Publications

September 1998 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Ethics and Business Practices (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Becton Dickinson's Global One-Company Operations Group must decide on the company's global policy on gifts, gratuities, and business entertainment. A central issue is whether the policy should be established centrally and made uniform worldwide or whether it should be... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Ethics; Law; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Global Strategy; Trade; Business or Company Management

Educators

2007
Text Book

Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Financial statements are the basis for a wide range of business analysis. Managers, securities analysts, bankers, and consultants all use them to make business decisions. There is strong demand among business students for course materials that provide a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Framework; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Statements

Read Now

December 2004
Article

Old Rules and New Realities: Corporate Tax Policy in a Global Setting

By: Mihir A. Desai and James R. Hines Jr.

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Policy; Business Ventures

SSRN

April 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Google's Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?

By: David A. Garvin, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Liz Kind

Google's Project Oxygen started with a fundamental question raised by executives in the early 2000s: do managers matter? The topic generated a multi-year research project that ultimately led to a comprehensive program, built around eight key management attributes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Business Policy; General Management; Human Resource Management; Management; Leadership; Human Resources

Educators

June 1999
Article

Policy Shocks, Market Intermediaries, and Corporate Strategy: Evidence from Chile and India

By: Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Chile; India

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Organizing the Family-Run Business

company; help develop policies that help the company and its shareholders achieve their goals; provide performance feedback to senior management, especially the CEO; ensure that the business remains... View Details

15 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Going Green Makes Good Business Sense

Business leaders must respond to growing concerns about pollution, but both the environment and corporate coffers can be green, says Harvard Business School professor Forest Reinhardt. The key to success may... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2025
Working Paper

Small Business Innovation Applied to National Needs

By: Kyle Myers, Lauren Lanahan and Evan E. Johnson

Small businesses have long supplied a disproportionate share of major innovations in the United States. We review a centerpiece policy on this topic: the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We trace its legislative history and summarize program... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Innovation and Invention; Government Legislation; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business and Government Relations

Read Now

1991
Book

Competitiveness and the State: Government and Business in Twentieth-Century Britain

By: G. Jones and M. W. Kirby

This book looks at the relationship between the British government and business since 1900, and examines the impact of government policies on business, productivity and competitiveness. The authors argue that government has a legitimate role to play in improving... View Details

Keywords: Political History; Policy; Business History; Performance Consistency; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Productivity; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Europe

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

percent of its revenues came from rating structured finance products, versus the 32 percent of revenues generated from its traditional business of rating corporate bonds. A simulation is "still a model and it's not exact, which is... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

March 2024
Article

How Foes Become Allies: The Shifting Role of Business in Climate Politics

By: Irja Vormedal and Jonas Meckling

Firms often oppose costly public policy reforms—but under what conditions may they come to support such reforms? Previous scholarship has taken a predominantly static approach to the analysis of business positions. Here, we advance a dynamic theory of change in... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Environmental Regulation; Business and Government Relations

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17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

1970
Report

Foreign Investment in Joint Ventures: Some Effects of Government Policies in Less Developed Countries

By: L. T. Wells Jr.

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Developing Countries and Economies

July 2013
Teaching Note

Google's Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?

By: David A. Garvin

Google's Project Oxygen started with a fundamental question raised by executives in the early 2000s: do managers matter? The topic generated a multi-year research project that ultimately led to a comprehensive program, built around eight key management attributes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Business Policy; General Management; Human Resource Management; Management; Leadership; Human Resources

01 Nov 2022
What Do You Think?

Why Aren’t Business Leaders More Vocal About Immigration Policy?

policy issues, but whether business leaders are expressing enough “voice” about a matter that affects their talent pool as well as the overall growth rate of the US economy. The question arises at a time... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2013
Government Testimony

American Competitiveness Worldwide: Impacts on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

By: Michael E. Porter

The Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access held a hearing titled, "American Competitiveness Worldwide: Impacts on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs." Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter spoke at the hearing,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Competitiveness; United States