Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,596)
- Faculty Publications (264)
- November 2013
- Article
The Performance of Corporate Alliances: Evidence from Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
By: John Beshears
I use data on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to measure how a corporate alliance—a group of firms that jointly develops an offshore tract—performs relative to a solo firm. I employ a regression discontinuity strategy based on bids in first-price sealed-bid... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
Firm Competitiveness and Detection of Bribery
By: George Serafeim
Using survey data from firms around the world I analyze how detection of bribery has impacted a firm's competitiveness over the past year. Managers report that the most significant impact was on employee morale, followed by business relations, and then reputation and... View Details
- July 2013 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation
By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien
Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation has a horizontal firm structure in an industry that is predominantly organized vertically. While it has been successful in up markets, in the current down market its strategic rationale was being tested. As a capital-intensive... View Details
- July 2013
- Case
Novozymes: Establishing the Cellulosic Ethanol Value Chain
By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai
As the world's largest producer of industrial enzymes, Novozymes had invested heavily for many years to bio-engineer enzymes that could break down cellulose into fermentable sugar. In 2010, the company had launched what it thought would become a breakthrough product... View Details
Keywords: System Complexity; Industrial Enzymes; Ethanol; Collulosic Ethanol; Fermentation; Genomics; Genetic Engineering; Value Chain; Assembling Value Chain; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Growth; Production; Research; Research and Development; Science; Genetics; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Energy Industry; Denmark; United States
- 2013
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus
We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise... View Details
- June 2013 (Revised June 2013)
- Teaching Note
Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth & Currency Wars
By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White
Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details
Keywords: Exchange Rate; Inflation; Inflation Targeting; Industrialization; Infrastructure; Currency; Capital Controls; Stimulus; Commodity Prices; Manufacturing Costs; Globalization; Productivity Growth; Economics; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Public Sector; Brazil; South America; Latin America
- April 2013 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
National Instruments
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Keri Pearlson and Natalie Kindred
This case explores the use of social media to support product design, customer support, marketing and HR activities at National Instruments (NI). Based in Austin, Texas, with over $1 billion in 2011 sales, NI designs, produces, and sells software and hardware platforms... View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment
By: Shawn Cole, Xavier Gine and James Vickery
Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that... View Details
- February 2013
- Case
18 Months in a Startup: Zaggora.com
By: Tom Nicholas
The founders of Zaggora reflected back on a tumultuous year-and-a-half in which they had generated, from just $40,000 in personal savings, a multi-million dollar sportswear enterprise selling Hotpants to women. These were hotpants not of the 1960s hipster variety, but... View Details
- January 2013 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
EverTrue: Mobile Technology Development (A)
By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell
Brent Grinna is evaluating different options for the technology development of his start-up's iPhone app, including hiring local programmers, finding a CTO, or outsourcing. He only has a little over two months before he presents his alumni networking app to Brown... View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
Managing Firms in an Emerging Economy: Evidence from the Time Use of Indian CEOs
By: Raffaella Sadun
The success or failure of a company is often ascribed to the behavior of its CEO. Yet little is known about what top managers actually do, whether this matters for firm performance, and why it differs across firms. We provide some answers by developing a new survey... View Details
- November 2012
- Article
Does Management Really Work?
By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen
HBR's 90th anniversary is a sensible time to revisit a basic question: Are organizations more likely to succeed if they adopt good management practices? The answer may seem obvious to most HBR readers, but these three economists cast their net much wider than that. In... View Details
- October 2012 (Revised April 2017)
- Case
Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth
By: Laura Alfaro, Hilary White and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason
Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details
- October 2012
- Case
Hill Country Snack Foods Co.
By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson
Hill Country Snack Foods, located in Austin, Texas, manufactures, markets, and distributes snack foods and frozen treats. The CEO is passionate about maximizing shareholder value and believes in keeping tight control over costs and operating the business as efficiently... View Details
- August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
EnerNOC: DemandSMART
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess... View Details
Keywords: Production Planning; Productivity; Environmental Protection; Energy; Environment; Business Government Relations; Laws And Regulation; Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Production; Energy Conservation; Energy Industry
- Article
Regulation and UK Retailing Productivity: Evidence from Microdata
By: Jonathan Haskel and Raffaella Sadun
We explore the effects of planning regulation on the UK retail sector between 1997 and 2003 using micro-data from the UK census. We document a shift to smaller shops following a 1996 regulatory change that increased the costs of opening large stores. Our analysis... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
The Determinants of National Competitiveness
By: Mercedes Delgado, Christian Ketels, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern
We define foundational competitiveness as the expected level of output per working-age individual that is supported by the overall quality of a country as a place to do business. The focus on output per potential worker, a broader measure of national productivity than... View Details
- June 2012
- Article
The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control
Using data from embedded participant-observers and a field experiment at the second largest mobile phone factory in the world, located in China, I theorize and test the implications of transparent organizational design on workers' productivity and organizational... View Details
Keywords: Transparency; Privacy; Organizational Learning; Operational Control; Organizational Performance; Chinese Manufacturing; Field Experiment; Rights; Interpersonal Communication; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Corporate Disclosure; Performance Productivity; Boundaries; Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Labor and Management Relations; Power and Influence; Manufacturing Industry; China
- April 2012
- Case
Bayonne Packaging, Inc.
By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison
A printer and paper converter produces customized packaging used by industrial customers to deliver promotional materials, software, luxury beverages, and gift food and candy. The company specializes in creating innovative packaging solutions for its customers and... View Details
- March 2012 (Revised February 2013)
- Background Note
The Hybrid Vehicle Market
By: Michael W. Toffel and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon
This note describes the hybrid electic vehicle market, the results of different automaker strategies, and the environmental regulatory issues that can promote or inhibit market growth in the United States. Introduces students to the technologies and regulatory aspects... View Details