Publications

03 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 3, 2007

Working PapersNone this week Cases & Course MaterialsCommon Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming Harvard Business School Case 707-027 Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2024
Case

Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO

By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc

In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details

09 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 9

capabilities" view of business groups-that such groups have done the most to invest in R&D and other skills necessary to combine inputs in ways that lead to greater added value. Moreover, our finding that Indian business groups... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 May 2021
Blog Post

Meet the MoMBAs – Persisting Through a Difficult Year

similarly nuanced effect on Americans. For mothers, particularly student mothers, COVID-19 has brought about a host of new challenges, including childcare, isolation, a million decisions on risk tolerance, and increased burdens. It also... View Details

October 2021
Article

Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

By: Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher and Michael Wahlen

We study a novel, low-cost approach to aggregating judgment from a large number of industry experts on ideas that they encounter in their normal course of business. Our context is the movie industry, in which customer appeal is difficult to predict and investment costs... View Details

Keywords: Judgment Aggregation; Quality Uncertainty; Creative Industry; Project Evaluation And Selection; Creativity; Film Entertainment; Judgments; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

Read Now

February 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Zynga (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and David Chen

In January 2010 Mark Pincus is deciding how to double the number of Zynga games' players to 500 million without sacrificing profitability. These ambitious growth plans required changes to product, corporate strategy, and customer acquisition and retention. With regard... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Video Game Industry

September 2007
Article

(Noisy) Communication

By: Bharat Anand and Ron Shachar

Communication is central to many settings in marketing and economics. A focal attribute of communication is miscommunication. We model this key characteristic as a noise in the messages communicated, so that the sender of a message is uncertain about its perception by... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Interpersonal Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Communications; Performance Improvement; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

December 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

High-Definition TV: The Grand Alliance

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes political and economic forces that influenced the development of an all-digital, high-definition television (HDTV) standard in the United States between 1986 and 1996. Outlines the stakes for various government and industry participants in the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Policy; Management Practices and Processes; Emerging Markets; Standards; Business and Government Relations; Networks; Research and Development; Technology Adoption; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry; Japan; Europe; United States

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

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 retaining talent. "It always... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Web

Leadership Fellows

number of fellowships will be awarded in March of each year to students and their proposed hiring organization. HBS Investment For HBS Sourced: Reviews proposals from interested organizations and works with qualifying organizations to... View Details

June 2009 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Busse Place

By: Arthur I Segel, William J. Poorvu, Richard Kessler, Justin Seth Ginsburgh and Eric Fleiss

Busse Corporate Center's largest tenant recently declared bankruptcy, leaving the building 38% occupied and significantly overleveraged. In a depressed suburban Chicago office market, Hannah Sanchez, the leasing agent, has to negotiate lease proposals with three... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Mortgages; Investment; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Chicago

July–August 2021
Article

Why You Aren't Getting More from Your Marketing AI

By: Eva Ascarza, Michael Ross and Bruce G.S. Hardie

Fewer than 40% of companies that invest in AI see gains from it, usually because of one or more of these errors: (1) They don’t ask the right question, and end up directing AI to solve the wrong problem. (2) They don’t recognize the differences between the value of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Marketing; Decision Making; Communication; Framework; AI and Machine Learning

16 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

As AI Upends Recruiting, Job Seekers Need a Waze App for Careers

postings and social media and impressions from informal conversations. “Companies invest tens of millions of dollars on user experience for customers, but don't bring any of that discipline to applicant experience.” That puts employers in... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

decisions could be, ZEISS SMT was, once again, at a crossroads. Should SMT focus on investing in the latest lithography technologies, enhancing established technologies, or reducing costs? While Lamprecht... View Details

Article

Family Control of Firms and Industries

We test what explains family control of firms and industries and find that the explanation is largely contingent on the identity of families and individual blockholders. Founders and their families are more likely to retain control when doing so gives the firm a... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Cost vs Benefits; Governance Controls; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Competitive Advantage