Publications

February 2010 (Revised March 2016)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Break-even Analysis

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Marketing managers are often called upon to make recommendations for or against programs that cost money to implement. Before expenditures are made, managers want to be sure that they will be getting a return on their investment. One way of assessing this is by... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Investment Return; Spending; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods

January 2007 (Revised August 2008)
Case

NatuRi Corporation

By: Robert F. Higgins and Virginia Fuller

NatuRi Corporation was a start up, founded in 2005, aiming to manufacture a cholesterol-lowering drug made from the byproducts of rice bran oil production. With operations split between Chennai, India and Boston, Massachusetts, NatuRi faced several challenges,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Equity; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Chennai; Boston

January 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Omar Selim: Building a Values-Based Asset Management Firm (A)

By: George Serafeim, Rebecca Henderson and Shannon Gombos

The sustainable investing market was a recent phenomenon in the first decade of the 21st century. However, an increasing number of investors began to integrated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in investment decisions. At Barclays Capital, Omar Selim... View Details

May 1997
Teaching Note

Product Development Process, Organization and Improvement, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

Explores how development projects fit (or do not fit) within a firm's development strategy and its wider competitive goals. Module materials, and this note, focus on two broad approaches to process design (sequential and flexible) that were originally introduced in the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Competition

October 1991 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Lotus MarketPlace: Households

By: Lynn S. Paine

Managers at Lotus and Equifax must decide what to do about their new jointly developed database and software product Lotus MarketPlace which has been criticized as a threat to individual privacy. The Product, which would allow small businesses to buy targeting mail... View Details

Keywords: Information; Business or Company Management; Rights; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Applications and Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

24 Aug 2015
News

What Facebook’s Anti-Bias Training Program Gets Right

01 Jul 2015
News

From Waze for crowds to Uber for street food

01 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

orientation are most likely to lead to a happy, effective workforce. For example, will the results differ if employees reflect on their weaknesses as well as their strengths? If you think your company would View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Web Services; Service; Telecommunications

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

First, Study 1 shows that chronic matchmaking is associated with higher well-being. Studies 2 and 3 show that matching others on the basis of how well they will get along leads to a greater increase in happiness and is more intrinsically... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

When Learning and Performance are at Odds: Confronting the Tension

Keywords: by Sara J. Singer & Amy C. Edmondson

31 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Japan Disaster Shakes Up Supply-Chain Strategies

way." The open question is how quickly manufacturers can recover from the shortages and delays. It may take several months for all the economic and supply-chain effects of the disaster to be felt fully, and the product shortages... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Auto; Technology; Computer; Electronics

26 May 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Unraveling Results from Comparable Demand and Supply: An Experimental Investigation

Keywords: by Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth & M. Utku Unver

28 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Microfinance: A Way Out for the Poor

dollars have been deployed with little effect. "I think if in all our business lives we throw a trillion dollars at something and we still lose market share, it's probably time to think about whether there's another way" to address a problem, he said.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

you're a trader, for example, you have to trade, you have to lead, and you have to manage. You have three jobs." One way leadership of a financial firm differs from others is in the emphasis that must be placed in recruiting and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

September 2009
Article

Deterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertisers face substantial difficulty in selecting and supervising small advertising partners. Fraud can be well hidden, and limited reputation systems reduce accountability. But partners are not paid until after their work is complete, and advertisers can... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Profit; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

Read Now

2015
Chapter

Design Thinking and Innovative Problem Solving

By: Srikant Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler

In 2012 we set out to answer two key questions. Can anyone, including MBAs and executives with superb analytical skills, learn to think more innovatively? If so, how might we go about developing these skills? Through close collaboration with individuals from major... View Details

Keywords: Design Thinking; Problem Solving; Innovation; Design; Innovation and Invention; Cognition and Thinking

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Creating a Luxury Experience at Value Retail

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew Preble

Value Retail PLC owned and managed a number of premium shopping destinations (Villages) across Europe. Soon the company would be moving into an entirely new market: China. The company's Villages had proven popular with both shoppers (many of whom were international... View Details

Keywords: Retailing; Tourism; Luxury; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Real Estate; Brands and Branding; Human Resources; Retail Industry; Tourism Industry; Real Estate Industry; Europe; China

16 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Advice on Advice

realize that it involves skills that can be learned and refined, according to Harvard Business School professors David A. Garvin and Joshua D. Margolis. Highly skilled advisers pay close attention to how they advise as much as what kind... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

November 2009
Article

What Would Peter Say?

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Heeding the wisdom of Peter Drucker might have helped us avoid - and will help us solve - numerous challenges, from restoring trust in business to tackling climate change. He issued early warnings about excessive executive pay, the auto industry's failure to adapt and... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations