by Peter Jacobs - Publications - Faculty & Research

30 Jun 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

The Role of Emotions in Effective Negotiations

electrician Peter, what Kate doesn't realize is that while she is annoyed at her lack of phone and Internet access brought by the power outage, Peter has been working 18-hour days since the storm, and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports

02 Oct 2008
What Do You Think?

Workout vs. Bailout: Should Government Take Advantage of the Buffett Effect?

Summing Up The depth of the global financial crisis is becoming clearer day by day. In the United States, it is being used as a reason to set aside ideology regarding government ownership of important financial institutions, possibly... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

02 Sep 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Overlooked Forces Shielding the US from Severe Economic Downturns?

[us] from economic downturns, and these forces are the new economy.” Jacob Navon’s comment was more cautious. “I am willing to believe that technology plus the shift to services combined with a very benevolent Fed through the period may... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

01 Apr 2019
What Do You Think?

Does Our Bias Against Federal Deficits Need Rethinking?

accompanied by lower inflation and interest rates—that justify deficit spending to produce both economic growth and social programs designed to improve our quality of life and reduce social inequality” (JohnfrmClevelnd). Or, it prompts... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Jul 2020
News

Balancing Oxford’s Business School: More Women, More Africans

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

Over the past two decades, entire industries have been disrupted by Internet competitors who "unbundled" their content and delivered it to consumers in new ways. Newspapers lost out to Google and Craigslist, record companies to iTunes and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Research Summary

Intangible Resources

Getting Known by the Company you Keep: Publicizing the Qualifications and Associations of Skilled Employees to Indicate Producer Quality (with Peter Roberts) Under second review at Industrial and Corporate Change.

In a second paper with Peter Roberts (Emory... View Details

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

profits? If you've heard it, you've probably wondered if it was just a convenient excuse or if the manager had a valid point. The truth is, even when a raw material has no value added and quality standards are set by law or the industry,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

05 Mar 2009
What Do You Think?

How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?

Comments were replete with advice to leaders regarding honesty, candor, and an optimistic bias. Zack Allen advised, "Honesty is the best policy (but it) does not mean being a nay-sayer or a wet blanket." Peter Bowie suggested... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

2001
Case

Encyclopedia Britannica (B)

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Praveen Kopalle

In response to the threat from Encarta (Microsoft), Encyclopedia Britannica (EBI) published its text on a two-CD set that was offered free to consumers who purchased the print set and charged $995 if the consumer wanted solely to purchase the CD. By 1996, the company... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Software; Acquisition; Information Publishing

Citation

Read Now

06 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Are You a Level-Six Leader?

several options)? “Opportunists are the people who always ask, 'What's in it for me?'” Asking the question whom do you serve? is a powerful vector on which to build a useful typology of leadership. Based on this idea, I have constructed a six-level Purpose-Driven Model... View Details

Keywords: by Mitch Maidique

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

Editor's Note: Christian Ketels wrote this paper for the World Bank's Development Debate, "What Do We Mean by Export Competitiveness and How Do Countries Achieve it in an Uncertain World?" held March 29, 2010. Ketels is... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

who don’t realize there is a cost for Facebook’s “free” service. Miki Saxon recalled that “Tim Cook once said, ‘If it’s free, then you are the product.’ It seems that Americans are just waking up to that fact ” Malcolm Harper commented, “Relax it’s still a case of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Information Technology

30 Jun 2021
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2021

What’s on HBS faculty members’ reading list for summer 2021? Which books are most meaningful to them and why? Below, faculty share their top picks, ranging from biographies and memoirs to their colleagues’ latest works. Julia Austin: Social justice and the Obamas I... View Details

Keywords: by Kathryn Haviland

08 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

How Newspaper Closures Open the Door to Corporate Crime

thousands of facilities of publicly listed firms, Heese identified the towns where the local newspaper presses permanently came to a halt. Heese found that after a newspaper shuts down, violations at publicly listed companies in the paper’s circulation area increased... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

early weeks (the man does not let up!), the students come to appreciate the intensity and rapid-fire humor of their teacher. Clearly, he cares. A lot. And by the end of the semester, something transformative has happened: They are better... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Retail

05 Sep 2008
What Do You Think?

Is Case Method Instruction Due for an Overhaul?

Summing Up Is the case method gaining relevance over time? Case method instruction may not be perfect, but to paraphrase Winston Churchill's view of democracy (and Sameer Kamat's response to the column), it's better than the alternatives. At least that's the impression... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Education

11 Jun 2024
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2024

As the vacation season looms, Harvard Business School faculty members share recommendations for a little light reading. Spoiler alert: Lessons in Chemistry tops two of their beach-read lists. For those whose brains can’t—or won’t—turn off, HBS faculty also suggest some... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

June 1994 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Safeway, Inc.'s Leveraged Buyout (C): Media Response

Focuses exclusively on the controversy by presenting the media responses to the LBO and its aftermath, including full text of Faludi's interview with Safeway CEO Peter Magowan, and her subsequent Journal article. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Media; Retail Industry; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

August 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Bonne Chance

With a competitor nipping at his heels, his bank reluctantly covering his recent overdraft, Jacob Zimmerman is considering expanding his Midwestern retail jewelry business by bringing on the new Swatch watch line to augment his high end Rolex offerings. Only 14 weeks... View Details