Publications

July 2019
Teaching Note

Arlan Hamilton and Backstage Capital

By: Laura Huang

Teaching Note for HBS No. 419-029. Frustrated by an inability to convince existing venture capital firms to invest in companies led by women, people of color, and LGBT founders, Arlan Hamilton started her own firm, Backstage Capital, in 2015. Hamilton understood the... View Details

Keywords: Black Leadership; LGBTQ; People Of Color; Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Gender; Race

2020
Working Paper

Automation and the Plight of Young Workers: Evidence from the Automation of Telephone Operation in the Early 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and James J. Feigenbaum

Telephone operation was one of the most common jobs for young American women in the early 1900s. Between 1920 and 1940, AT&T adopted dial service in over half of U.S. telephone exchanges, automating away a legion of operators. We show that upon a city's adoption of... View Details

Keywords: Employment; Labor; Gender; Technology Adoption; History; Telecommunications Industry; United States

2014
Article

In Search of the Self at Work: Young Adults' Experiences of a Dual Identity Organization

By: Michel Anteby and Amy Wrzesniewski

Purpose: Multiple forces that shape the identities of adolescents and young adults also influence their subsequent career choices. Early work experiences are key among these forces. Recognizing this, youth service programs have emerged worldwide with the hope of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Identity; Socialization; Youth; Youth Service Programs; Identity; Mission and Purpose; Age; Personal Development and Career; Service Industry; Europe

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January 2013
Article

Not Just for Stereotyping Anymore: Racial Essentialism Reduces Domain-General Creativity

By: Carmit Tadmor, Melody Chao, Ying-yi Hong and Jeff Polzer

Individuals who believe that racial groups have fixed underlying essences use stereotypes more than do individuals who believe that racial categories are arbitrary and malleable social-political constructions. Would this essentialist mind-set also lead to less... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Creativity; Race

August 2006 (Revised June 2015)
Background Note

Female Entrepreneurship in Developed and Developing Countries

By: Geoffrey Jones and Alexis Lefort

Examines the extent of and challenges facing female entrepreneurs in developing countries. There are higher rates of female entrepreneurship in developing countries than developed countries, but necessity is often the main driver in lower income countries. Explores the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Gender; Developing Countries and Economies

October 2000 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Avon Products (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Greg Rogers

Presents the results of the decision taken in the (A) case. Describes the subsequent challenges faced by Avon Products in promulgating its globalization worldwide. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Gender; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

1985
Book

Gender Roles in Development Projects: A Case Book

By: Catherine Overholt, Mary B. Anderson, Kathleen Cloud and James E. Austin

Keywords: Gender; Growth and Development; Projects; Books

1985
Book

Gender Roles in Development Projects: A Case Book

By: C. Overholt, Mary B. Anderson, Kathleen Cloud and James E. Austin

Keywords: Gender; Growth and Development; Projects; Books

01 Mar 2023
News

3-Minute Briefing: Qiao Ma (MBA 2010)

My dad was an engineering professor, but his true passion was the stock market. When I was six or seven years old, he brought me to a local brokerage office in Guangzhou. It was the early 1990s and the room was packed with men, all smoking. People cheered when the live... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; stock market; investment; finance; Australia; China; Asia; strategy; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

14 Feb 2022
News

How to Make Venture Capital Accessible for Black Founders: An Entrepreneur’s Dilemma

13 Aug 2020
News

Why Do Boards Have So Few Black Directors?

04 Sep 2019
News

Action Plan: A New ’Cue

Kevin Corsello (far right) with partners Jeff Mauro (left) and Bo Jackson (center) (photo courtesy of Pork & Mindy’s) Kevin Corsello (OPM 45, 2014) was just looking for a hobby when he started Pork & Mindy’s—a competition barbecue team—in 2005. During the workweek,... View Details

Keywords: April White

19 Jun 2018
News

Ellen Pao: The Perverse Incentives that Help Incels Thrive in Tech

06 Apr 2016
News

Rich People Now Have a Safe Way to Dump Their Jewelry

Keywords: Gilt Groupe; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

01 Sep 2013
News

W50 in The Windy City

Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community Robin Ely (second from left), with Devi Vallabhaneni (MBA 1997), Molly Baskin (MBA 1977), and Bruce Mumford Jr. (MBA 1980), discussed the W50 and how the School is setting an agenda for accelerating the advancement of... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

February 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success

By: Henry McGee, Annelena Lobb and David Muoser

Jessica Johnson-Cope, CEO of Johnson Security Bureau (JSB), pondered options for scaling the firm. JSB was the oldest Black-owned security firm in New York, and among the oldest Black-owned security firms in the United States. It provided mostly unarmed security guards... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Gender; Race; Cybersecurity; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; New York (state, US)

May 2020
Article

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment

By: Nava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low and Kathleen McGinn

Using a randomized control trial, we examine whether offering adolescent girls nonmaterial resources—specifically, negotiation skills—can improve educational outcomes in a low-income country. In so doing, we provide the first evidence on the effects of an intervention... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Competency and Skills; Training; Age; Gender; Education; Investment; Outcome or Result; Developing Countries and Economies

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March 2007 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur, Leader, and Philanthropist

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Anne Dwojeski, William Grundy, Erica Helms and Katherine Miller

Madam C. J. Walker, who has been credited as the first self-made African-American woman millionaire, created a hair-care empire after years spent as a laundress in St. Louis, Missouri. Decades before the Civil Rights movement, her company gave employment to thousands... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business History; Race; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Saint Louis

June 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and John Masko

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California