Publications

SSRN

2015
Working Paper

Crowdsourced Digital Goods and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Open Source Software

By: Frank Nagle

As firms increasingly rely on crowdsourced digital goods, understanding their impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of one such good, non-pecuniary (free) open source software (OSS). The results show a... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Software

SSRN

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Employee Analytics: Productivity Dream or Micromanagement Nightmare?

organizations is also driving the trend, generating “digital trace data”—records of employee behavior captured on devices central to performing jobs everywhere, from the office to the factory floor to the job or delivery site. Spurred by... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

micro and macro levels. As we navigate these technological waves, the imperative to reskill—through training programs designed to facilitate the transition from obsolete to in-demand occupations—has gained... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Rapport in Organizations: Evidence from Fast Food

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Parker Howell, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

Common identity often provides a foundation for workplace rapport. Though gender is perhaps the most frequently studied dimension of identity among workers, little is known about how gender match between managers and their workers might affect team performance. Using... View Details

Keywords: Management; Relationships; Gender; Labor and Management Relations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Food and Beverage Industry; Colombia

28 Nov 2018
Blog Post

Making the Switch from Finance to Fitness

at night, I was so happy doing what I loved. I was also conscious of the fact that my primary responsibility was to my company. I worked to ensure that I was productive and meeting deadlines, and I appreciated the support I received View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media / Sports

2021
Chapter

Multinationals' Need for State Protection: The Creation of the Swiss Investment Risk Guarantee in the 1960s

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This chapter focuses on the role of Industrie-Holding, the Federation of Swiss Industrial Multinational Companies, in the introduction of an investment risk guarantee during the 1960s. The chapter therefore contributes to a) the growing body of literature on how... View Details

Keywords: Investments; Multinational Companies; Political Risk; Business ＆ Government Relations; Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Government Relations; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

2025
Working Paper

How Firms Respond to Worker Activism: Evidence from Global Supply Chains

By: Yanhua Bird, Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

Social movement pressures can lead organizations to concede and improve social performance to avoid disruption costs, but we theorize that such responses evoke concession costs that prompt organizations to shift resources and attention from other social domains whose... View Details

Keywords: Worker Activism; Labor Standards; Tradeoffs; Global Supply Chains; Internal Governance Structure; Public Opinion; Supply Chain; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Working Conditions

SSRN

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Arçelik: From a Dealer Network to an Omnichannel Experience

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fares Khrais

Arçelik Turkey, the country’s market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arçelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Bricks And Mortar; Franchise Management; Franchising; Dealer Network; Dealers; B2B; B2B2C; Tradition; Culture Change; Cultural Adaptation; Omnichannel; Omnichannel Retail; Omni-channel; Omnichannel Retailing; Sales Channels; Sales Channel Development; Channel Management; Channels Of Distribution; Marketplace; Platforms; Collaboration; Online Channel; Online Data; Online Sales; Online Shopping; Online; Retail; Retailing; Disruption; Transformation; Franchise Ownership; Change Management; Partners and Partnerships; Consumer Behavior; Sales; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Organizational Culture; Distribution Channels; Digital Transformation; Digital Platforms; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Turkey

Web

Innovation and Renovation: Optimizing Product Line Architecture - Course Catalog

story. MODULE 1: Why “AND” renovation? The Challenge of Market Evolution This module maps out the key issues of the course focusing on the importance of the management of the product line over time. We will View Details

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

access and trust them. For that reason, she works to find ways to reverse engineer the prediction model to gain some insight into the relationships between variables and the purchasing motivations it discerns View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail; Service

01 Jun 2003
News

Ruling from the Bench

third attempt to gain entry to this elite fraternity, Snyder succeeded — with the stipulation that she obtain a permission letter from her husband, Fred Snyder, a pediatrician. (After she ignored the... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities; Government

2019
Article

The Social Desirability of Offshoring: A Swiss Consensus (1945–1975)

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focuses on the evolution of the rhetoric and practice of corporate offshoring in Switzerland from the post-war economic boom to the industrial crisis in the mid-seventies. The virtue of a historical perspective on the issue of offshoring is to show how... View Details

Keywords: Multinationals; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Relocation; Labor Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Labor and Management Relations; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Switzerland

Register to Read

01 Jun 2023
News

From Big Pharma to Startup

our story and gain feedback from an audience of potential investors,” Goble says. The victory also came with $75,000, a sizable sum for the young firm facing basic company-formation costs. The enterprise... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Dec 2012
News

From Where We Stand

what you can gain from them, but principally because of how much you can learn. Enjoy the ride! GEETA AIYER Geeta Aiyer (MBA 1985), founder and President, Boston Common Asset Management, Boston,... View Details

January 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

IKEA in Saudi Arabia (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna, Jérôme Lenhardt and Marc Homsy

A Swedish newspaper reveals that IKEA has erased all images of women from its catalog for Saudi Arabia. The article sparks criticism of IKEA from the Swedish government and its customers in the West. Critics contend that IKEA is not living up to its own commitments to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Values; Islam; Multinationals; Globalization; Leadership; Equality and Inequality; Multinational Firms and Management; Religion; Organizational Culture; Gender; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; Sweden

April 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Microsoft in Korea

By: Jordan I. Siegel and Lynn Pyun

Microsoft Korea sees a potential opportunity to dramatically improve its subsidiary's performance by actively recruiting and promoting female senior managers in South Korea. The question is to what extent multinationals can gain competitive advantage by actively... View Details

Keywords: Global; International Business; Multinational Management; Human Resource Management; Labor Market; Global Human Resource Management; Microsoft; South Korea; Asia; East Asia; Human Resources; Strategy; Global Strategy; Computer Industry; South Korea; East Asia

01 Jun 2009
News

Dispatches from the Global Classroom

States, complete with fast-food chains and high-end malls. It’s a long way from our stay in the Zapotec villages. The companies we visit — Sealed Air, Femsa (Mexico’s largest beverage company), and ALFA — demonstrate the diversity and... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

01 Jun 2009
News

Insights from the Post-Macho Workplace

ELY: Drilling down for valuable perspectives on how gender issues affect efficiency, safety, and productivity in the workplace. Field-based research can take HBS faculty members to some unusual places. Professor Robin Ely’s recent working... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining

November 2022
Background Note

The Future of E-Commerce: Lessons from the Livestream Wars in China

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jeremy Yang and Billy Chan

This note explores the emerging multi-billion dollar commerce trend of livestream commerce. Livestream commerce is the sale of goods or services directly to consumers via live shows on digital platforms (such as social media or e-commerce platforms). It is a form of... View Details