Publications

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01 Mar 2004
Lessons from the Classroom

Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science

well the initiative was working. Developing a small spacecraft typically takes over four years, meaning the outcomes from each FBC "experiment" were not observed until years after each had begun. Yet NASA didn't wait to see how... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

in which the countries are different. These dimensions pervade all aspects of societal existence, whether that means raising capital to start a new business, the nature of markets, copyrights, the media, movies, and religion, as well as... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

19 Mar 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

8 Ways To Be An Environmentally Conscious Manager

iPhoto In an interview about his recent book Profits and Sustainability, which portrays the iconoclastic entrepreneurs who built green startups in the 19th century, Harvard Business School historian Geoffrey Jones notes that being a business-environmentalist can be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy

August 1994
Background Note

Note on Entering Foreign Markets: Opportunities for Smaller U.S. Companies

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

Designed specifically for the smaller U.S.-based company; provides a brief overview of the various means by which such companies can enter foreign markets and the sources of information and assistance, principally on exporting, available to them. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Information; Management; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution; United States

11 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Paradoxical Quest to Make Food Look 'Natural' With Artificial Dyes

Historians.) Hisano’s paper looks at how industry players and regulators collectively decided what any given food is supposed to look like—and redefined the marketing meaning of “natural.” The quest for summery butter and orange oranges... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

02 Dec 2015
What Do You Think?

What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?

Are Investors the Ultimate Antidote to Gender Inequality in Leadership? Once respondents came to terms with my use of “gender equality” in the title of this month’s column they described several ways in which it might be achieved in our discussion of gender inequality... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Lessons from a Nasty Trade Dispute

can win. This means hiring the proper consultants and legal advisors, particularly those who are well versed in the workings of the WTO. The last piece of advice is not really an action plan, rather an issue to recognize and keep in one's... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

24 Aug 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan; Air Transportation

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Asia and Foreign Direct Investment

Singapore and Malaysia. Capital in Taiwan and Hong Kong went to the most efficient firms, including small, start-up entrepreneurial firms, and was not based on the political or ethnic status of such firms, he said. Extremely attractive compensation packages in the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Sorting Out the Patent Craze

association of memory and computer companies to establish such standards for semiconductor devices. Because interchangeability is so important, most memory products are made to be consistent with the relevant standard. This means that any... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology

January–February 2023
Article

Rethink Your Employee Value Proposition: Offer Your People More Than Just Flexibility

By: Mark Mortensen and Amy C. Edmondson

A lot of leaders believe that the formula for attracting and keeping talent is simple: Just ask people what they want and give it to them. The problem is, that approach tends to address only the material aspects of jobs that are top of employees’ minds at the moment,... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Recruitment; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Satisfaction

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06 Sep 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Should US Companies Still Care About the Paris Climate Change Agreement?

Keywords: Re: Vincent Pons; Manufacturing; Mining

November 1991 (Revised April 2002)
Background Note

Note on Foreign Currency Swaps

By: W. Carl Kester

Provides descriptive background about the development of an international market for currency swaps and, by means of a detailed example, instructs readers in the determination of swap flows and all-in costs of financing using market swap rates. A rewritten version of... View Details

Keywords: Currency

June 1991 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Becton Dickinson (D): Strategic Human Resource Management Profiling

By: Michael Beer

Describes a strategic human resource management process applied at the business unit and corporate level. The purpose of the process is to provide a means for aligning human resource management policies and practices with strategy and to hold managers accountable for... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Strategic Planning; Corporate Strategy; Health Industry

May 2003
Background Note

How to Induce Retailers to Reduce Stockouts?

By: V.G. Narayanan

Describes how the lack of incentive alignment between retailers and their vendors can lead to stockouts. Also describes various means to reduce incentive misalignment and hence stockouts. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution; Alignment; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Retail Industry

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries

Vietnamese manicurists, Korean dry cleaners, Haitian cab drivers, Gujarati motel owners. Anyone who lives in an American city can see how immigrants tend to cluster in industries along ethnic lines. Is this because they are forced to by circumstance or because they... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Transportation; Beauty & Cosmetics; Retail

April 1995
Case

Phelps Dodge Corporation

By: W. Carl Kester and Kendall Backstrand

A prolonged decline in copper prices prompts Phelps Dodge, one of the world's largest independent copper companies, to consider corporate diversification as a means of protecting itself from copper price volatility. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Price; Volatility; Risk Management; Mining Industry; Arizona; United States

February 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Michael Brown: Negotiating Slots at Foxwoods (B)

By: James K. Sebenius

The approach taken by Michael Brown and Governor Lowell Weicker and the means by which the agreement's sustainability was enhanced in the face of attacks by other gaming operators are detailed. View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Agreements and Arrangements; Government and Politics; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Connecticut