Publications

December 2008
Article

Technology Usage Lags

By: Diego A. Comin, Bart Hobijn and Emilie Rovito

We present evidence on the differences in the intensity with which ten major technologies are used in 185 countries across the world. We do so by calculating how many years ago these technologies were used in the U.S. at the same intensity as they are used in the... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Global Range; Economy; Relationships; Performance Productivity; United States

24 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Why Brexit is a Big Deal

The consequences of yesterday's vote by the British people to leave the European Union will be far-reaching, but there is no reason for global markets to panic. Brexit is a vote against the European Union. Once heralded as the engine of a one-for-all View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

18 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 18

a right-to-work law was not a major part of their election platform because of the union opposition they thought it would generate. Quietly, however, Republicans did support a right-to-work law that was... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Global Currency Hedging

Keywords: by John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros & Luis M. Viceira; Financial Services

September 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Urban Decay: A Great Idea

By: Lena G. Goldberg

Casual discussions of ideas for a new business can have unintended legal consequences and expectations about founder status and ownership shares may diverge widely. Using facts from a litigated case, the concept of inadvertent formation of a partnership is explored. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Spoken Communication; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake; Partners and Partnerships

2017
Article

Making Transparency Transparent: The Evolution of Observation in Management Theory

By: Ethan Bernstein

Observation is key to management scholarship and practice. Yet a holistic view of its role in management has been elusive, in part due to shifting terminology. The current popularity of the term “transparency” provides the occasion for a thorough review, which finds... View Details

14 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Rainmakers: Why Bad Weather Means Good Productivity

Keywords: by Jooa Julia Lee, Francesca Gino & Bradley R. Staats

September – October 2009
Article

U.S. Energy Policy: Overcoming Barriers to Acting

By: Max Bazerman

Energy policy is on everyone's mind these days. The U.S. presidential campaign focused on energy independence and exploration (drill, baby, drill), climate change, alternative fuels, even nuclear energy. But there is a serious problem endemic to America's energy... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Climate Change; Energy Sources; Government and Politics; Cognition and Thinking; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges; Non-Renewable Energy; Economics; Natural Environment; Energy Industry; United States

September 2015
Technical Note

The On-Demand Economy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, James Weber and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

This note describes the emerging on-demand economy, also referred to as the sharing economy. The note highlights several companies including Uber and Airbnb that exemplify this new mode of competition, a model that threatens to disrupt traditional firms. Uber provides... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Reform; Disruption; Disruptive Innovation; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Labor; Employment; Working Conditions; Human Capital; Rights; Organizational Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Service Industry

May 1992 (Revised May 1993)
Supplement

Jan Carlzon: CEO at SAS (B)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Summarizes Carlzon's new focus externally on building alliances and acquiring travel service companies. Describes the financial problems resulting from the recession and the Gulf War crisis. Designed as an in-class handout to highlight the long-term management... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Problems and Challenges; Planning; Leadership; Alliances; Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

June 2025
Article

What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study

By: Shelly Li, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Yu Ting Forester Wong

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) identified major shortcomings in bank board governance, contributing to systemic risk management failures. This study adapts a management control framework and empirically examines... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Management Control; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Change Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis

SSRN

March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
Case

TBIRD: The Thai Business Initiative in Rural Development

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

During the period of 1987 to 1990, while Thailand had one of the fastest growing economies in the world (average growth rate of 12%), the income disparity between its rural and urban population (especially Bangkok City) was growing increasingly worse. Mechai... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Management Skills; Programs; Wealth and Poverty; Thailand

2019
Chapter

Monetary Policy—‘Whatever It Takes within Our (New?) Mandate’

By: Huw Pill

This paper discusses whether the UK's monetary policy framework needs to be reviewed in the light of experience during and in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. It concludes that, while the inflation targeting framework has generally proved robust, the Bank... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Money; Policy; United Kingdom

20 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 20, 2007

Working PapersNone this week PublicationsFinancial Development, Bank Ownership, and Growth. Or, Does Quantity Imply Quality? Author:Shawn Cole Periodical:Review of Economics View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market

By: Feng Zhu

Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of... View Details

Keywords: Patent Wars; Patent Litigation; Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement; Institutions; Smartphone; Patent Thicket; Digital Platforms; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

Article

Formal Measures in Informal Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a Culture?

By: Robert Gibbons and Robert S. Kaplan

Agency theorists, historically, have analyzed what kinds of performance measures should be used in formal incentive contracts. For example, after Kaplan-Norton proposed a balanced scorecard of both financial and non-financial measures, some envisioned its role only in... View Details

Keywords: Relational Contracts; Performance Measurement; Informal Management; Balanced Scorecard; Economics; Mathematical Methods

11 Jan 2019
Blog Post

The ABCs of Recruiting at HBS

collaboration with the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. We also offer joint degree programs with the Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, View Details

November 2007 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Mubadala: Forging Development in Abu Dhabi

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Irina Tarsis

In 2007, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the CEO of Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), had every reason to be optimistic about the future of his home, Abu Dhabi, one of the emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tiny, sandy, and dry emirate with a... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economy; Non-Renewable Energy; Globalization; Leading Change; State Ownership; Diversification; Abu Dhabi