Publications

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23 Nov 2021
Book

What It Takes to Build an Organizational Culture That Wins

There’s a feeling among many business leaders that culture is both everything and nothing. That it’s squishy and can’t be quantified. That it’s nice to have until something more urgent gets in the way [read:... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

17 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Minorities Who 'Whiten' Job Resumes Get More Interviews

the resume screening process at companies throughout the United States, says Katherine A. DeCelles, the James M. Collins Visiting Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Nov 2004
Research & Ideas

Side Effects: The Case of Propecia

the wives or barbers of balding men? All these issues and more faced Tom Casola, who in 1997 was heading the Propecia marketing effort for the drug maker Merck & Co. The case was discussed by audience members at the 5th Annual Alumni... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Pharmaceutical

15 Sep 2022
Blog Post

6 Things to Know About Sustainability at HBS

through a number of projects and sustainability campaigns held throughout the year. Past SSA projects have ranged from the beehives (see below!) to assessing how well sustainability concepts are integrated into the first year’s curriculum View Details

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry

12 Jul 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Can the Foodservice Distribution Industry Recover from the Pandemic?

Keywords: Re: David E. Bell; Service; Food & Beverage

October 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Lovepop

By: Robert F. White, Ramana Nanda and Olivia Hull

As they prepare to graduate from Harvard Business School, the co-founders of greeting card company startup Lovepop need capital to cover the company’s operating costs and must choose between two seed financing offers. One offer is from an angel group and the other from... View Details

Keywords: Accelerator; Incubator; Seed Financing; Convertible Debt; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Boston; Massachusetts; United States

July 2012 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Nalli Silk Sarees (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Namrata Arora and Vidhya Muthuram

Nalli Silk Sarees Private Limited was a family owned and operated business that retailed Indian ethnic wear. This 83-year-old company had enjoyed impressive growth with a $95 million turnover, a 22-store retail footprint, and had outdone its competitors by being the... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Strategy; Price; Strategy; Family Business; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; India

For many CEOs, particularly those running startups, hiring the right people is the single biggest determinant of whether a new business survives. And so it makes sense that the chief executive should be View Details

23 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 23, 2015

competitive dynamics in 644 geographically isolated markets in which a nationwide retail bank conducted business over a five-year period. We find that customers defect at a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?

By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta

In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Television Entertainment; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

August 2020 (Revised July 2021)
Case

From Farm Boy to Financier: Eiichi Shibusawa and the Creation of Modern Japan

By: Geoffrey Jones, Gabriel Ellsworth and Ryo Takahashi

This case describes the career of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), a serial entrepreneur who is widely known as the “father of Japanese capitalism” and as a pioneer of socially responsible investment. Born in feudal Edo Japan, following the Meiji Restoration in 1868... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Business History; Ethics; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Economy; Society; Japan

Web

Overview - Doctoral

regarding the most critical issues in business management. Our students become the next generation of faculty who will make a difference in the world through their teaching and... View Details

30 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

How to Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

more than 230 creditors, including a bakery owner who held a special bake sale to express her outrage. Did a company that had raised more than $120 million in venture capital need to stiff so many people? Tom Eisenmann, the Howard H.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

October 2018
Case

P-Will at DISCO

By: Ethan Bernstein, Naoko Jinjo and Yuna Sakuma

From the outside, DISCO—a Japan-based manufacturer of precision tools for semiconductor production devices—appeared to be a rather ordinary company that had achieved rather extraordinary success: it had simultaneously achieved 70% global market share, had lifted its... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; P-Will; DISCO; Semiconductors; Self-Managed Organizations; Governance; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Management Practices and Processes; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Semiconductor Industry; Japan

2024
Working Paper

The Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act on the U.S. Economy

By: Joe Long, Carlo Medici, Nancy Qian and Marco Tabellini

This paper investigates the economic consequences of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned immigration from China. The Act reduced the number of Chinese workers of all skill levels living in the United States. It also reduced the labor supply and the quality of... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Productivity; Economic Development; Business History; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Business and Government Relations; Prejudice and Bias; Government Legislation; Immigration; United States