Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,465)
- Faculty Publications (144)
- November 2010
- Article
Stress-Test Your Strategy: The 7 Questions to Ask
By: Robert Simons
An economic downturn can quickly expose the shortcomings of your business strategy. But can you identify its weak points in good times as well? And can you focus on those weak points that really matter? I identify seven questions all executives should ask in order to... View Details
- 2010
- Chapter
Lessons from Catastrophe Reinsurance
By: Kenneth A. Froot
Of the 20 most costly catastrophes since 1970, more than half have occurred since 2001. Is this an omen of what the 21st century will be? How might we behave in this new, uncertain, and more dangerous environment? Will our actions be rational or irrational? A select... View Details
- December 2009 (Revised January 2010)
- Case
Managing Talent at Bertelsmann AG (A)
By: Boris Groysberg, Nitin Nohria, Mark Maletz and Kerry Herman
Bertelsmann's EVP HR Immanuel Hermreck and his team were focused on four key HR issues. Three of these were somewhat discreet: improving Bertelsmann's employer brand; managing Bertelsmann talent across the firm's decentralized businesses; and ensuring early... View Details
- 2009
- Book
High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage
By: Michael Beer
Integrating knowledge from strategic management, performance management, and organization design, strategic human resource expert and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer outlines what the high-commitment, high-performance organization looks like and provides... View Details
- May 2009
- Article
Authority versus Persuasion
This paper studies a manager's trade-off between using persuasion and using interpersonal authority to get an employee to 'do the right thing' from the manager's perspective (when the manager and employee disagree on the right course of action). It... View Details
- May 2009
- Article
The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad
By: Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Boris Groysberg and Nitin Nohria
This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Few companies are thinking about hiring right now, but that's a mistake. If history... View Details
- February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
- Background Note
Business and Human Rights
By: Lynn S. Paine and Lara Adamsons
This note addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about the relation between human rights and business. Topics include the definition of human rights, the business leader's role regarding human rights, and legal liability of companies and executives for... View Details
- February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
- Case
Yahoo! in China (A)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Daniel Baer
In 2007 Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo!, was lambasted by U.S. Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, for Yahoo's role in the arrest and imprisonment of Chinese journalist and democracy advocate Shi Tao. The case describes the... View Details
- January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
- Case
Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction
By: John D. Macomber, Christopher M. Gordon and Ben Creo
A construction company experiences a crane accident with multiple fatalities. The CEO, a client, and an employee must make choices to meet the company's obligations. Set in 2006, the case looks at the choices faced by board members of a museum that is an important... View Details
- 2009
- Working Paper
Authority versus Persuasion
This paper studies a principal's trade-off between using persuasion versus using interpersonal authority to get the agent to "do the right thing"; from the principal's perspective (when the principal and agent openly disagree on the right course of action). It shows... View Details
- 2008
- Book
On Competition
By: M. E. Porter
Competition is one of society's most powerful forces for making things better in many fields of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it... View Details
- November 2008
- Supplement
Differences at Work: Sameer (B)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon
In Differences at Work: Sameer (B) HBS Case No. 9-609-054, Sameer leaves the firm at the summer's end without confronting his employer about the jokes and wondering whether he made the right choice. Later Sameer's former employer calls him to apologize for their... View Details
- Article
Strong Leadership and Teamwork Drive Culture and Performance Change: Ohio State University Medical Center 2000–2006
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Fred Sanfilippo, Neeli Bendapudi and Anthony Rucci
Several characteristics of academic health centers have the potential to create high levels of internal conflict and misalignment that can pose significant leadership challenges.
In September 2000, the positions of Ohio State University (OSU) senior vice... View Details
- January 2008
- Article
How to Change the World
Alan Wilson has a decision to make. The CEO of his company, Grepter, wants him to relocate to Zurich, where he can gain valuable experience for a rise to the top. Karl, his best friend, hopes to lure him to a hedge fund that promises big money fast. Shiori, an enticing... View Details
- November 2007
- Case
Differences at Work: Jason (A)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon
Jason is a member of his firm's recruiting team, which has a mandate to create a more diverse workforce. When the group decides to interview a candidate based on the candidate's race, Jason wonders whether they made the right decision and how, in general, diversity... View Details
- 2006
- Book
Science Business: The Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Biotech
By: Gary P. Pisano
Why has the biotechnology industry failed to perform up to expectations—despite all its promise? In Science Business, Gary P. Pisano answers this question by providing an incisive critique of the industry. Pisano not only reveals the underlying causes of... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised May 2008)
- Supplement
Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (B)
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco
Engaging local stakeholders and building strong relations has become a strategic imperative for multinational firms in the often politically charged mining, oil, and gas sectors. For BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining company, its Tintaya copper mine in... View Details
- July 2006 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Charles Veillon, S.A. (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Aldo Sesia
The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the labor practices of its suppliers. A particular concern is avoiding child labor and other forms of workplace coercion.... View Details
- May – June 2006
- Article
Choose the Right Measures, Drive the Right Strategy
By: Dennis Campbell
Metrics overload is a common problem that can have serious consequences: Specifically, it can make it difficult for employees to see what actions they should take to execute strategic objectives. Having too many metrics dilutes the focus and invariably means many are... View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
Too Motivated?
I show that an agent's motivation to do well (objectively) may be unambiguously bad in a world with differing priors, i.e., when people openly disagree on the optimal course of action. The reason is that an agent who is strongly motivated is more likely to follow... View Details