Publications

October 1988 (Revised May 1990)
Case

Ford Motor Co.: The Product Warranty Program (A)

Raises powerful issues concerning product warranty policy as a strategic marketing variable. Also raises several exciting issues concerning the role of product policy in competitive battles, product line issues, interfunctional coordination issues, and some ethical... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Insurance; Product; Policy; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; United States

08 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

What’s Missing From the Debate About Trump’s Tax Plan

EtiAmmos The tax policy we choose as a society reveals our collective values. That is why battles over it are so fierce—and justified. When we debate tax policy, we are debating what kind of society we want and what role we want the View Details

Keywords: by Matthew Weinzierl

July 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Trouble at Basecamp: Managing Politics, Polarization, and Conflict in the Workplace (A)

By: Nour Kteily, Deepak Malhotra and David Lane

As founders of the software company Basecamp, Jason Fried and David H. Hansson were used to being the subjects of social media attention. Both maintained active and dedicated Twitter followings for their unique perspectives on management and life. But on April 26,... View Details

Nancy F. Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Koehn's research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Her... View Details

Keywords: beauty products; clothing; consumer products; entertainment; fashion; marketing industry; retailing; health care; advertising; media

18 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 18

Buildings Authors:Timothy Simcoe and Michael W. Toffel Abstract We measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the U.S. Green... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

State Owned Entity Reform in Absence of Privatization: Reforming Indian National Laboratories and Role of Leadership

Keywords: by Prithwiraj Choudhury & Tarun Khanna

14 Feb 2013
HBS Seminar

Susan Crawford, Cardozo Law School

2022
Working Paper

THEMIS: A Framework for Cost-Benefit Analysis of COVID-19 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Michael Lingzhi Li and Saksham Soni

Since December 2019, the world has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 150 million confirmed cases and 3 million confirmed deaths worldwide. To combat the spread of COVID-19, governments have issued unprecedented non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs),... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Policy; Framework; Cost vs Benefits; Outcome or Result; United States; Germany; Brazil; Singapore; Spain

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February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

AFSCME vs. Mozilo...and "Say on Pay" for All! (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

Union seeks to protect its pension funds through shareholder activism focused on corporate governance and executive compensation. The case uses Countrywide Financial as an example. Richard Ferlauto, director of pensions and benefits policy at the AFSCME, the largest... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

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January 1984 (Revised April 1993)
Background Note

Introduction to U.S. Political Economy: Antecedents to the New Deal

Provides background information on developments in the U.S. economy and policy over several decades preceding the Hoover Administration. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Macroeconomics; United States

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April 1995 (Revised November 1995)
Case

Human Resources at Hewlett-Packard (A)

By: Michael Beer and Gregory C. Rogers

Provides an overview of the human resource policies and practices applied by Hewlett-Packard (HP). Discusses HP's reactions as an organization to changes in its business environment. As such, it is an opportunity to analyze HP's practices, and how they have been... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Policy; Computer Industry

Article

Recent Research on Competitiveness and Clusters: What Are the Implications for Regional Policy?

By: Christian Ketels

This paper reviews implications of recent research on competitiveness and clusters for regions and regional policy. A new framing of competitiveness clarifies the role of regions. Its empirical findings align well with the literature on drivers of regional performance,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Industry Clusters; Policy

December 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Ad Classification at Right Media

By: Benjamin Edelman

Right Media considers systems and policies to make sure that ads are only shown on web sites where they are appropriate, and vice versa. Setting standards is particularly challenging given the large and growing marketplace, the numerous participants, their diverse... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Market Participation; Standards; Internet and the Web

2009
Report

Clusters, Cluster Policy, and Swedish Competitiveness

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Proximity enables firms to take advantage of knowledge spill-overs and exploit supplierdemand linkages with other entities engaged in related activities. Cluster strength thus seems to be one of the important determinants of prosperity differences across geographies.... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Sweden

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February 2011 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Sound Group China: Urban Waste Entrepreneurs

By: John D. Macomber, Chad M. Carr and Fan Zhao

Private sector entrepreneur in China with advanced solid waste management capability competes with state owned enterprises and also government policies supporting a rival technology. Wen Yibo has used engineering expertise and political savvy to build a major privately... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Public Sector; Service Delivery; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Wastes and Waste Processing; Urban Development; Utilities Industry; China

November 1986 (Revised December 1986)
Supplement

People Express, Supplement

Brings the history of People Express up to the summer of 1986. Raises the question of whether its innovative human resource policies were successful pr problematic. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Human Resources; Air Transportation Industry

2021
Working Paper

The Business of K-12 Education in China

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yuhai Wu

This working paper examines the evolution of K-12 education in China, especially between 1985 and the present day, drawing extensive interviews with participants in the educational sector. China has been hugely successful in reaching almost 100 percent literacy,... View Details

Keywords: K-12 Education; China; Real Estate; Early Childhood Education; Performance Evaluation; Teaching; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Personal Development and Career; Social Issues; Nonprofit Organizations; Private Sector; Education Industry; Real Estate Industry; China

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March 2016 (Revised May 2020)
Technical Note

A Brief Note on Global Antitrust

By: Dennis Yao, David Yoffie, Eric Baldwin, Daniel Fisher and Rachel Salisbury

This brief note explores the critical antitrust legal and policy issues facing managers, especially in the world of technology. View Details

Keywords: Anti-trust; Monopoly; Policy; Law; Global Range; Technology