Publications

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Functional Centralization and the Division of Labor in Management

By: Julie Wulf, Maria Guadalupe and Hongyi Li

This paper shows that the trend towards flatter hierarchies in large US firms since the mid-80's has been accompanied by increased centralization of activities at the top of the organization. In particular, the number of functional managers (e.g., Chief Financial... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; United States

June 15, 2021
Article

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

President Joe Biden’s promise to give every American access to affordable health insurance is well-intentioned, but his plan’s policy elements—a public option, a permanent expanded tax credit—require congressional approval and would expend significant political and... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Insurance Marketplaces; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Financing; Health Care Industry; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Service Delivery; Cost Management; Health Industry; United States

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April 1996 (Revised May 2008)
Exercise

Adam Baxter Company/Local 190: 1983 Negotiation, Baxter Management Confidential Information

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Victoria Medvec

Includes a series of three negotiation exercises portraying management/labor relations at ABC over a period of seven years. ABC, initially a family-owned business, had prided itself on its cooperative relationship with its union, Local 190. With the skyrocketing... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Working Conditions; Management; Negotiation Process; Labor and Management Relations

14 Oct 2021
In Practice

Reunited and It Feels (Not) So Good: Tips for Managing a Rocky Return

masks. We recently asked Harvard Business School professors whose research and expertise traverse topics related to remote work what advice they would offer managers and executives actively seeking to navigate these points of friction.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

02 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Managing the Open Source vs. Proprietary Decision

Editor's note: In their new book, The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development, HBS professor Josh Lerner and London School of Economics professor Mark Schankerman look at the impact of open source software on economic development, as well as the resulting... View Details

Keywords: by Josh Lerner & Mark Schankerman; Technology

Winter 2014
Article

Retail Inventory: Managing the Canary in the Coal Mine!

By: Vishal Gaur, Saravanan Kesavan and Ananth Raman

Retail inventory is a statistic that is closely watched by retailers as well as their investors, lenders, and suppliers. Retailers not only benefit from inventory, but also bear the cost of excess inventory. Investors, lenders, and suppliers interpret this statistic... View Details

Keywords: Financial Condition; Retail Industry

17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Business Case for Diabetes Disease Management

analyze the complexities of disease management and check all avenues for potential business opportunities. The participants, almost all of them health professionals, sorted through the risks and benefits of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

April 1996 (Revised May 2008)
Exercise

Adam Baxter Company/Local 190: 1978 Negotiation, Baxter Management Confidential Information

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Victoria Medvec

Includes a series of three negotiation exercises portraying management/labor relations at ABC over a period of seven years. ABC, initially a family-owned business, had prided itself on its cooperative relationship with its union, Local 190. With the skyrocketing... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Working Conditions; Management; Negotiation Process; Labor and Management Relations

June 2000
Case

Egon Zehnder International: Managing Professionals in an Executive Search Firm

Compares the management of professionals at Egon Zehnder International, a leading executive search firm, and its competitors. Highlights recruitment, rewards, and retention as key dimensions of strategy in professional service firms. View Details

Keywords: Management; Retention; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry

Educators

13 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The Unlikely Upside of Mergers: More Diverse Management Teams

Employees often feel stressed when their firms are bought by other companies, fearing they could face layoffs, demotions, or lousy working conditions. While it’s true that organizations tend to restructure their workforce following mergers and acquisitions, these... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

23 Feb 2015
Working Paper Summaries

The Challenges and Enhancing Opportunities of Global Project Management: Evidence from Chinese and Dutch Cross-Cultural Project Management

Keywords: by Ying Zhang, Christopher Marquis, Sergey Filippov, Henk-Jan Haasnoot & Martijn van der Steen

1989
Chapter

Stakeholder Welfare, Managerial Ethics, and Management Buyouts

By: L. S. Paine and Robert F. Bruner

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Ethics; Conflict of Interests; Business and Stakeholder Relations

1991
Article

How Management Bonus Plans Affect Reported Earnings

By: Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Management; Compensation and Benefits; Business Earnings

March 2017
Article

Land Institutions and Chinese Political Economy: Institutional Complementarities and Macroeconomic Management

By: Meg Rithmire

This article critically examines the origins and evolution of China’s unique land institutions and situates land policy in the larger context of China’s reforms and pursuit of economic growth. It argues that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has strengthened the... View Details

Keywords: China; Economic Reform; Land Politics; Macromanagement; Government and Politics; Macroeconomics; China

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June 17, 2016
Comment

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

By: John A. Quelch

Recent events in Orlando underscore an important marketing truth: consumer safety and security are mission critical. A popular nightclub, Pulse, known as a safe place for the LGBT community, is put out of business at least temporarily by a terrorist act. Not far away... View Details

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July 2005 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A)

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

The CEO of EFL (India), a direct sales organization, must decide which changes to the sales compensation systems would better motivate his sales reps and improve their sales performance. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Management; Performance Improvement; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; India

Educators

March–April 2021
Article

Network-biased Technical Change: How Information Management Tools Overcome Some Biases but Exacerbate Others.

By: Gerald C. Kane and Lynn Wu

Organizations have long sought to improve employee performance by managing knowledge more effectively. In this paper, we test whether the adoption of digital tools for expertise search and access within an organization, often referred to as a support to an... View Details

Keywords: Digital Tools; Social Media; Social Networks; Transactive Memory Systems; Augmented Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Technology Adoption; Knowledge Management; Performance Improvement; Power and Influence; Organizational Change and Adaptation