Small Companies - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Apr 2016
First Look

April 5, 2016

2016 Harvard Business Review Press HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company By: Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff Abstract—Find, acquire, and run your own... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

supported by numerous examples of government intervention that has triggered the growth of a venture capital sector. For instance, the Small Business Investment Company [SBIC] program in the United States... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

10 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Entrepreneurs: Lessons for Government Policy

differing results of high-tech companies started in Silicon Valley and Boston's Route 128 loop. What is different about Nanda's work is that it's some of the first research to go beyond the regional level to consider peer effects within a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

didn't happen. Big companies with cash didn't spend it. Banks with cash didn't lend it. Small businesses didn't attract capital and thus didn't help reduce unemployment. Europeans were paralyzed by debt... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

07 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

The Quest for Better Layoffs

company ravaged by a massive fire. "They were very upset," says Sucher, the MBA Class of 1966 Professor of Management Practice and Joseph L. Rice, III Faculty Fellow at HBS. "What upset them was how cavalier they thought... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

17 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

Navigating Tradeoffs: How Purpose Becomes a Company's ‘Lighthouse in the Storm’

afford groceries is the reason we see so much plastic in grocery aisles today. “Despite our best efforts, Gotham Greens is a small company with limited influence in the packaging sector. Changing the... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Freeing Patient Data to Enable Innovation

being engaged and given incentive to change. I don't know what tool or technology could be used for that, but anything that improves communication between and with providers, that kind of standardization, would be huge." Other Articles In This Series Big Messages,... View Details

Keywords: Re: Karim R. Lakhani; Health

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

Payment: Evidence from the Federal Quickpay Reform By: Barrot, Jean-Noel, and Ramana Nanda Abstract—We study the impact of Quickpay, a federal reform that indefinitely accelerated payments to small business contractors of the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Studying Japan from the Inside

easier for me to approach Japanese companies. However, a small number of companies in the midst of restructuring declined to become the case site and said that they would like us to write cases when their... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

07 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century

percent for the next two decades; these statistics are the products of modern economic analysis. 52 Heinz Preserved Sweet Onions and Pearl Onions usedin a 1910 company publication But the young entrepreneur had done business in a number... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy F. Koehn

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

turnaround. Consider the situations that confronted new CEOs in three companies: Gillette: Its performance was strong through the mid-1990s, but by the beginning of 2001, this global consumer-products company had experienced several years... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

02 Mar 2017
What Do You Think?

Is China About to Overtake the US for World Trade Leadership?

cannot be a credible champion for world trade. “Xi Jinping’s words are more of a PR stunt,” he wrote. Wildebeest added, “[A]ttempting to do meaningful work in China is basically a hassle from day one, top to bottom. Large companies often... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

A Politician's Investment Portfolio Might Tip Off Corruption Potential

advantage of the company or engage in some type of misconduct. That could to an extent temper how much of a risk taker you want if you care about the misconduct part.” Companies already use data analytics to... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

01 Sep 2003
What Do You Think?

To Whom Should Boards be Accountable?

corporate managers and directors must first be accountable to and for the satisfaction of customers, the loyalty and opportunities for growth of employees [and others] ..." How does this play out in the consideration of bids for a View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

small commercial vehicle, the Tata Ace. Positioned as a replacement for the three-wheelers that predominated as small commercial vehicles in India, the Ace create a new product category and enabled Tata... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Women Entrepreneurs Use Springboard for Funding

a small sampling of the twenty-three companies pitched: Michele Honomichl GPSLink. The average corporation uses up to ten systems to manage the human resources process in moving its executives and their... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How Business Strategy Tamed the “Invisible Hand”

outcomes. Instead, in most lines of business—with the exception of a few commodities in which international trade had developed—firms had an incentive to remain small and to employ as little fixed capital as possible. It was in this era... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

10 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 10

commercial real estate development company Prodigy Network, as he develops an equity-based crowdfunding model for small investors to access commercial real estate in Colombia and then tests the model in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Oct 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Surviving Success: When Founders Must Go

When does a company founder have to go? In the frenzied, early months of a new venture's launch, few entrepreneurs anticipate a future beyond their role as company leader. In the case study "Founder–CEO... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Technology

16 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Reality of Web Services

Big companies have the power to convince or compel their partners to participate, and to shortcut negotiations by simply dictating terms. Amazon and eBay have both done brilliant work with Web services to open up their IT infrastructures... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant

Publications