• 11 Apr 2023
• Research & Ideas

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

that maintain the system, review the categories and how they classify companies. "In the last 20 years, the boundaries of businesses have become much more diffuse because of digital technology driven business models." In contrast, the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consumer Products; Real Estate; Financial Services; Retail

• Research Summary

Managing the Advantages and Tradeoffs of Collaborative Structures

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

To solve complex problems, organizations must both collect facts and use them to solve problems. In one study, my coauthors and I show that increased connectivity—measured as network... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Management

• 21 Nov 2017
• First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, November 21, 2017

their boundaries and in their domestic economies only a subset of their production stages. A key decision facing firms worldwide is the extent of control to exert over the different segments of their production processes. We describe a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

• 21 Aug 2000
• Research & Ideas

Inside the OR: Disrupted Routines and New Technologies

specialized arena of MICS, but can be applied, they write, to technologies of a much broader scope, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in manufacturing, or interactive software tools that continue to revolutionize the way... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

• 17 Mar 2008
• Research & Ideas

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

model to which the rest of the world is marching as a result of the imperatives of technology and markets. Over the last two decades, as the boundaries of firms became much more fluid and as non-U.S. players became much more important, it... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

• 08 Oct 2020
• Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

explicitly and with intent. The implication for leaders: overcommunicate, and over-reinforce boundaries and expectations. While organizational policies are the infrastructure of meeting employees’ four drives, managers implement those... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

• 29 Jul 2013
• Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

through the writings of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek among other foundational thinkers. "Many economists think of it as a positivist system that does not impose morality upon society, but this is not the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

• 21 Jul 2010
• Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Debate Financial Reform Legislation

everything I might have wanted, but the legislative process seldom produces that. Certain elements of this reform are positive and helpful, including the creation of a formal resolution authority and a systemic risk regulator; provisions... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

• 20 Aug 2008
• Op-Ed

The Time is Right for Creative Capitalism

he succeeded so convincingly playing the game of market capitalism that first emerged in the late 19th century and grew to great influence during the 20th century. This game or system has been dominated in many industries by large,... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy Koehn

• 04 Nov 2009
• What Do You Think?

What is the Role of Government Vis-à-Vis Capitalism?

doing so, they left us with interesting questions. Fidel Arcenas described one such challenge: "A bureaucratic apparatus that's way off the pace of the market forces is useless." Do you agree? Jacoline Loewen commented, "Government is about setting the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

• 19 Apr 2004
• Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

provided political and religious groups with a way to compete against their rivals for followers. Moreover, with more fluid class boundaries than in European countries, the skills of salesmanship, especially beginning in the late... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

• 13 Mar 2023
• Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

formed a relationship. The authors chose to focus on patient ratings of specialists instead of specific medical outcomes because they assess an “important dimension of quality” that transcends the clinical boundaries of medical... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

• 29 Jun 2010
• First Look

First Look: June 29

superior economic performance. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-110.pdf Trade Policy and Firm Boundaries Authors:Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger, and Andrew F. Newman Abstract We study how trade policy... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

• 21 Dec 2011
• Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

to understanding everything from the free enterprise system to the individual motivations of managers. Why are some companies more profitable than others? In this excerpt from an interview between Porter and Magretta, Porter discusses the... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

• 08 Feb 2023
• Op-Ed

Building an Inclusive Workplace? Prepare to Shield It from Economic Fears

underrepresented communities. As the COVID-19 pandemic dragged on, executives worked to continue these efforts, despite supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and erratic consumer spending. Beyond the moral imperatives of confronting View Details

Keywords: by Hise O. Gibson and Nicole Gilmore

• 02 Apr 2001
• Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

competitors in geographically fragmented industries; to extend into new products or markets; as a substitute for R&D; and to exploit eroding industry boundaries by inventing an industry. Despite the massive number of books and... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower