Publications

August 2014
Article

The New Empirical Economics of Management

By: Nicholas Bloom, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur and John Van Reenen

Over the last decade the World Management Survey (WMS) has collected firm-level management practices data across multiple sectors and countries. We developed the survey to try to explain the large and persistent TFP differences across firms and countries. This review... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Microeconomics

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January 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Capitalism and Democracy in a New World

By: Bruce R. Scott, Sarah Potvin and Alison Adams

Focuses on the formulation of the Northwestern Ordinance as the core of a development strategy for capitalism and democracy in the United States. A precursor to the Constitution, the Northwestern Ordinance was based on the New England Model to achieve a broad and... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Economic Systems; Income; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; Growth and Development Strategy; Power and Influence; United States

10 Jul 2009
Research Event

Business Summit: The Coming World Oil Crisis

continues its unabated growth, driven by growing Asian demand, supplies of oil have likely peaked. The coming imbalance of supply and demand is so huge that the world needs to add six Saudi Arabias by 2030 to meet demand. Without enormous... View Details

Keywords: Re: Richard H.K. Vietor; Energy; Utilities

01 Mar 2009
News

HBS Students Blog on Economics

between sound economic principles and the policies that are often enacted, you want to do something to help close that gap. This is a chance for us to use our HBS educations to impact the world immediately.”... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

Summer 2021
Article

The World Management Survey at 18: lessons and the way forward

By: Daniela Scur, Raffaella Sadun, John Van Reenen, Renata Lemos and Nicholas Bloom

Understanding how differences in management ‘best practices’ affect organizational outcomes has been a focus of both theoretical and empirical work in the fields of management, sociology, economics, and public policy. The World Management Survey (WMS) project was born... View Details

Keywords: Firm Objectives, Organization, And Behavior; Business Economics; Choice Of Technology; Management Of Technological Innovation And R＆D; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Management Practices and Processes

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21 Jun 2016
Other Presentation

Defining Innovative Approaches to Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth

By: Michael E. Porter

Nestle's CSV global forum entitled 'Investing in Sustainable Development in Africa,' brought together business, civil society and government leaders from Africa and beyond to discuss a range of key topics affecting the African continent. This video clip highlights some... View Details

Keywords: Society; Africa; Shared Value; Côte D'Ivoire; Civil Society or Community; Environmental Sustainability; Economic Growth; Africa

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March 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

World to Mexico--Get a Grip!

By: Huw Pill and Courtenay Sprague

The views of three prominent international economists on the events leading to, and ensuing from, the Mexican peso crisis of December 1994 to March 1995. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

January 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Singapore: 'From Third World to First'

By: Charlotte L. Robertson and Mattias Fibiger

As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong prepared to step down in 2022, Singapore faced a number of pressing challenges, from popular discontent at home to geopolitical tensions abroad. The country had become very rich after decades of successful economic management, but... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Economic Growth; Public Opinion; Singapore

15 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

Thomas Friedman, author of "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century", opines that a number of events ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the rise of the Internet have flattened the competitive... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

04 Aug 2006
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Economics of Scarcity Meets the Economics of Abundance?

phenomenon: "If Long Tail economics means embracing flawed principles that 'money is to be made by avoiding inventory, producing to order, and letting customers do the work,' most old-school marketers will be very pleased to take the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Ayn Rand: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the life of Ayn Rand from Russia to Hollywood to New York City. The case describes how Rand fled communist Russia and, in reaction to the deprivations she experienced under communism, developed a philosophy idealizing free will and personal... View Details

Keywords: Writing; Values and Beliefs; Economic Systems; Society; Mission and Purpose; Success; Work-Life Balance; Ethics; Personal Development and Career; Publishing Industry

December 2002
Article

Business Enterprises and Global Worlds

By: G. Jones

The role of business enterprise in integrating economies is one of the central historical themes of the last two centuries. Although globalization—both in its current iteration and in its nineteenth-century form—has been widely studied, the role of the firm, as opposed... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizations; Emerging Markets; Behavior; Business Ventures; United States

2022
Article

Pills in a World of Activism and ESG

By: Guhan Subramanian and Caley Petrucci

Easterbrook and Fischel’s The Economic Structure of Corporate Law advances their now famous passivity thesis, which posits that managers should remain passive in the face of an unsolicited tender offer for the company’s shares. Consistent with the broader... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governance Controls; Business and Shareholder Relations

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December 2014 (Revised March 2018)
Case

John D. Rockefeller: The Richest Man in the World

By: Tom Nicholas and Vasiliki Fouka

By the late nineteenth century scale and managerial hierarchies had extended to several major industrial sectors of the U.S. economy. Although the precise mechanisms often varied, this process mainly involved horizontal integration, some form of legal or administrative... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Wealth; Business History; Vertical Integration; Consolidation; Personal Development and Career; Energy Industry; United States

March 2013
Case

Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo Herrero and Ricardo Reisen De Pinho

Internationally recognized Brazilian Nizan Guanaes, co-founder of Grupo ABC, a rapidly growing global advertising firm ranked 18th in 2011, had aspirations to be in the top 10 by 2015. Grupo ABC thrived by identifying national (Brazilian) challenges and incorporating... View Details

Keywords: Management; Global Business; Advertising Agency; Opportunities; Globalized Firms and Management; Advertising; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Digital Marketing; Advertising Industry; Brazil