career paths - Publications - Faculty & Research

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

years to finish college. “We want to play offense, we want to innovate, pilot, template it, build for scale, and go." —Mark Norman, Zipcar The meandering and seemingly random path that Osher took in his View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

30 Aug 2016
First Look

August 30, 2016

coupling predict IT agility—defined as the cost of making changes to software applications. The measure of coupling that best predicts agility is one that captures all direct and indirect connections between components (i.e., it captures the potential for changes to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

regions that Ekal serves. Was it time for Ekal to reevaluate their vision; was the target of 100,000 schools, which had driven their growth thus far, still the best path forward? Or was it time to declare their mission of universal access... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 7

innovation. While arguments exist for and against policy support of entrepreneurial clusters, our understanding of what works and how it works is quite limited. The best path forward involves extensive experimentation and careful... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

27 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Your Employees Don’t Want to Be Facebook ‘Friends’

colleagues and managers online, fearing that the connection could come with career risks, according to a recent study in the Academy of Management Journal. The study—OMG! My Boss Just Friended Me: How Evaluations of Colleagues’... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

03 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

08 Feb 2021
Book

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

you on the path of goodness at a level that you can sustain and enjoy for the rest of your life. BETTER, NOT PERFECT: A Realist's Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness by Max H. Bazerman. Copyright © 2020 by Max H. Bazerman. Reprinted... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

Sloan. As the case shows, Walker herself reflected on her path before an audience in 1912 at the National Negro Business League convention in Chicago: "I was promoted to the cook kitchen, and from there I promoted myself into the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

negotiation of safe paths through the complexities of official regulations and government. The easiest way to understand the Unilever organization, observed an article in the U.S. business magazine Fortune in 1947, was "to think of... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

18 Dec 2017
Op-Ed

Why Employers Must Stop Requiring College Degrees For Middle-Skill Jobs

Credit: Pixsooz American companies have a problem. Over the past decade, they have begun to demand a bachelor’s degree in hiring workers for jobs that traditionally haven’t required one. This uptick in credentialing, or “degree inflation,” rested on the belief that... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

20 Aug 2008
Op-Ed

The Time is Right for Creative Capitalism

of history, there are five powerful forces working on the system of global capitalism in this moment, propelling it along the broad path that Gates sketched out at Davos. The first is the issue of resources. Who has what to deal with the... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy Koehn

17 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Why Business Should Support Employees Who Are Caregivers

framework for balancing a career and life. The linear career paths common at law, accounting, and professional services firms rarely take into account the personal milestones... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

Elberse. "That was just three years ago, and now she is, by many measures, the biggest celebrity on the planet. Gaga is a marketing phenomenon." This fall, Elberse will teach a case on Lady Gaga's meteoric career in her popular... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

10 Sep 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Branding Yoga

Owner/President Management Program, with plenty of lessons about branding and competitive strategy. Two Paths In Branding Yoga, cowritten with HBS Global Research Group associate director Kerry Herman and research associate Annelena Lobb,... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

risk not only doing too much themselves but also losing these valuable employees, who can become frustrated that they aren't being challenged to build their skills and careers at the company. If You Had To Design Your Company Today With A... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

of contract. "And there are usually financial incentives attached: Career prospects and bonuses ride on this contract—incentives for hitting the targets amount to as much as 97 percent of a U.S. manager's annual salary. "There's... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

02 Aug 2007
What Do You Think?

How Will Millennials Manage?

productively, and as a result can often produce good work at what appears to be the last minute. They are focused on their own personal development. They want an accelerated path to success, often exaggerate the impact of their own... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

03 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Is the Future of MBA Education?

say your book offers a compass, not a roadmap: it points readers in a direction but doesn't tell them exactly which path to take. Datar: The right answer for each school depends on that school's strategy, challenges, constraints, and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

MBA student, Shapiro visited Levitt to consult about a possible career path in manufacturing. "It was the second time I went to see him," he recalls, "and Ted was visibly nervous. He said,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Retail

04 Sep 2001
Lessons from the Classroom

Getting Back on Course

"The belief that 'I have one employer or even one career path for life' has been shattered by the changes of the 80s, the downsizing, the outsourcing, the enormous focus on entrepreneurship as an... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

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