Publications

2013
Working Paper

The Appeal of the Appropriate: Accounting, Risk Management, and the Competition for the Supply of Control Systems

By: Anette Mikes

How do certain risk measurements in organizations come to be seen as more reliable and acceptable than others? Taking a multiple-control perspective, I investigate the aftermath of a control debacle at a financial services company (MultiBank), focusing on its insurance... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Multiple Control Systems; Interactive Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Risk Measurement; Financialization Of Accounting; Institutional Logics; Banking; Risk Management; Fair Value Accounting; Insurance; Financial Services Industry

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November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Aman Resorts

By: Eugene Soltes and Aldo Sesia

This case describes the operating model and philosophy of this high-end set of global properties. Aman relies on employees taking considerable initiative to deliver the highest quality personalized service in the hospitality industry. The case also highlights Aman's... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Service Delivery; Business Strategy; Accommodations Industry

01 Dec 2022
News

Educating, Connecting, and Mobilizing Around Climate Change

Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration George Serafeim’s research increasingly focuses on the intersection between sustainability and digital transformation. Over the years his research has... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

01 Mar 2014
News

Faculty and Alumni Books for March 2014

Press) The authors outline a method to discover and revitalize the exceptional business that exists inside an organization. The method relies on the well-established 80/20 rule to direct focus and attention;... View Details

Video

Funke Opeke

Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of MainOne, outlines her visions for broadened services and impact following MainOne's acquisition in 2022 by Equinix, a US-based digital infrastructure company. View Details

30 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Where Could More Regulation Help Small Businesses? Online Lending.

With Donald Trump’s election, Washington’s policy debate on financial services shifted overnight. Recent signs such as the president-elect’s own words and those of GOP leaders point to renewed efforts to... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills and Brayden McCarthy; Financial Services

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

telegraph varied commodity by commodity and the bulk of communications continued by sea post until the early twentieth century. London had a unique role as the international service centre for the emergent... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

May 1987 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc.: Planning and Control System

By: Robert L. Simons

Detailed description of the planning and control systems in use at Johnson & Johnson. Focuses on the actions of managers in one subsidiary in revising budget targets. Illustrates intensive strategic planning and financial planning process in a large, decentralized... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Planning; Forecasting and Prediction; Accounting Audits; Budgets and Budgeting; Business Strategy; Financial Management; Business or Company Management; Management Systems; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

in a country caught in the midst of rapid economic transformation. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/411067-PDF-ENG The NFL's Digital Media Strategy Anita Elberse, Kelsey Calhoun,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

tremendous way for developers to learn quickly, and for both developers and technology companies to reap real benefits.” About the author Michael Blanding is a writer based in Boston. [Image: gorodenkoff]... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

2011
Working Paper

Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects

By: Andrei Hagiu

This paper provides a simple model of platforms with direct network effects, in which users value not just the quantity (i.e., number) of other users who join, but also their average quality in some dimension. A monopoly platform is more likely to exclude low-quality... View Details

Keywords: Multi-sided Platforms; Exclusion; Quality And Quantity; Cost; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Network Effects; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Monopoly; Quality; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy

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Antonio (Toni) Moreno is the Sicupira Family Associate Professor in the Technology and Operations Management Unit. He teaches courses related to technology and operations management in the MBA, executive, and doctoral programs. Before joining HBS, he was an... View Details

Keywords: retailing; internet; e-commerce industry

10 Mar 2021
News

New Releases: Alumni and Faculty Books, Podcasts

the bigger the vision, the greater number of things that can go wrong. Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise, Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Bulb 2017: Launch

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On August 21, 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb Ltd. (Bulb) launched a new business to supply energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million residential homes with a promise of 100% renewable electricity at affordable prices. By the end of March 2017,... View Details

Web

What Google, Lego, and Other Brands Know About the Promise and Peril of AI | Working Knowledge

challenges you are tackling today. More about Working Knowledge Strategy and Innovation More like this Social Responsibility More like this Data and Technology More like this View Details

November–December 2014
Article

Accountable? The Problems and Solutions of Online Ad Optimization

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertising might seem to be the most measurable form of marketing ever invented. Comprehensive records can track who clicked what ad—and often who saw what ad—to compare those clicks with users' subsequent purchases. Ever-cheaper IT makes this tracking... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Fraud; Optimization; Incentives; Digital Marketing; Contracts; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design

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10 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Winners and Losers in the Retail Revolution

brick and clicks are Home Depot and Pet Smart. What did Home Depot do right? Rajiv Lal: Home Depot thought about the challenges facing their business very strategically. They've gone category by category... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

October 2018
Case

American Family Insurance and the Artificial Intelligence Opportunity

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson