Publications

February 2021
Case

Digital Manufacturing at Amgen

By: Shane Greenstein, Kyle R. Myers and Sarah Mehta

This case discusses efforts made by biotechnology (biotech) company Amgen to introduce digital technologies into its manufacturing processes. Doing so is complicated by the fact that the process for manufacturing biologics—or therapeutics made from living cells—is... View Details

05 Jul 2022
Op-Ed

Hear Me Out: Introverts Can Be Loud and You Might Like Microsoft Teams

We've been encouraging readers to share feedback and observations about Working Knowledge articles by email, resulting in a slew of thoughtful responses. Here are a few comments from June, published with permission: Re: "Extroverts, Your... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

representing groups of investors, and from those in the U.S. and other countries—if at all representative—provide what is for me a rather sobering assessment of the future of these funds. At one end of the spectrum are the feelings largely of investors. As View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2006

Professor Carliss Baldwin discusses research into the rodeo kayak industry to understand the world of user innovation. What Happens When the Economics of Scarcity Meets the Economics of Abundance? The "Long Tail," a term coined View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

04 Mar 2002
What Do You Think?

Why the Bull Market in Leadership Books?

... leadership of (especially people) assets." The timing of this "bull market," Chris Wolfington writes, may be accounted for by "the wave of managers who were hired at fast growing... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Nov 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Less Becoming More?

the cause. F. Chircu helped frame the discussion by writing that "When producers want to differentiate themselves, up to a point the safest and quickest way . . . is to add features or increase product complexity. . . . Choice... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products

23 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Are Great Teams Less Productive?

learning processes by their nature involve facing failures—problems, mistakes—head on. The presence of problems or mistakes doesn't signal high performance to most people who might be watching. Some scholars go so far as to define... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

10 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Long-Tail Economics? Give Me Blockbusters!

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. The importance of blockbusters has been challenged recently View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation; Pharmaceutical

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

on specific proposals begin the week of June 22.] Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's proposals for fixing the broken financial system closely resemble those found in Moss's own playbook. In this instance, the book is a Special Report on Regulatory Reform,... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

06 Apr 2007
What Do You Think?

Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?

Summing Up Debate on this month's questions occurred on at least three levels. Is global warming occurring? Do humans (primarily through CO2 emissions) have much to do with it? Should we rely on market forces to provide appropriate responses, or will this require... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

links between satisfied employees and satisfied customers have on practitioners? Jim Heskett: While we don't spend any time tracking the impact, Earl and I (as well as our coauthors who, over the years, have included Chris Hart, Len... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 21, 2010

of continued collaboration. We theoretically refine and empirically extend prior research by (a) distinguishing between control and coordination functions of contracts, (b) separating goodwill-based and competence-based trust, and (c)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Blockbuster! Why Star Power Works

Disney Company expects to lose up to $190 million on its summer fiasco The Lone Ranger, another star vehicle featuring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. Welcome to the risky strategy of "blockbusters," practiced increasingly by... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Entertainment & Recreation

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Hot Wheels at Mattel: Reinventing the Wheel

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., were considering which innovation path to pursue in order to "future proof" the Hot Wheels franchise going forward. Hot Wheels was the... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Industry Evolution; Innovation Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Making; Digital Transformation

10 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 10

user-generated video featuring controversial artist Chris Brown's music was netting millions of views per week on YouTube. Sony held the copyright to the song and was entitled to issue a takedown notice to the party that uploaded the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Aug 2021
What Do You Think?

Can Companies with Remote Management Succeed?

experiences is done, the position of CXO will be eliminated. The first point was made by Yale Schwartz, who commented that, “It all starts with the organization’s desire to improve the overall customer experience and become the brand that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Connecting School Ties and Stock Recommendations

Social networks matter for more than just efficient Internet communication. They're also crucial for the strong performance of stock recommendations by analysts, according to researchers at Harvard Business School and the University of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

15 Sep 2015
First Look

September 15, 2015

decision support tool for Rue La La's daily use. We conduct a field experiment and find that sales do not decrease due to implementing tool recommended price increases for medium and high price point products. Finally, we estimate an increase in revenue of the test... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Affinity Labs, Inc.

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

In November 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a global network of online communities. That month, Michel raised a Series A round of venture funding and established a partnership with Monster, which he had sold... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology