Publications

Article

Why Compliance Programs Fail: And How to Fix Them

By: Hui Chen and Eugene Soltes

Firms spend millions of dollars annually on whistle-blower hotlines, training, and other efforts to ensure adherence to laws, regulations, and company policies. Yet malfeasance remains entrenched in the corporate world. Why? Too many firms treat compliance as a... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Programs; Employees; Training; Performance Effectiveness; Measurement and Metrics

Register to Read

June 1995 (Revised September 1996)
Case

Union Carbide's Bhopal Plant (A)

By: Debora L. Spar

In December 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, sprung a leak, releasing thousands of gallons of highly toxic gas into the atmosphere. By the time the leak was sealed, over 2,000 people had died. In a series of three excerpts from published accounts, the case... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Chemicals; Foreign Direct Investment; Chemical Industry; United States; India

2014
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Segmentation and Targeting

By: Sunil Gupta

This Reading introduces two of the integral parts of any marketing strategy: segmentation and targeting. It covers, first, all of the methods, techniques, and variables with which a business first uncovers the full range of its potential customers and then... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Segmentation; Conjoint Analysis; Demographic Segmentation; Geographic Segmentation; Market Opportunities; Market Segmentation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Psychographic Segmentation; Unethical Marketing Practices; United States

September 2011
Article

Information Risk and Fair Value: An Examination of Equity Betas

By: Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim

Using a sample of U.S. financial institutions, we exploit recent mandatory disclosures of financial instruments designated as fair value level 1, 2, and 3 to test whether greater information risk in financial instrument fair values leads to higher cost of capital. We... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Assets; Cost of Capital; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Corporate Disclosure; Information; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; United States

SSRN

February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Mistry Architects (B)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Robert G. Eccles and Mona Sinha

This case is a follow-up of Mistry Architects: Innovating for Sustainability (A) (Case 609-044). In Case (A) Sharukh and Renu Mistry found and run an architectural firm dedicated to being both client-oriented and environmentally responsible. The case uses a difficult... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Emerging Markets; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Natural Disasters; Environmental Sustainability; Product Design; Innovation and Invention; Construction Industry

07 Aug 2015
News

It Pays to Give Thanks at the Office

September – October 2010
Article

The Effect of Product Variety and Inventory Levels on Retail Sales: A Longitudinal Study

By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman

We examine the effects of product variety and inventory levels on store sales. Using four years of data from stores of a large retailer, we show that increases in product variety and inventory levels are both associated with higher sales. We also show that increasing... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Design; Logistics; Product; Quality; Sales; Retail Industry

30–31 May 2018
HBS Alumni Events

2018 Alumni Volunteer Leadership Conference

Volunteers are the critical link between the School and the global alumni community. The annual Alumni Volunteer Leadership Conference is designed to immerse top volunteers in the latest HBS thinking and connect volunteers with influential decision-makers and leaders... View Details

Program

Owner/President Management

enduring network with OPM peers worldwide Who Should Attend OPM is designed for business owners and founders who meet the following criteria: You (or your family) hold a significant equity stake in the firm You have an active operating... View Details

14 Feb 2008
News

Harvard Business School Sets Out Centennial Activities

12 Jan 2017
Video

20170112_visawebinar

October 2019
Case

Leading Bank Leumi into the Future

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Allison M. Ciechanover, Nicole Keller and Danielle Golan

An unlikely but highly effective leader of a traditional bank, Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, simultaneously leads a classic change effort and an unconventional effort to innovate. She focuses her initial energy on making the bank more efficient in the face of industry... View Details

Anita Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Professor Elberse develops and teaches an MBA course covering the "Businesses of Entertainment, Media, and Sports," which ranks among the most sought-after... View Details

Keywords: advertising; arts; broadcasting; communications; consumer products; e-commerce industry; electronics; entertainment; fashion; home video games; information; marketing industry; motion pictures; music; publishing industry; sports; telecommunications; video games

June 2001
Case

Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (J): The Next Generation Nintendo

Nintendo must make some important decisions related to the launch and design of the successor to its 16-bit Super NES console. A rewritten version of an earlier case. This is part of a case series examining the competitive dynamics in the home video game industry from... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Product Design; Product Launch; Video Game Industry

July 2010
Technical Note

Note on the Insurance Industry

By: Clayton S. Rose and Scott Waggoner

This note provides an overview of the structure and function of the Insurance industry, with a primary focus on the U.S. It was designed to support the HBS MBA course "Managing the Financial Firm." View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Business or Company Management; Industry Structures; Insurance Industry; United States

April 2012
Case

Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged)

By: Sunil Gupta and Michael Norris

In January 2010, Bank of America is discussing its future mobile strategy. Should the company add complexity to its app, design multiple apps for business segments, or expand into other mobile channels? View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

February 2010
Supplement

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Breakeven Analysis (CW)

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

This Excel worksheet contains sample problems, prebuilt Excel models to run breakeven analyses, and charts and graphs which help visualize the results. It is designed to accompany "Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Breakeven Analysis." View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Marketing; Decisions; Planning; Marketing Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

November 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Mayers Tap, Inc. (A)

Mayers Tap, Inc. has a poorly designed cost accounting system and is in the process of redesigning it. This case provides background details for the rest of the Mayers Tap, Inc. series. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems