Publications

20 Nov 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Reverse the Curse of the Top-5

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Education

October 1981 (Revised April 1984)
Case

H.J. Heinz Co.: The Administration of Policy (B)

Summarizes the investigation conducted by outside legal and accounting firms under the Heinz audit committee. Improper practices were found at three of the five Heinz domestic divisions and at a number of foreign operations. Presents restated financial data for the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Accounting Audits; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

July 1989 (Revised December 1990)
Case

CIBA-GEIGY Pharmaceuticals: Pharma International

By: John A. Quelch

Examines the decision by Pharma International on whether to launch an antimalarial product in Nigeria and, if so, how that should be implemented. Involves commercial, ethical, and policy considerations. Rich in situation assessment data, the case refers to criticism of... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Launch; Policy; Developing Countries and Economies; Pharmaceutical Industry; Nigeria

01 Mar 2016
News

Crime Doesn’t Pay, Says Harvard Bribery Study

February 2018
Case

Qualtrics (A)

By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin

Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details

Keywords: Sales Strategy; Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Article

Drive Innovation with Better Decision-Making

By: Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards and Taran Swan

Despite their embrace of agile methods, many firms striving to innovate are struggling to produce breakthrough ideas. A key culprit, according to the authors, is an outdated, inefficient approach to decision-making. Today’s discovery-driven innovation processes involve... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Register to Read

December 2015
Article

Emotion and the Art of Negotiation: How to Use Your Feelings to Your Advantage

By: Alison Wood Brooks

Negotiations can be fraught with emotion, but it's only recently that researchers have examined how particular feelings influence what happens during deal making. Here the author shares some key findings and advice. Anxiety leads to poor outcomes. You will be less... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Emotions

Register to Read

WILLIAM (WILLIS) EMMONS is Senior Lecturer and Director of the C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard Business School, a position he has held since 2004. As Director of the Christensen Center, Emmons oversees programs to... View Details

Keywords: airline; infrastructure industry; pharmaceuticals; telecommunications; utilities

February 2010
Article

Managing Know-How

By: Deishin Lee and Eric J. Van den Steen

We study how firms can use a knowledge management system to optimally leverage employee-generated know-how. In particular, we consider the following practical strategic questions for the manager of a knowledge-intensive firm: should her firm develop a formal knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Change; Employees; Information; Knowledge Management; Outcome or Result; Practice; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; System; Value

Read Now

24 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele

Keywords: by George Serafeim; Accounting

September 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Zurich Insurance: Recruitment

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after implementing five new people practices focused on manager development, diversity and inclusion, job model and data analytics, recruitment, and talent pipeline. The case “Zurich Insurance: Fostering Key People... View Details

Keywords: Managing Change; Leadership; Organization Change And Adaptation; Organizational Behavior; Recruiting; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Human Capital; Human Resources; Insurance; Recruitment; Insurance Industry

Winter 2001
Other Article

Competition and Antitrust: A Productivity-Based Approach to Evaluating Mergers and Joint Ventures

By: Michael E. Porter

This article seeks to contribute thinking on how the intellectual foundations of antitrust might be updated, based on a large body of theoretical and empirical research on company strategy, competition, and economic development. The aim is to outline a new direction... View Details

Keywords: Society; Strategy

Read Now

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Technical Note

Strategy and Strategic Decisions

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note introduces a framework for formulating strategy that helps a manager identify which decisions are strategic—and thus which decisions to focus on (both when developing strategy and when executing it)—and that provides a practical test for whether a particular... View Details

Keywords: Formulating Strategy; Strategic Theory; Strategy Test; Strategic Analysis; Strategy; Theory; Strategic Planning

December 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Branding Yoga

By: Rohit Deshpande, Kerry Herman and Annelena Lobb

Yoga, an ancient discipline, has become popular worldwide. The marketing of yoga and dispute over its origins have led to debate as to whether yoga should be branded at all. Some yoga instructors have gone so far as to copyright their varieties of yoga; others in the... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing

November 2009
Background Note

Business Valuation and the Cost of Capital

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This note is an introduction to the cost of capital as used in discounted cash flow valuation analyses. The note covers basic financial economic principles and practical problems encountered in calculating the cost of capital, especially WACC. It concludes with... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Capital Budgeting; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Valuation