, can drive dangerous behavior. After becoming superintendent of the low-income and... View Details
Keywords: Atlanta; Test; Testing; Standardized Test; Standardized Testing; No Child Left Behind; NCLB; Cheating; Performance Pressure; Measurement; Incentives; Atlanta Public Schools; Management; Leadership; Ethics; Performance; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Risk Management; Education; Education Industry; United States; Georgia (state, US); Atlanta
Simons, Robert, and Natalie Kindred. "Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance." Harvard Business School Case 114-001, December 2013. (Revised September 2017.)
- 10 Jan 2007
- HBS Case
The Challenge of Managing National Security
Associate Professor Jan Rivkin joined the HBS faculty in 1997 as a member of the Strategy Unit. His special area of interest is examining the interactions that occur between and across the various functional and product boundaries of the firm, which is the subject of... View Details
- 2018
- Working Paper
The State of Open Source Server Software
By: Shane Greenstein and Klaus Ackermann
The study assembles new data to construct a census of worldwide web server use across the globe. We document a large concentration of investment in the United States, and a wide dispersion across scores of countries. We find tens of billions of dollars of unmeasured... View Details
Keywords: Internet; Open Source; Internet and the Web; Policy; Open Source Distribution; Internet and the Web; Global Range
Greenstein, Shane, and Klaus Ackermann. "The State of Open Source Server Software." Working Paper, September 2018.
- 2009
- Article
An Evolutionary Approach to Financial History
Financial history is not conventionally thought of in evolutionary terms, but it should be. Traditional ways of thinking about finance, dating back to Hilferding, emphasize the importance of concentration and economies of scale. But these approaches overlook the rich... View Details
Ferguson, Niall. "An Evolutionary Approach to Financial History." Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, no. 74 (2009): 449–454.
- 2012
- Chapter
Inflection Point: New Vision, New Strategy, New Organization
By: Nancy O. Andrews and Nicolas P. Retsinas
What does it cost to build a great society? More
pointedly, what does it cost to lose a great society?
Since the War on Poverty began almost 50 years
ago, investments in America’s communities have
spurred those questions. Today we face a society
more unequal than... View Details
Andrews, Nancy O., and Nicolas P. Retsinas. "Inflection Point: New Vision, New Strategy, New Organization." In Investing in What Works for America's Communities: Essays on People, Place & Purpose, edited by Nancy O. Andrews, David J. Erickson, Ian J. Galloway, and Ellen S. Seidman, 407–419. San Francisco, CA: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2012.