Publications

June 2020
Teaching Note

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

10 Jul 2007
What Do You Think?

How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater?

excites, and pushes the team or, you could say, choreographs an output that (moves) the company towards the vision." The mix of control, delegation, and theater employed by successful leaders depends on the timing and circumstances... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Timberland: Commerce and Justice

By: James E. Austin, Herman B. Leonard and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he pursued a strategy in which commerce and justice were "inextricably linked." Community involvement, environmental management, and global labor standards became not addenda to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Opportunities; Alignment; Business Strategy; Value

23 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

It’s Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

mission is to "improve the lives of poor children in America's most devastated communities." While this mission inspired volunteers, donors, and even management, it didn't communicate a plan of action. How can an organization measure the... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

13 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

Improving Public Health for the Poor

to—and not a substitute for—health defined as a public good. Part of the measure of success of Project Antares will be whether through commercial means we get a higher percentage of the population covered... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

Research Summary

Drip Pricing

Anyone who has shopped for an airline ticket online has experienced drip pricing, as each successive screen seems to reveal another fee throughout the purchasing process. This practice is becoming prevalent in a variety of industries, but its effect on consumers is... View Details

2003
Book

Profits You Can Trust: Spotting and Surviving Accounting Landmines

By: H. David Sherman, S. David Young and Harris Collingwood

Profits You Can Trust gives managers, directors, lenders, audit partners and analysts a clear framework to demystify global financial reporting in a market fraught with danger. Filled with provocative and enlightening examples, it offers a fresh perspective and clear... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Finance; Economics; Financial Reporting

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September–October 2015
Article

Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces

By: Jesse Shore, Ethan Bernstein and David Lazer

Using data from a novel laboratory experiment on complex problem solving in which we varied the structure of 16-person networks, we investigate how an organization's network structure shapes performance of problem-solving tasks. Problem solving, we argue, involves both... View Details

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Teaching Interest

Launching New Ventures—Jump-Starting Innovation for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners (Executive Education)

By: William R. Kerr

Starting up a new venture amid rapid change is fraught with challenges. Whether you are starting a new business, launching a new business line, or building an entrepreneurial culture within a small-to-midsize company, this program provides a new perspective and core... View Details

January–February 2015
Article

Social Comparisons and Deception Across Workplace Hierarchies: Field and Experimental Evidence

By: Benjamin Edelman and Ian Larkin

We examine how unfavorable social comparisons differentially spur employees of varying hierarchical levels to engage in deception. Drawing on literatures in social psychology and workplace self-esteem, we theorize that negative comparisons with peers could cause either... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Rank and Position; Employees

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Read Now

15 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary

these investments motivated consumers to plunk down their credit cards or fill out an application for a service. That's why the Internet has been such a godsend to companies, says Sunil Gupta, the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

January 1991 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program

In August 1990 the president and executive vice president of Xerox are reviewing the progress made on its customer satisfaction program. The emphasis placed on the program, the success of the program to date, and the drive to achieve the corporate goals of customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

26 Mar 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Bloody Millennium: Internal Conflict in South Asia

Keywords: by Lakshmi Iyer

March 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Innovation at Moog Inc.

By: Brian J. Hall, Ashley V. Whillans, Davis Heniford, Dominika Randle and Caroline Witten

This case focuses on the challenges of incentivizing innovation within Moog, an engineering company based in New York state that designs and builds guidance systems for space, air, and land-based travel. The case enables students to grapple with the challenges of using... View Details

March 2003
Case

Insurer of Last Resort? The Federal Financial Response to September 11

By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan

Examines the federal financial response to September 11, 2001: the airline bailout, the victim compensation fund, emergency aid to New York and Washington, and terrorism reinsurance. Less than two weeks after the attacks, the government had committed almost $40 billion... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Insurance; Risk Management; United States

February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
Case

The Nature Conservancy

By: Allen S. Grossman and Jane Wei-Skillern

Almost immediately upon being appointed CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Steve McCormick undertakes a radical reorganization of this global institution. TNC is the largest and, by most measures, the most successful environment organization in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Natural Environment; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

03 May 2016
First Look

First Look, May 3, 2016

2016 Berrett-Koehler Publishers Building the Future: Big Teaming for Audacious Innovation By: Edmondson, Amy C., and Susan Salter Reynolds Abstract—Machiavelli famously wrote, "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Mar 2004
Lessons from the Classroom

Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science

more effectively design and measure complex projects and organizations. Sean Silverthorne: What drew you to the NASA/JPL Mars program as potential case material? Alan MacCormack: First, it was an ideal context in which to explore one of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Article

A Framework for Research on Corporate Accountability Reporting

By: Karthik Ramanna

This paper provides an accounting-based conceptual framing of the phenomenon of corporate accountability reporting. Such reporting is seen as arising from a delegator's (e.g., a citizenry) demand to hold a delegate (e.g., shareholders) to account. When effective,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Value; Financial Reporting; Business and Shareholder Relations