Small Companies - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Nov 2019
What Do You Think?

Should Non-Compete Clauses Be Abolished?

commented that, “When a non-compete clause is required it can signal a lack of trust If your ethics are being questioned the time of hire, question the company ethics.” This may help explain why RCD said that, “I have walked away from... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 Aug 2021
Op-Ed

Don't Ignore Your Employees' Misery—TAKE Control

As organizations eagerly reopen their doors more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, many will be surprised to watch their employees walk out—for good. Companies have been quick to set blanket policies that range from a full... View Details

Keywords: by Hise O. Gibson and MaShon Wilson

Web

Student Activities - Health Care

companies such as Eli Lilly, Vertex, Tenet Healthcare, BCBS, Boston Scientific, and Partners In Health, as well as venture capital firms, entrepreneurs, and health care consultants. The Health Care Conference Is an annual health care... View Details

September 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa

Citation

Educators

Purchase

07 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Rediscovering Schumpeter: The Power of Capitalism

it to evolution. The creative destruction can occur within a large innovative company (Toyota, GE, Microsoft), but it's much more likely to happen with start-ups, particularly since they now have so much access to venture capital.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

Web

Courses by Faculty Unit - Course Catalog

Creation in Small and Medium Firms Jason Pananos Spring 2026 Q3Q4 3.0 Financial Management of Smaller Firms (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Richard Ruback Royce Yudkoff Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Global Entrepreneurship (also... View Details

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

When Silence Spells Trouble at Work

employees in organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations to government bureaucracies reveal that silence can exact a high psychological price on individuals, generating feelings of humiliation, pernicious... View Details

Keywords: by Leslie A. Perlow

09 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Entrepreneurs Should Go Work for Government

enforcement on air pollution controls. In California, OpenCounter streamlined registration for small businesses and provided zoning clearances in a fraction of the usual time. In New York, Mark43 is developing software to analyze crime... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Sustainable Investing Course | HBS Online

Screening and Portfolio Tilts Engagement and Proxy Voting ESG Integration and Alpha Generation Sustainable Public Market Funds Featured Exercises Evaluate the ESG performance of various companies Match ESG use cases to corresponding... View Details

Profile

Sebastian Velasco

Durango is a small town in Mexico, but that didn't stop Sebastian Velasco's mother from starting a paper and packaging manufacturing business there with her brothers. "She was one of the few women there who studied in college and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

29 Aug 2023
News

Helping Consumers Decarbonize their Purchases

sector you're in, it's part of the climate economy and we need to shift all of our jobs to become climate jobs. So whether you're working at a big company or a small company, there are probably ways that you... View Details

13 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Kind of Blue: Pushing Boundaries with Miles Davis

flat top of the S). “Miles Davis forced the musicians to approach the music without any expectations or preconceptions, often by giving them minimal sketches and sparse instructions."—Carl Størmer: Companies experience a lot of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Music

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

01 Feb 1999
News

A Taste of Tradition

families now own only a small percentage of the company, one example of their continuing influence is a company "creed" adopted in 1926 and originally designed to promote internal family harmony. "It... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

17 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Quiet Quitters Need More Than Money to Re-Engage

DeLong write. The antidote, they propose, is to replace contractual relationships with covenantal ones. “You need to fill people’s intrinsic motivational needs,” DeLong says, “as opposed to making it simply contractual.” Make changes big and View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Crowdsourcing Is Helping Hollywood Reduce the Risk of Movie-Making

Wahlen of MIT Sloan—examine whether such “wisdom of the crowd” can beat the odds in predicting a blockbuster at a higher rate than the gut of an individual producer. "While some companies have used crowdsourcing as a way to make decisions... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Motion Pictures & Video

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

business owners to understand their own cash flow and prospects. Now the fintech innovation cycle is at an inflection point—new streams of data have the power to illuminate the opaque nature of a small business’s finances. The playing... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Sep 2006
What Do You Think?

Are We Ready for Self-Management?

as many cited obstacles to its implementation, chief among them management itself. Many respondents were enthusiastic. For example, Leeor Geva characterized self-management as a "win-win strategy." In Jonathan Narducci's words, "Any method that gets all... View Details