reflection - Publications - Faculty & Research

02 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Leading Professional Service Firms

the ways in which real managers in real firms grapple with significant decisions affecting their businesses. We discuss cases that reflect a mix of professions as well as firms of different sizes and supplement them with additional... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jay W. Lorsch; Service; Consulting; Accounting

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

delayed price discovery). This isolates a setting wherein observed strategic trading behavior more likely reflects insiders' private information regarding goodwill, as opposed to other (non-goodwill related) economic performance. Overall,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Sep 2017
What Do You Think?

Summing Up: What Are the Limits of CEO Activism?

nuanced. This reflected what DDB identified as “a huge new challenge for CEO’s” and a complicated one, according to Rob Jones. But only three respondents addressed the question of limits on the practice. More about that below. Ernie... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Sep 2024
HBS Case

The Climate Targets Leaders Need to Know as Regulations Loom

As investor pressure mounts on companies to show their environmental impacts, leaders are encountering an unwieldy tangle of terms and approaches. Climate accounting basics and a dictionary of sorts can help demystify the calculations and voluntary targets that... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

06 Jul 2009
What Do You Think?

Are You Ready to Manage in an Irrational World?

managing successfully in an environment of uncertainty." As for what this means for educators, Joseph Holt believes that "economics and management will be taught even more effectively the more accurately they reflect a human... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

19 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Inexperienced Investors and Market Bubbles

interpretation, the trend-chasing behavior of young managers reflects their attempts to learn and extrapolate from the little data they have experienced in their career." Did the young fund managers also play a significant role in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

25 Jul 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

The Evolution of Apple

still out on that question, says Yoffie. Even so, the iPod has altered the fundamental dynamics of Apple. In a change that signals the company's growing investment in consumer electronics, Apple dropped "Computer" from its name in January 2007. Future... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer; Technology

22 Dec 2015
First Look

December 22, 2015

patents, in particular, and business method patents more generally. Because so much of the prior work in these areas has not been patented, concerns have been expressed as to the extent to which the awards reflect this knowledge. Inspired... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Spirit at Work: The Search for Deeper Meaning in the Workplace

it a fad that amounts to little more than sensitivity training in New Age clothing, or does it reflect something more profound about the way we are beginning to conceive of and relate to work? In the following pages six HBS alumni who are... View Details

Keywords: by Marguerite Rigoglioso

27 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

Customer Experts Lose Influence When Teams are Pressured

the project we often slipped into routines that didn't leverage each person's expertise as well as we might have. At the time, though, I was too caught up in the work itself to reflect on why that happened. When I began researching this... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

22 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Control Your Inventory in a World of Lean Retailing

variation is never more than four times the average. The second test reflects a manufacturer whose concern is maintaining inventories at a level appropriate for its high-volume, low-variability SKUs — say three weeks of demand. That means... View Details

Keywords: by Frederick H. Abernathy, John T. Dunlop, Janice H. Hammond & David Weil; Consumer Products

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

increase in experience, consistent with learning on the job. Answerers who focus on particular question categories provide answers of higher quality but earn lower pay per hour (perhaps reflecting a lack of versatility). Answers provided... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

firms as reflected in the growth of their numbers, assets, sales, and profits. Yet, closer scrutiny reveals no dramatic transformation in the wake of liberalization. The story, rather, is one of an economy still dominated by the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 May 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 1, 2018

and coordinating government entities towards promoting happiness and positivity at work, and promoting happiness as a lifestyle more generally. The case details the UAE's progress through February 2018. The class discussion gives students a chance to View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Fame, Faith, and Social Activism: Business Lessons from Bono

realized that no one had ever told this story as a business story." In the bigger picture, U2's journey reflects our own moment here in the early 21st century, Koehn says, pointing to a growing spiritual hunger among young people, the... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

13 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

The Inner Life of Leaders

progress in life and in business. HBS Working Knowledge asked Zaleznik to reflect on the inner life of leaders. Martha Lagace: Your book is an intellectual and introspective discussion of leadership that seems rare in the literature of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Apr 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs

strategy has been very successful, and its positive balance of trade with the United States reflects the progress it has made. But balance of trade is a lagging indicator of success. With looming technological leadership to be decided in... View Details

Keywords: by Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing; Auto; Steel; Air Transportation; Technology; Telecommunications

17 Nov 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders?

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. Optimism and pessimism are strong, stable traits that reflect our coping strategies. We live in an... View Details

14 Feb 2007
Op-Ed

Tata-Corus: India’s New Steel Giant

industry, also had a sorry ending. So, it is perhaps worth reflecting why Tata-Corus might be different. I believe it will be. Here's why. First, CNOOC's bid collapsed amid Washington intrigue. The Chinese proved to be babes-in-the-wood... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

approaches. Here we speculate on one possible explanation for this organizational heterogeneity: it may reflect inherent heterogeneity of the software workforce, in terms of which kinds of organizations individual workers prefer to work... View Details