Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,021)
- Faculty Publications (254)
- October 2021 (Revised May 2023)
- Case
Engine No. 1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil
By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
ExxonMobil, the world's fifth largest source of carbon emissions, remained committed to aggressively expanding its oil & gas business despite global warming. During the COVID pandemic this strategy resulted in massive losses as the price and demand for oil declined. ... View Details
- July 2021 (Revised October 2021)
- Case
Allianz Customer Centricity: Is Simplicity the Way Forward?
By: Eva Ascarza and Emilie Billaud
This case explores the tradeoffs between product personalization and simplicity as companies grow. The case presents an opportunity to understand whether and how each of these approaches enables and/or limits companies’ abilities to provide customer satisfaction while... View Details
- March 2022
- Article
Strategic State Capacity: How States Counter Opposition to Climate Policy
By: Jonas Meckling and Jonas Nahm
When can states implement policies against the opposition from powerful interest groups? Research on state capacity has examined bureaucratic sources of capacity, leaving unexplained why countries with similar levels of bureaucratic capacity vary in goal attainment. We... View Details
- June 2021
- Case
Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details
Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Mobility; Strategy; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; XPRIZE; Space Industry; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan
- June 2021
- Case
Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details
Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan
- March 2021
- Supplement
Toyota and Its Labor Union in Argentina (C)
By: Jorge Tamayo, Erik Snowberg and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago
Toyota Argentina (TASA) and the union representing automotive industry workers in the country had been working together since 2011 to address the challenges faced by Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Zárate (Argentina). In 2019, after achieving all the goals set forward... View Details
- March 2021 (Revised November 2022)
- Case
Blue Meridian Partners (A): Scaling for Impact
In 2018, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in a bold move transferred all its assets to a fund pooled with other General Partners and Limited Partners, called Blue Meridian Partners, to focus substantial long range investments in a few carefully chosen nonprofits.The... View Details
- March 2021 (Revised May 2021)
- Supplement
Blue Meridian Partners (B): Pivoting in a Crisis
The (B) case situated in 2020 describes the many quick decisions taken by the fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the calls for social justice, and raises the question of whether and how these decisions are aligned with the long range strategy of the fund. View Details
- Article
Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era
By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan
Companies are increasingly aware that their customers and society in general expect businesses to adopt and work towards social and environmental objectives as well as the traditional financial ones. This involves not only re-evaluating firms’ models but re-imagining... View Details
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power
By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
In March 2020, Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal were in the midst of preparing the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup, Juno. Both current MBA students at Harvard Business School, the duo founded Juno in 2018 to leverage student bargaining power... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Cost vs Benefits; Education; Higher Education; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Strategy; Adaptation; Alignment; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Types; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts; Boston
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Supplement
Juno (B): Leveraging Student Power
By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
In March 2020, Juno co-founders Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal decided to pitch banks in anticipation of their annual auction while negotiating directly with private lender Eager. Responses from the majority of private lenders—including Juno’s 2019 partner—were not... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Education; Higher Education; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Strategy; Adaptation; Alignment; Negotiation; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Types; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts; Boston
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Supplement
Juno (C): Leveraging Student Power
By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
In May 2020, Juno co-founders Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal decided to hold the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup. Five lenders submitted bids, and the co-founders ultimately opted to select Eager Bank as their partner for the 2020-2021... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Education; Higher Education; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Strategy; Adaptation; Alignment; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Types; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts; Boston
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Technical Note
Strategy and Strategic Thinking
This note gives managers a concrete perspective on what ‘a strategy’ really is, what makes a decision ‘strategic,’ and what ‘strategic thinking’ means. It also gives them practical frameworks to assess whether some set of decisions is really a strategy and how to... View Details
- January–February 2021
- Article
Compensation Packages That Actually Drive Performance
By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah Abbott, Michael R. Marino and Metin Aksoy
By aligning executives’ financial incentives with company strategy, a firm can inspire its management to deliver superior results. But it can be hard to get pay packages right. In this article four experts break down the key elements of compensation and explain how to... View Details
- January–February 2021
- Article
How to Help (Without Micromanaging)
By: Colin M. Fisher, Teresa M. Amabile and Julianna Pillemer
Extensive research shows that when employees get hands-on managerial support, they perform better than when they’re left to their own devices, but unnecessary or unwanted help can be demoralizing and counterproductive. So how do you intervene constructively? The... View Details
- October 2020
- Case
PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India
By: John J-H Kim and Malini Sen
Pratham is a non-governmental organization, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the Indian education system. Co-founder Madhav Chavan is interested in using technology for education but differed in the way it is used in... View Details
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation—a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Organizational Alignment; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Experimentation; Metrics; Education Reform; Non-profit; Frugal Innovation; Scale; Ecosystem; Government; Education; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Innovation Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Transformation; India
- June 2020
- Teaching Note
The New LAX: Ready for Takeoff?
By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Kerry Herman and Amy Klopfenstein
This teaching note serves as a supplement to “The New LAX: Ready for Takeoff?” HBS 420-025. View Details
Keywords: Change; Change Management; Transformation; Leadership; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Organizations; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Strategy; Alignment; Transportation; Air Transportation; Transportation Networks; Air Transportation Industry; North and Central America; United States; California; Los Angeles
- Article
Using the Balanced Scorecard for Successful Health Care M&A Integration
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The failure of merged organizations to achieve stated goals is commonplace. In health care, the challenge is exacerbated by the industry’s third-party payer system and multiple stakeholders, especially the physicians in the merging entities. This article describes how... View Details
- March 2020
- Article
Do Managers Matter? A Natural Experiment from 42 R&D Labs in India
By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Christos A. Makridis
We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the staggered entry of new managers into India’s 42 public R&D labs between 1994 and 2006 to study how alignment between the CEO and middle-level managers affect research productivity. We show that the introduction of new lab... View Details