Publications

17 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

Source: 400tmax Editor's Note. Online retailing behemoth Amazon announced June 16 that it would acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. Though the company has dabbled with the idea of a brick-and-mortar footprint in... View Details

Keywords: by Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger; Retail

2010
Working Paper

Corporate Governance and Internal Capital Markets

We exploit an exogenous shock to corporate ownership structures created by a recent tax reform in Germany to explore the link between corporate governance and internal capital markets. We find that firms with more concentrated ownership are less diversified and have... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Capital Markets; Corporate Governance; Taxation; Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Diversification; Germany

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

naming conventions. Perhaps the most pressing problem is the lack of a standardized software component naming schema. “Until one exists, strategies for software security, transparency, and more will have... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Use and Abuse of Analogies, The

By: Giovanni M. Gavetti and Jan W. Rivkin

Examines how managers use, and sometimes misuse, analogical reasoning as they formulate their strategies. Suggests a process that managers can employ to use analogies productivity. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Performance Productivity; Strategy

July 2005
Case

Harvard Business School and the Making of a New Profession

By: Rakesh Khurana, Tarun Khanna and Daniel Penrice

Since its founding in 1908, Harvard Business School's mission has been to perform a much-needed service for American society by turning business management into a profession. One of the most important factors in the founding of HBS and the nation's other new business... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Mission and Purpose; Alignment; Social Issues; Practice

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to investment performance is the most frequent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Background Note

Understanding Economic Value Added

By: Mihir A. Desai, Fabrizio Ferri and Steve Treadwell

Explores the concept of economic value added (EVA) and its practical applications as a management control system for performance measurement and incentive compensation. Explains how EVA is measured and explores some of the adjustments to financial statements that are... View Details

Keywords: Value

16 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, May 16

measurement and disclosure of important metrics and information. In this chapter, we examine the effect of sustainability disclosure regulations on firms’ disclosure practices... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

2016
Article

Organizational Decision-Making and Information: Angel Investments by Venture Capital Partners

By: Andy Wu

We study information aggregation in organizational decision-making for the financing of entrepreneurial ventures. We introduce a formal model of voting where agents face costly tacit information to improve their decision quality. Equilibrium outcomes suggest a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Angel Investors; Organization Design; Voting; Group Decision-making; Information; Strategy; Organizations; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Financing and Loans

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07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

marketing communications for the first and second quarter of the year. What’s the right strategy for a CMO during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic? During the week of March 23, 2020, Edelman, a global... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

Summer 2013
Article

A Tale of Two Stories: Sustainability and the Quarterly Earnings Call

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

One of the challenges companies claim to face in making sustainability a core part of their strategy and operations is that the market does not care about sustainability, either in general or because the time frames in which it matters are too long. The response of... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Communication; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Environmental Sustainability

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Article

Contagion of Cooperation in Static and Fluid Social Networks

By: Jillian J. Jordan, David G. Rand, Samuel Arbesman, James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis

Cooperation is essential for successful human societies. Thus, understanding how cooperative and selfish behaviors spread from person to person is a topic of theoretical and practical importance. Previous laboratory experiments provide clear evidence of social... View Details

Keywords: Social Contagion; Social Networks; Cooperation; Behavior; Social Media

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

01 Jun 2009
News

The Maestro and the Market

Business and Creativity at elBulli WIZARD: Chef Ferran Adrià at the World Summit of Gastronomy in Tokyo. He’s been called “the Salvador Dalí of the kitchen” for creations ranging from beetroot and yogurt... View Details

06 Jan 2017
News

Mental Illness and the Workplace

managing very well. You did-- I believe-- have another psychotic break, is that correct? Switz: Yes, I went from HBS to McKinsey for three years and then, to GE Capital in a strategy role. View Details

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

rate is relatively higher, leading to lower economic growth. Our findings have implications for policy setters. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52971 Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2012
Article

Target the Right Market

By: Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

SparkPlace is a two-year-old business with a hot new product: software that manages and measures the effectiveness of permission-based marketing campaigns for social media. The company is in the process of deciding on which of two customer segments to focus its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Market Segmentation; Customer Defection; Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Technology Industry; United States

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June 2014
Case

Riverview Law: Applying Business Sense to the Legal Market

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Silvia Hodges Silverstein

Riverview Law, run like a business rather than a traditional law firm, wants to expand its unconventional concept from the UK to the US. The firm's approach includes performing all legal work for annual fixed-price contracts, using data and analytics to advise clients... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Professional Services; Disruptive Innovation; Law Firms; Client Service; Culture; Recruiting; Management; Professional Services Firms; Business Model; Legal Services Industry; United Kingdom; United States

March 7, 2025
Article

Leaders Can Move Fast and Fix Things

By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

The assumption embedded in Silicon Valley’s famous “move fast and break things” ethos is that we can either make progress or take care of people, one or the other. A certain amount of wreckage is the price we have to pay for creating the future. The authors have spent... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leading Change; Performance Efficiency

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