Administrative and Support Services - Publications - Faculty & Research

02 Oct 2019
What Do You Think?

What Grade Would You Give Walmart CEO Doug McMillon?

about the new guidelines for corporate responsibility. “Companies must always consider their shareholders,” he wrote. “Doing ‘politically correct’ things may or may not improve shareholder value. ‘Politically correct’ is a fine line and a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

26 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

What Can the World’s Largest Refugee Camp Teach Us About the Meaning of Work?

place to study the misery of joblessness and the value of work, but not to Reshmaan N. Hussam, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. After reading about the atrocities,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

06 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Unexpected Exercise Advice for the Super Busy: Ditch the Rigid Routine

“People think, ‘It would be wonderful if every morning I went for a run at 7 a.m. and then was showered and ready to work at 8 a.m.,’” says John Beshears, the Terrie F. and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

08 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Computer Science Principles Every Strategic Leader Needs to Know

than others. “Every company today needs to think of themselves as a tech company,” says Andy Wu, the Arjun and Minoo Melwani Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

administrations can be a hindrance to positive change. “There are huge design opportunities in Africa,” said John Fernandez, an architecture professor at MIT and the director of the MIT Urban Metabolism... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

Leadership Initiative was organized to be a catalyst for research on leaders and leadership, and to design effective leadership development programs that are relevant for the 21st century. The goal of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

06 Sep 2017
What Do You Think?

Summing Up: What Are the Limits of CEO Activism?

nuanced. This reflected what DDB identified as “a huge new challenge for CEO’s” and a complicated one, according to Rob Jones. But only three respondents addressed the question of limits on the practice. More about that below. Ernie View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Jan 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Not Open America's Doors to All the World’s Talent?

one country, India. Chinese citizens are the next most frequent recipients. The largest recent recipients of the visas have often been American subsidiaries of Infosys and Wipro, Indian-based companies that provide outsourced View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

specific customer groups either are overserved or are unsatisfied nonconsumers. Overserved customers consume a product or service but don't need all its features or functionality. Three specific indicators point to this customer group:... View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

12 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

The Marketing of a President

likely voters. He built a coalition that energized young, first-time voters and registered thousands of previous non-voters. His organization encouraged early voting by Democrats to build well-publicized poll leads View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

04 Mar 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Lessons from Running GM’s OnStar

OnStar as president and CEO for 14 years. A major subsidiary of General Motors, OnStar provides in-vehicle security, navigation, remote diagnostic, and emergency services to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

08 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

different players in the smart grid market, she told them there are basically two ways companies can make money: by offering a product or service that is unique or by having tightly held complementary assets, capabilities that View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Energy; Utilities

28 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 28, 2008

environmental ratings and environmental performance of more than 650 firms in the United States. We find empirical evidence that supports our hypotheses and present... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Nov 2024
Research & Ideas

AI Can Help Leaders Communicate, But Can't Make Employees Listen

to replicate the unique characteristics of a specific person’s writing style, says Prithwiraj Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. “We trained an algorithm to write using... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Information Technology; Technology

06 Mar 2006
What Do You Think?

The China Dilemma for U.S. Firms: Comply, Resist, or Leave?

not see any threat or moral hazard when the service provider makes clear to its customer the potential threat of use or sharing of the information by the intelligence or other authorities. Forewarned is forearmed. . . . As in Buddhist... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Manager or Mentor? Why You Must Be Both

HBS professor David A. Thomas hates the word "mentor." In his opinion, it's as empty a buzzword as "coach." In fact, when Thomas spoke to an audience of around 100 administrative managers at Harvard University... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Role of Government When All Else Fails

extremely broadly (even, in some cases, onto generations that have yet to be born) and to overcome a broad range of failures in the private marketplace. This is why, in my view, government truly is the ultimate risk manager. Even with a... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

15 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary

services online. But in the end, the findings show that the decisions about where to place advertising dollars are anything but simple. A scientific assessment of exactly how changes in budget allocations affect the eventual purchase... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

05 Jun 2013
What Do You Think?

Do We Need to Extend ‘No Surprises Management?’

In it, I compared data collected from the offices of a large marketing services firm to which I had been given unusual access. Here are some data from employee engagement studies, human resource reports, and... View Details