BEST Practices - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

the Practical Relevance of Research, forthcoming in Production and Operations Management. “This is my soapbox message to academics: be more relevant,” says Toffel, the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management and faculty... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Nonprofit Brands

Harvard Business School; Laidler-Kylander (HBS MBA '92) is a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Manda Salls: Any organization—profit or nonprofit— faces challenges when it goes global. What are some of the unique challenges... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

18 Jul 2019
News

Lessons from the Rise and Fall of VisiCalc

shifted from centuries-old practice of handwritten ledgers to a digital spreadsheet on a personal computer. Which leads to the second lesson, which is that “a killer app doesn’t guarantee enduring success.” When Mitch Kapor left the... View Details

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

"Category killers," those highly focused retailers that specialize in a category of goods including Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, and Staples, were once the bane of mass-market retailers' existence. Their wide assortment, aggressive... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

typical startup roles to help you determine which one might be the best fit for you, 2) profiles of startup executives across many different functions who share their stories and describe their responsibilities, and 3) a methodology to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jan 2005
News

Joseph J. O'Donnell, MBA 1971

most powerful person in Boston-head of a privately held, billion-dollar company he built practically from scratch; friend and advisor to politicians of both parties, from Boston's Democratic Mayor Tom Menino to the Bay State's Republican... View Details

11 May 2009
Research & Ideas

The IT Leader’s Hero Quest

Richard L. Nolan are professors at Harvard Business School while Shannon O'Donnell is a consultant with Cutter Consortium's Innovation Practice and a PhD fellow at Copenhagen Business School. The three teamed up via email for the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Dec 2022
News

Singing to the Corn

Beans, and Mandan Squash—the “Three Sisters” of Native American lore that thrive when planted together—Sacred Seed is modeling a different approach based on agricultural practices that are thousands of years old. Cornstalks provide a... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Vance Jacobs; Agriculture

Web

Why HBS? - Doctoral

Why HBS? Why HBS? Rigorous academic research that influences practice Faculty & Research Harvard Business School faculty are world-class scholars who have had an impact on organizations and economies on every continent. Doctoral students... View Details

01 Mar 2021
What Do You Think?

What Does Remote Work Mean for Middle Managers?

consciously working with your superior to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and the company.” However, it didn’t trigger the amount of follow-on research that the subject deserved after early interest in the topic died... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

06 Feb 2019
Blog Post

7 Tips for a Successful Technology Venture Immersion

at high-growth companies. The Technology Venture Immersion (TVI) course is co-taught by SEAS and HBS faculty and modeled after HBS’s Startup Bootcamp program, where students are asked to “learn by doing.” During the two-week intensive course, students View Details

27 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Reputation is Vital to Survival in Turbulent Markets

Organizations with great reputations can draw large and loyal followings. Source: iStock In developed countries, the best friends of businesses are the legal, political, and social institutions—banks, courts, intellectual property... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Engagement - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

examples or experiences. Best Practices Tell students how long they have and what will be the signal to end Give students space to talk freely; don’t linger by any one group Consider allowing brief... View Details

06 Dec 2017
What Do You Think?

Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?

a company for doing the best job they can and succeed?” Others argued that market definition is changing in ways that render United States anti-trust policy outdated in an increasingly global economy. As Craig Parietti & Partners put... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Web Services

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

roll it out in Asia, then Europe. Functional managers with worldwide responsibilities really have to know their specialty—whether it's technology, R&D, or people. They must know where best practice is... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

Blog

Is the Digital Transformation Certificate Right for You?

the certificate is creating a Statement of Intent, which explains your reason for pursuing the certificate and identifies the specific programs you plan to attend. HBS Executive Education program advisors can provide you with the necessary forms. They can also help you... View Details

Blog

Celebrating 100 Years of the HBS Case Method

Datar's says, the case method has withstood the test of time. From Theory to Practical Reality The case method story begins at Harvard Law School, which had for some time been using "case books"—compilations of actual court cases—in its... View Details

01 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

The Big Influence of Small Countries in the United Nations Secretariat

operations—including the UN's response to the Ebola outbreak. There is keen competition and string pulling among nations to win those upper level staff appointments. While those members, in theory, are supposed to check their national allegiances at the door, in View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Jul 2008
What Do You Think?

Are Followers About to Get Their Due?

in large organizations. Participants work hard either in support of or against the policies and practices of their leaders. As Kellerman puts it, "they care enough to try to have an impact." Clearly it's in the View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

27 Oct 2015
News

Sweet Success

trying to protect the forest,” he stresses. The company uses quarter-inch taps and marks the position of the tap on each tree every year to avoid re-tapping in the same place twice. “We adhere strictly to best View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

Publications