Publications

Educators

2013
Chapter

Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis Yao

This chapter reviews the main theories in strategic management that seek to explain persistent differences in profitability across companies. We argue that these differences are ultimately explained by market imperfections. Studying differences in financial performance... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Market Imperfections; Five Forces Framework; Competitive Advantage; Profit

2008
Working Paper

Fixing Market Failures or Fixing Elections? Agricultural Credit in India

By: Shawn A. Cole

This paper integrates theories of political budget cycles with theories of tactical electoral redistribution to test for political capture in a novel way. Studying banks in India, I find that government-owned bank lending tracks the electoral cycle, with agricultural... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Political Elections; State Ownership; Banking Industry; India

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July 1991
Case

Managing the U.S. Dollar in the 1980s

By: W. Carl Kester and Richard P. Melnick

Provides numerical data and alternative explanations concerning the U.S. dollar's rise and subsequent fall in value from 1981 through 1987. Students are challenged to study the evidence and make their own inferences concerning the dollar's movements and the degree of... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Theory; United States

10 Jun 2015
Video

Forum for Growth & Innovation - Join Us

September 2011
Article

The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value

By: Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton

A ubiquitous feature of even the fastest self-service technology transactions is the wait. Conventional wisdom and operations theory suggests that the longer people wait, the less satisfied they become; we demonstrate that due to what we term the labor illusion, when... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Perception; Valuation; Service Delivery; Consumer Behavior; Performance Effectiveness; Customer Satisfaction; Service Industry

July 2005
Exercise

Insider Trading Quiz

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Designed to test understanding of basic theories of insider trading under U.S. law. Presents six scenarios based on actual situations in which insider trading was alleged to have violated U.S. law, as well as a seventh scenario that took place in Italy, permitting... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Stock Shares; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Law; Theory; Europe; Italy; United States

14 Aug 1996
Keynote Speech

Business Ethics: From Principles to Practice - Closing the Ethics Gap." Seminar leader. "Executive Seminar sponsored by Universidad de San Andres, Department of Management

By: Lynn S. Paine

Keywords: Theory; Practice; Ethics

11 Apr 2016
Video

HBS Immersive Field Courses (IFCs)

9 AM – 9 AM EDT, 11 Apr 2018
HBS Online

HBX Disruptive Strategy

Disruptive Strategy, created by architect of disruption theory Clayton Christensen, enables you to strengthen your capacity to make innovation a reality and unlock your potential to create winning strategies. Target audience: HBS alumni and experienced colleagues;... View Details

November 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Note on Insider Trading Liability

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Provides a general description and overview of U.S. law on insider trading, including the basic theories of liability, the responsibilities of securities firm managers to prevent and detect insider trading, and the potential penalties for insider trading. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Insider Trading; Legal Liability; Ethics; Crime and Corruption; Finance

Educators

2010
Article

We Cannot Go On: Disruptive Innovation and the First World War Royal Navy

By: Gautam Mukunda

Insights from Disruptive Innovation theory (DI) are often used in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of national security policy. DI explains why successful companies are sometimes defeated by new competitors with relatively unsophisticated products.... View Details

Keywords: Technology; History; National Security; Framework; Adaptation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Machinery and Machining; Disruptive Innovation; Theory; Developing Countries and Economies; Technology Industry

November 2018
Article

Disruptive Innovation: An Intellectual History and Directions for Future Research

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Rory McDonald, Elizabeth J. Altman and Jonathan E. Palmer

The concept of disruptive innovation has gained considerable currency among practitioners despite widespread misunderstanding of its core principles. Similarly, foundational research on disruption has elicited frequent citation and vibrant debate in academic circles,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Metrics; Systemic Industries; Technology Trajectories; Disruptive Innovation; Theory; History; Competitive Strategy; Research

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April 2000
Background Note

Aligning Incentives for Supply Chain Efficiency

By: V.G. Narayanan and Ananth Raman

Introduces students to the basics of principal-agency theory as it applies to supply chains. Operational problems in supply chains can often be traced to incentive issues. Students and managers lack frameworks to analyze incentive problems in supply chains. This note... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Motivation and Incentives; Framework; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Agency Theory

Educators