Publications

March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

CEO Activism (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Aaron K. Chatterji and Julia Kelley

This case introduces CEO activism, a phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential... View Details

March 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Rick McCathron, CEO of Hippo, considered how the firm’s underwriting model could account for the effects of climate change. Along with providing smart home packages, targeting risk-friendly customers, and using data-driven pricing, the Insurtech used technologically... View Details

25 Aug 2022
News

Up on the Corner

It’s a drab gray morning in April, and real estate developer Nadine Ngouabe Dlodlo (MBA 2008) is standing at the corner of West Baltimore and South Calhoun Streets in Baltimore’s historic Union Square district. Behind her, a chain-link fence decorated with a small... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Melissa Golden; Real Estate

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

not see their role ‘as an enabler of direct public participation in decision-making through formats such as deliberative meetings, and do not believe there are personal benefits for investing in these activities.’ And yet if society is to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

entitled, but also obligated to do that. Not so fast, say Henderson and Ramanna. They argue managers have another interest, not just to serve as agents for their shareholders, but also to serve as agents for the system as a whole. It is not in the long-term interest of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Burberry

By: Youngme E. Moon, Erika Kussmann, Emma Penick, Susan Wojewoda and Kerry Herman

In 2003, Rose Marie Bravo, Burberry's CEO, is debating how to maintain the currency and cachet of the brand across its broad customer base, while entering new product categories and expanding distribution. In the past five years, the brand has become one of the hottest... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Luxury; Product Launch; Distribution; Product Positioning; Advertising; Market Entry and Exit; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United Kingdom

February 2017
Case

Shang Xia: The Creation of a Chinese Luxury Lifestyle Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener, Jing Xu, Janet Borgerson, Jonathan Schroeder and Zhiyan Wu

The case traces the birth of Shang Xia, a joint venture between the Hermès Group and Chinese designer Jiang Qiong Er. Launched in 2009 in Shanghai, the new brand's core mission is to revive and promote China’s 5,000-year-old cultural heritage and leverage Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Luxury; China

09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

Accountability, a required course for first-year MBA students that examines the responsibilities business leaders have to their shareholders, customers, employees, and to society Click Here Cote visited Boston for the occasion, sitting in... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

09 Jun 2024
Blog Post

The EC Formula: MBA Class of 2024 Looks Back

class and how will you apply it in the future?The value driver framework, especially Professor Esty’s belief that value creation can create win-win-wins in society without sacrificing shareholder value. In my onboarding discussions with... View Details

09 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

OneTen: Creating a New Pathway for Black Talent

“And we know that the style and the way in which people acquire skills nowadays in our society is very different than what it used to be. So, what we’re trying to do is shift the paradigm about aptitude from one that is based on a... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi E. Abdelal, Katherine Connolly Baden, and Boris Groysberg

01 Dec 2022
News

Future Vision

launched, Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society (BiGS) and the Digital, Data, and Design Institute at Harvard (D^3). What is their focus, and what do you hope to accomplish through them? For many decades, business has been... View Details

Keywords: Brian Kenny; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

January 2015 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Jimmy Choo

By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener

Jimmy Choo is a British luxury accessories brand, specializing in shoes, handbags, accessories, and fragrances. Founded in 1996 in London by couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo and Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon OBE, the brand enjoyed immediate success and rapidly... View Details

20 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Having No Life is the New Aspirational Lifestyle

Americans are working longer hours than ever before, with the office increasingly stealing our leisure time. But according to new research by Anat Keinan, this hectic way of life is, for many of us, far from an unmitigated negative. In fact, some boast the lack of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Student Success at Georgia State University (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Robin Mendelson and Julia Kelley

Georgia State University had developed a reputation for driving student success by nearly doubling its graduation rate for students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It did so while growing its student body and the proportion of Black/African... View Details

31 Jan 2014
News

Body, Heal Thyself

path with plenty of bumps along the way, from the potential of failed trials to regulatory hurdles. He often reminds his team about their mission. "What excites us when we get out of bed is that we believe we have a chance to do something transformational for View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon; biotech; Health, Social Assistance; Scientific Research and Development Services

29 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

How Organizations Create Social Value

the colloquium is to help leaders in businesses and society create social value for their communities, while in parallel strengthening their organizations. The study centered on forty organizations—twenty NGOs (non-governmental... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

18 Dec 2019
Book

6 Skills That Wise Companies Harness for World-Changing Innovation

dynamically. The book also presents the concept of “phronesis,” a kind of practical wisdom that benefits not only the organization, but also society at large. From ancient Greek, “phronesis is translated as practical knowledge, so it’s a... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Wes Hall and the BlackNorth Initiative

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Marilyn Morgan Westner and Reza Satchu

Wes Hall founded Kingsdale Advisors and built it into one of Canada’s leading shareholder services and advisory firms. Influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a series of social injustices—specifically the death of George Floyd in police custody—Hall... View Details

Keywords: Racism; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Race; Social Issues; Ethics; Canada; North America