Publications

January 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Background Note

State, The

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Surveys approaches to understanding the state; highlights the relationships between the state, order, and property; and offers an analytical framework for how states vary from place to place and over time. View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Governance Compliance; Framework; Economic Sectors; Policy; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Entrepreneurship; Development Economics; Equality and Inequality

24 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Entrepreneurial Gap: How Managers Adjust Span of Accountability and Span of Control to Implement Business Strategy

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

January 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Metapath Software: September 1997

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

In September 1997, John Hansen called together his board to debate an interesting choice that his company had to make. Hansen--the CEO of Metapath Software, a provider of software and services to wireless carriers--had two offers to describe. The first was an offer to... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Stocks; Public Ownership; Negotiation Deal; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry

06 Nov 2012
Op-Ed

Stop Talking About the Weather and Do Something: Three Ways to Finance Sustainable Cities

The wrath of Hurricane Sandy has illuminated a fundamental question: How do we ensure that our cities are resilient in the face of inevitable future disasters? A destroyed city is not a sustainable city. I'm making the case that it's time to stop complaining about... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

Research Summary

Papers in progress

“The ‘Carbon Club’: Oil Companies, Climate Change & the Shaping of Public Policy”. Conspiracy theories abound, but the roles of the major oil companies in influencing public policy on climate change remain largely obscure. This... View Details

16 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

To Fight Climate Change, Should Green Investors Reconsider Big Oil?

infamously changed its name from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum in 2001 and recently announced plans to become an “integrated energy company” that also offers fuel from low-carbon sources. "If that energy shifts to a different... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

16 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

At the Center of Corporate Scandal Where Do We Go From Here?

economy. I know that a lot of things have been done to address these problems already, but my own sense is that what we've seen is incomplete. Too much of our public discussion has operated on the surface of the problems. We need to go a... View Details

Keywords: by Kim B. Clark

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

How can schools around the world educate their students better? What does the future hold? Most researchers who study these questions in the field of education peer through the lenses of sociology and public policy. HBS professor Clayton... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

December 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Transforming Arizona's Health Care System: Developing and Implementing the Health-e Connection Roadmap

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu and Minu Ipe

Addresses the issues of leadership and change management in the process of transforming an industry through an innovative public-private partnership approach to policy making. In 2005, the Governor of Arizona issued an Executive Order to create a roadmap for the state... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Private Sector; Public Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Health Industry; Service Industry

Program

The Women's Leadership Forum

success. Key Benefits Offering exceptional opportunities for feedback, networking, and learning from peers, this program will help you lead with lasting impact and build strategic advantage for your company. Equipped with new... View Details

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

to offer benefits at no cost, it actually raises prices for buyers” If an intermediary like Expedia charges the same price as an airline, for example, then many consumers will choose to use the intermediary. After all, Expedia View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

lobbying and maneuvering on individual pieces of legislation and regulation, businesses need to use collective institutions to define and promote a positive, values-based, non-partisan agenda. That will allow them to regain credibility in the View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

2015, Square, Inc. launched its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO had an offering price of $9 per share, lower than the $11 to $13 estimate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Politics is Failing America, and What Business Can Do To Help

According to a new Harvard Business School report from Michael E. Porter, the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, and co-author Katherine Gehl, a former CEO and political activist, Washington’s proverbial “swamp” isn’t a set of disjointed View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

07 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Off and Running: Professors Comment on Olympics

two-week spectacle that captures the attention of people around the world. With the Games of the XXX Olympiad off and running in London, three Harvard Business School professors offer their insights. Stephen A. Greyser, Richard P. Chapman... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Sports

2025
Chapter

Critical Choices in Designing a Board: An Overview

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Lynn S. Paine

Board design is never one-size-fits-all. It’s a series of critical choices—each with trade-offs—that can define how a board functions, governs, and delivers strategic value.

That’s the premise of "Critical Choices in Designing a Board," a... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards