Publications

Educators

24 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

The 'Amazon Effect' Is Changing Online Price Competition—and the Fed Needs to Pay Attention

adjusting much more rapidly, those surging gas prices become more meaningful, he says. “They need to pay more attention to these types of aggregate shocks, even if they are transitory, because they can affect retail prices much faster... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Retail

09 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Read All About It: Digital CEO Buys Traditional Media!

has been considerable speculation about Bezos's personal objectives in acquiring the Post. More influence in Washington? A philanthropic interest? Or a friendship with Don Graham? No one really knows. What we do know is that it's an unlikely business marriage. Digital... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Journalism & News; Publishing

08 Feb 2016
News

CEOs Make Room For Bold And Beautiful In Harvard Business Of Entertainment, Media and Sports Course

June 2017
Article

The Social Trajectory of a Finance Professor and the Common Sense of Capital

By: Marion Fourcade and Rakesh Khurana

This paper traces the career of Michael Jensen, a Chicago finance PhD turned Harvard Business School professor to reveal the intellectual and social conditions that enabled the emergence and institutionalization of what we call the “neoliberal common sense of capital,”... View Details

Keywords: Executive Pay; The Firm; Michael Jensen; Neo-Liberalism; Shareholder Value; Agency Theory; Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Transformation

June 2010
Article

The China Rules: A Practical Guide for CEOs Managing Multinational Corporations in the People's Republic

By: Lynn S. Paine

To achieve growth and profitability in the world's third-largest economy, multinationals need strong leadership--but China is tough on top executives. Pulsating with opportunity, China attracts foreigners, yet HR professionals continue to rank it as one of the most... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; Leadership; Management Skills; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; China

June 2011
Supplement

Q and A Sessions with Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises

This tape includes the highlights of question and answer sessions with Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises, one of the largest mobile phone companies in India. The video focuses on the challenges and lessons learned from Bharti's... View Details

Keywords: Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Agreements and Arrangements; Innovation and Invention; Telecommunications Industry; India

February 2012
Case

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates a CEO-led organizational transformation driven by stretch goals, performance measurement, and accountability. When Kasper Rorsted became CEO of Henkel, a Germany-based producer of personal care, laundry, and adhesives products, in 2008, he was... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Performance Appraisals; Human Resource Management; Values; Organizational Transformations; Pay For Performance; Strategy Execution; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

Educators

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Transforming Kimball International, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII’s future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded,... View Details

Educators

March 2011
Article

The New M&A Playbook

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Richard Alton, Curtis Rising and Andrew Waldeck

Companies spend more than $2 trillion on acquisitions every year, yet the M&A failure rate is between 70% and 90%. Executives can dramatically increase their odds of success, the authors argue, if they understand how to select targets, how much to pay for them, and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Integration

08 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

Thinking Twice About Supply-Chain Layoffs

potential profit drivers rather than the first troops to cut in a downturn. Ton's working paper, "The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality", examines how mundane activities such as stocking shelves, setting up displays,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

to lower their prices by paying less for their tomatoes. We took a different approach and concentrated on quality." This meant going to the start of the supply chain: the tomato farmers. ("You can't put the brand on it, get the premium,... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Food & Beverage; Retail

01 Sep 2013
News

Who Are We?

office." Further evidence of Twitter mania in Japan: The country holds the world record for tweets per second—33,388—recorded on New Year's Day 2013. But it's not just Japan at the cutting edge: As the world shifts from PC to mobile, Asia... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Julia Hanna; Dan Morrell; social media,; Twitter; SodaStream; consulting; consultant; CEO; farming; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Agriculture; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Rail Transportation; Transportation

19 Sep 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Say Again? Uncommon Advice for Common Business Problems

showed, adopting radical simplicity can be the best approach to team creativity. Perhaps the best way to bolster innovation in employees is to draw a curtain around them, literally. It could well be that the best career decision you ever make is to take a View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Dec 2017
News

Innovation is key to solving America's health-care problems

Research Summary

Executive Compensation

By: Tatiana Sandino

Professor Sandino’s other stream of research examines players that influence the design of an executive’s compensation. She has examined the role shareholder activists can play in influencing CEO pay and found that a compensation-related shareholder proposal could... View Details

November 2008
Case

Malaysia Airlines (A)

In the first six weeks on the job, the new CEO of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has developed an ambitious turnaround plan, including aggressive job cuts and route eliminations, but MAS's largest shareholder, Khazanah Nacional, the sovereign wealth fund, is tasked with... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Economic Growth; Investment Funds; Sovereign Finance; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Air Transportation Industry; Malaysia