Publications

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2022
Chapter

The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms

By: Mercedes Delgado, J. Daniel Kim and Karen G. Mills

Over the last few decades, the U.S. economy has exhibited a significant shift from manufacturing towards services. This transition has been particularly prominent in an important subcategory of services industries that drives innovation and employs many high-wage... View Details

Keywords: Servicification; Supply Chain Industries; STEM Labor; Innovation; Growth; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth; Policy; Service Industry; United States

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This article focuses on geographic communities as fields in which human-made and natural events occasionally disrupt the lives of organizations. We develop an institutional perspective to unpack how and why major events within communities affect organizations in the... View Details

September 2016
Case

Ekal Vidyalaya: Education for Rural India

By: David Drake, Namrata Bhattacharya, Pooja Godbole and Amrita Saigal

By examining Ekal Vidyalaya (Ekal), a nonprofit network of schools in India, this case focuses on the classic challenge faced by organizations that grow through replication (e.g., McDonald's, Starbucks, Walmart, Whole Foods): How can they continue to drive growth when... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Early Childhood Education; India

October 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Booz.Allen & Hamilton: Vision 2000

In 1993, Booz.Allen & Hamilton forsook its previous, highly local organizational structure. It was motivated by a desire to serve multinational clients more effectively and to provide greater value to clients with more localized business by collecting best practices... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Service Industry

January 2025
Case

PayJoy: Financing for the Next Billion

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

PayJoy, an impact-driven financial technology company founded in 2015, provides smartphone financing and other financial products to customers who lack access to traditional credit products. As of early 2025, PayJoy had issued $2.5 billion in loans to 13 million... View Details

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Mission edX: Balancing Social Good and Financial Sustainability

By: John J-H Kim, David J. Collis and James Barnett

In March 2021, online education platform edX considers how to achieve financial sustainability without compromising its mission to provide universal access to high-quality education. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Values and Beliefs; Internet and the Web; Financial Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; United States

01 Aug 2012
News

Nothing gets done in August (and that's OK)

November 2022 (Revised March 2023)
Supplement

JUUL and the Vaping Revolution: A 2022 Update

By: Michael W. Toffel and Sarah Mehta

This case provides a brief update (2019-2022) on the rise and fall of JUUL Labs, the maker of the popular JUUL e-cigarette. View Details

October 2006
Case

Lean at Wipro Technologies

Wipro Technologies, a rapidly growing software services firm based in India, decided to use principles from the Toyota Production System (also known as lean) to fundamentally change their operating model. Looks at why Wipro chose to use lean and how they went about... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Operations; Information Technology Industry; India

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

Summary A company's sales organization is a core vehicle for implementing business strategy—yet there's often a big gap between the company's strategic objectives and the way its sales organization actually... View Details

10 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Multi-sided Platforms

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Julian Wright; Technology

06 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Africa Business Club

In 2015, we held our first “Africa Week” on campus – a week of activities to celebrate Africa. The Africa Business Club provides a great level of assistance and support, both formally and informally, to students searching for summer and... View Details

2007
Working Paper

The Effects of a Centralized Clearinghouse on Job Placement, Wages, and Hiring Practices

By: Muriel Niederle and Alvin E. Roth

New gastroenterologists participated in a labor market clearinghouse (a "match") from 1986 through the late 1990's, after which the match was abandoned. This provides an opportunity to study the effects of a match, by observing the differences in the outcomes and... View Details

Keywords: Health; Employment; Marketplace Matching; Selection and Staffing; Job Offer; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry

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Web

Program Requirements - Doctoral

are required to complete and present a publishable-quality paper by the end of their second year. Students are responsible for organizing a committee in consultation with their primary advisor, who will approve the paper. To be approved,... View Details

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

16 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Earnings Calls That Get Lost in Translation

find that investors have lower confidence about the information being disclosed” The reason is easy to understand. The conference call is designed to provide context to the many figures included in financial reports, yet when the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

25 May 2023
Blog Post

Interview Strategies to Connect with a Wider Range of Candidates

research from Harvard Business School faculty and Harvard Business Review contributors. They are designed to help organizations think through the details of their interview process to achieve their recruiting goals and create more... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

May 2003
Supplement

ZARA: Fast Fashion Video

Presents roundtable discussions and vignettes introducing the company and providing an inside view of the four stages of ZARA's business system, including design, sourcing and manufacturing, distribution, and retailing. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Processes; Retail Industry