Publications

2021
Book

The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees,... View Details

16 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Mentoring—Using the Voice of Experience

transmit knowledge for a lot of reasons, both in the types of knowledge and the types of ways that they try to do it, and also the degree to which the entrepreneurs have receptors for it. Brian DeLacey: One statistic that still sticks out in my mind is the View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

Omnia Juncta in Uno: Foreign Powers and Trademark Protection in Shanghai's Concession Era

By: Laura Alfaro, Cathy Bao, Maggie X. Chen, Junjie Hong and Claudia Steinwender

We investigate how firms and markets adapt to trademark protection, an extensively utilized but under-examined form of IP protection to address asymmetric information, by exploring a historical precedent: China’s 1923 trademark law. Exploiting unique, newly digitized... View Details

Keywords: Trademark; Firm Dynamics; Intermediaries; Intellectual Property Institutions; Trademarks; Intellectual Property; Laws and Statutes; Outcome or Result; Organizational Change and Adaptation; China

SSRN

Research Summary

Markets, Information, and Efficiency

Professor Meulbroeks market efficiency research focuses on the closely related questions of whether markets properly reflect information that affects a firm's value, and in turn how stock prices influence managerial behavior. In this area, she studies why some firms... View Details

April 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Capitalism, Slavery, and Reparations

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Cary Williams

The birth of “Modern Economic Growth” constituted a watershed in human history, allowing societies to escape the Malthusian impasse and permanently raise living standards. While the new growth regime had lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last... View Details

Keywords: Reparations; Living Standards; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; Globalized Economies and Regions; Human Needs

Article

How Well Do Social Ratings Actually Measure Corporate Social Responsibility?

By: Aaron K. Chatterji, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel

Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and capabilities influence billions of dollars of "socially responsible" investments as well as some consumers, activists, and potential employees. In one of the first studies to assess these ratings, we examine how... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Effectiveness; Natural Environment; Pollutants

Find at Harvard

October 1991 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, Inc.: Keeping the Mission(s) Alive

Ben & Jerry's is an anti-establishment, values-driven company that has become a successful venture. The dominant founder, Ben Cohen, is not an effective manager, but he brings creative marketing and product skills that have been important to the company's success. He... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Compensation and Benefits; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Delta Air Lines: Navigating the COVID-19 Storm

By: Ted Berk and Ryan Flamerich

This case examines Delta Air Lines’ response as demand for its services plummeted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the company’s funding needs and capital structure. Following a series of initial actions, the company’s cash “burn” had reduced from... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Financial Condition; Capital Structure; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Air Transportation Industry

Program

The Women's Leadership Forum

build trust, and work more effectively with a diverse range of colleagues Make decisions with greater confidence under a variety of conditions Take control of your career Identify the best path for your career Assess opportunities for new roles or View Details

01 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Negative Shocks and Innovation: Evidence from Medical Device Recalls

Keywords: by George P. Ball, Jeffrey T. Macher, and Ariel Dora Stern; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

August 1994 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Olympus Optical Company, Ltd. (A): Cost Management for Short Life Cycle Products

Explores Olympus Optical's strategic response to major losses in its camera business. Key to Olympus's recovery were its extensive product planning process, a quality improvement program, and an aggressive cost-reduction program. In particular, the case details... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Product Design; Business Strategy; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry

December 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Background Note

The Business Development Manager

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Sarah Dillard, Katharine Nevins and Puja Ramani

Describes the role of business development (BD) managers in technology companies, detailing: 1) BD managers' key responsibilities at each step in the process of creating a partnership agreement; 2) how the nature of the BD function evolves as a technology startup... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Partnerships; High Technology Products; Information Technology; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Management Skills; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry

July 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

The Profession of the Law

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad Carr

This note reviews the professional responsibilities and obligations of lawyers In the United States, explains how those standards affect client relationships and, by summarizing rules for resolution of conflicts and withdrawal, sets the stage for a discussion of the... View Details

Keywords: Attorney and Client Relationships; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Ethics; Standards; Legal Services Industry; United States

2018
Working Paper

Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit

By: Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca

We study the impact of the minimum wage on firm exit in the restaurant industry, exploiting recent changes in the minimum wage at the city level. We find that the impact of the minimum wage depends on whether a restaurant was already close to the margin of exit.... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Business Exit or Shutdown; Food and Beverage Industry

SSRN

September 2023
Exercise

Irrationality in Action: Decision-Making Exercise

By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael I. Norton and Oliver Hauser

This teaching exercise highlights the obstacle of biases in decision-making, allowing students to generate examples of potentially poor decision-making rooted in abundant and unwanted bias. This exercise has two parts: a pre-class, online survey in which students... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making

May 27, 2020
Editorial

Stable Democracies Better at Fostering Economic Growth

By: Ashish Nanda

Differences across countries in how the COVID-19 pandemic has been managed have led some to raise the broader question of whether democracies are necessarily a good way to organise a society. Research findings clearly show that compared to autocracies, democracies... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Government and Politics

March 2014 (Revised April 2014)
Supplement

China Vanke (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, John Macomber and Keith Chi-ho Wong

The case describes Vanke's response to the decisions posed in the A1, A2, and A3 cases and asks whether Vanke should expand its strategic scope by defining itself as an "urban facilities provider" rather than a "residential housing developer." The management team is... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; China; Green Building; Sustainable Development; Asset Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Urban Development; Safety; Assets; Real Estate Industry; China