Publications

25 Jan 2024
News

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

07 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

Seeking a programming gig? Wear glasses and keep your laptop in frame if you want your profile picture to attract recruiters on hiring platforms. A new study finds freelancers are more likely to land work when they “look the part” for a particular job. But, as... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

2017
Working Paper

Empowering Bureaucracy: Achieving Non-Hierarchical Control and Employee Autonomy Through Dynamic Formal Roles

By: Michael Lee

Hierarchy and formal structure are conventionally viewed as two tightly coupled dimensions of organization design. As organizations move from more hierarchical to less hierarchical authority structures, they also tend to reduce formal structure. However, organic... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Autonomy; Decentralization; Self-Managed Organizations; Formalization; Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Management Systems

2009
Working Paper

Running Out of Numbers: Scarcity of IP Addresses and What to Do About It

By: Benjamin Edelman

The Internet's current numbering system is nearing exhaustion: Existing protocols allow only a finite set of computer numbers ("IP addresses"), and central authorities will soon deplete their supply. I evaluate a series of possible responses to this shortage: Sharing... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Resource Allocation; Market Transactions; Internet; Technology Networks; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry

April 2023
Technical Note

Venture Capital Firms: What Drives Success?

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

With the rapid growth of venture capital (“VC”) in recent decades, we might wonder: who succeeds at VC and why? This is a complicated question, as many factors come into play. VC partnerships are comprised of individual investors with varying backgrounds, experiences,... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Success

January 2023
Case

Proday: Calling the Right Play

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

Sarah Kunst knew the elements of a successful startup from her tenure at venture capital firms. In April 2018, however, her own app – Proday, a home fitness platform featuring exercises filmed by professional sports stars – was floundering. Kunst theorized that... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Product Launch; Social Marketing; Failure; Sports; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States

October 2005
Case

Kinko's

Over the decades, Kinko's had forged a deep emotional bond with consumers by easing their anxiety and helping them solve pressing document processing problems. By 2003, however, consumer research revealed that a confusing retail experience had eroded some of this good... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Customer Satisfaction; Service Industry

May 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Warner Cable (A) and (B) (Condensed)

The new general manager of Warner Cable's Medford, Massachusetts complex faces a number of turnaround challenges in 1985, including service deficiencies, customer complaints, high turnover, and low employee morale. By 1988 he has turned the situation around, but some... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Performance Improvement; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

24 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Growing the Seeds of an Early-Stage Startup

was no MBA internship opening, so I was pleasantly surprised when Aaron replied and gave me a shot anyway! After going through multiple interviews and being asked for numerous references, I realized that no matter how resource constrained... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products / Retail

December 2008 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Amylin Pharmaceuticals: Diabetes and Beyond (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon

Ginger Graham, CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, joined the company with the expectation of taking the company's signature drug, Symlin, to market. However, unforeseen regulatory challenges have put the approval process in jeopardy. At the same time, the company has a... View Details

Keywords: Regulations; Drug Regulations; Symlin; Negotiation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Resource Allocation; Negotiation Deal; Product Development; Research and Development; Commercialization; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 07 Mar 2022
Virtual Programming

Considering a Career Transition? Connect with HBS

Are you thinking about making a career move? Or, do you want to work with a coach on some aspect of your leadership? Maybe you want to step back and reflect on your purpose, power up your LinkedIn profile, or practice for an upcoming interview. If these aspects of... View Details

Web

Careers - Alumni

podcasts, and other resources from across HBS on the alumni Lifelong Learning site. HBS is here for you, for life. Explore the Career Blog Turning Doubt into Drive: Embracing Entrepreneurship with Kait Stephens (MBA 2020) Kait Stephens 17... View Details

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

says, “because they want to ensure they have the financial resources to take care of people properly.” 4. Apologize—and mean it Poorly run layoff programs can be tremendously damaging to a company’s reputation. If current and downsized... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

2023
Working Paper

LALIGA—From a Soccer Competition Organizer to a Global Player in the Sports and Entertainment Industry

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Kenneth Cortsen and Juan Fuentes Fernández

LALIGA, the first- and second-tier professional soccer league (known as “football” outside of the U.S. and Canada) in Spain, enters its 100th soccer season later this decade. The most popular game in the world (Giulianotti, 2012) has gone through many changes since... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; ＂Sports Organizations,; Business History; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Technology Adoption; Sports Industry

2025
Working Paper

Enhancing Treatment Effect Prediction on Privacy-Protected Data: An Honest Post-Processing Approach

By: Ta-Wei Huang and Eva Ascarza

As firms increasingly rely on customer data for personalization, concerns over privacy and regulatory compliance have grown. Local Differential Privacy (LDP) offers strong individual-level protection by injecting noise into data before collection. While... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Intervention; Conditional Average Treatment Effect Estimation; Differential Privacy; Honest Estimation; Post-processing; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Marketing

SSRN

November 2019
Case

The Genesis Lab at Novartis

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Ranjay Gulati, Patrick J. Healy and Kerry Herman

Novartis' Genesis Labs program, launched in 2016 as part of Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), hosted pitch competitions where teams of NIBR scientists proposed ideas to explore that aimed to revolutionize drug discovery. The goal was to break down... View Details

Keywords: Drug Discovery; Health Care and Treatment; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Programs; Management

August 29, 2022
Other Article

Income Inequality Is Rising. Are We Even Measuring It Correctly?

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, K. Blesch and Oliver P. Hauser

Income inequality is on the rise in many countries around the world, according to the United Nations. What’s more, disparities in global income were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some countries facing greater economic losses than others. Policymakers... View Details

Keywords: Income Inequality; Gini Coefficient; COVID-19 Pandemic; Government Administration; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics; Measurement and Metrics

Howard H. Stevenson is Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor emeritus, former Senior Associate Dean, Director of Publishing, and Chair of the Harvard Business Publishing Company board. The Sarofim-Rock Chair was established in 1982 to provide a continuing base for... View Details

Keywords: broadcasting; communications; computer; construction; financial services; forest products; health care; high technology; industrial goods; insurance industry; investment banking industry; manufacturing; paper; professional services; real estate; service industry; software; venture capital industry

April 2007
Case

Alan Kendricks at Cardiology Associates

By: Boris Groysberg, Colleen Kaftan and Wilfred S. McCalla, Jr.

Alan Kendricks struggles to address many challenges facing him as a recently promoted medical director for Cardiology Associates at Southeastern Pennsylvania University Hospital. He must balance his time taking care of patients, running a practice, managing up, down,... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Organizational Culture; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Structure; Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Pennsylvania