Publications

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

collection of innovative research and management insights that build upon the foundations of the first book but takes the study of brand relationships outside of traditional realms by applying new theoretical frameworks and considering... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2016 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group

By: William C. Kirby and Nancy Hua Dai

This case describes the megafarm model launched by the CP group as part of their efforts to ensure the safety and quality of their supply chain of agricultural products (particularly, eggs) in China while also promoting the welfare of Chinese farmers. This model was... View Details

Keywords: China; Poultry; Public-private Partnership; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Family Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

January 2017 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Royal DSM: From Continuous Transformation to Organic Growth

By: William W. George, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Amram Migdal

Royal DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma was pondering the challenges of shifting DSM’s global organization from the constant transformations of the past 100 years to creating organic growth. When Sijbesma took the helm as CEO in 2007, he further pushed and completed the company’s... View Details

Keywords: Organic Growth; Organizational Change; M＆A; Mergers And Acquisitions; Divestment; Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Restructuring; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Engineering; Chemicals; Mining; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Food; Globalization; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Health; Nutrition; History; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Ownership; Public Ownership; Performance; Strategy; Adaptation; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Value; Value Creation; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Europe; Netherlands

January 2020
Case

Lunchclub: Algorithmic Networking

By: Scott Duke Kominers and George Gonzalez

Algorithmic networking startup Lunchclub coordinates in-person meetings between professionals who would have been unlikely to meet. The company faces marketplace design, growth, and monetization challenges: The executive team has to refine Lunchclub's marketplace... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Networking; Business Startups; Marketplace Matching; Market Design; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Industry

2014
Working Paper

Entrepreneurship as Experimentation

By: William R. Kerr, Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Entrepreneurship research is on the rise but many questions about its fundamental nature still exist. We argue that entrepreneurship is about experimentation: the probabilities of success are low, extremely skewed and unknowable until an investment is made. At a macro... View Details

Keywords: Experiments; Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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01 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 1

and Entrepreneurship in Historical Perspective Authors:Elisabeth Koll Publication:In The People's Republic of China at 60—An International Assessment, edited by William C. Kirby. Cambridge: Harvard... View Details

January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Horizon Group

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Plan; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

Web

Harvard Business School

Broadcast executive and businessman W. Don Cornwell was hired by Goldman Sachs in 1971 and later promoted to chief operating officer of the investment banking division's corporate finance department. In 1988, Cornwell left the securities... View Details

26 Oct 2018
News

High-skilled immigration and the growing concentration of US innovation

23 May 2018
News

Claudio L. Haddad, OPM 12, 1987

compassionate, and kind is apparent in his deep friendships as well as in the roles that he cherishes most (especially now that he’s passed the baton to a successor at Insper): husband, father, and grandfather. His wife of 47 years, Rosalie, is a scholar of View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

May–June 2025
Article

Centralization and Organization Reproduction: Ethnic Innovation in R&D Centers and Satellite Locations

By: William R. Kerr

We study the relationship between firm centralization and organizational reproduction in satellite locations. For decentralized firms, the ethnic compositions of inventors in satellite locations mostly resemble their host cities, with little link to the inventor... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Reproduction; Centralization; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Design; Ethnicity

24 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Developing Your Next CEO for the Family Business

A good book on CEO succession is The CEO Within by my Harvard Business School colleague Joe Bower. Bower studied how companies perform after hiring a new CEO, noting whether the successor had been recruited from inside or outside the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Andi Wang; Retail; Auto

July 2010
Article

The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention

By: William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln

This study evaluates the impact of high-skilled immigrants on U.S. technology formation. We use reduced-form specifications that exploit large changes in the H-1B visa program. Higher H-1B admissions increase immigrant science and engineering (SE) employment and... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Immigration; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Business and Government Relations; Science; United States

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

be a race that could be won by the cautious. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/812133-PDF-ENG Ultimate Fighting Championship: License to Operate (B) George Serafeim and Kyle... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

November 1990 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Circuit City Stores, Inc. (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Circuit City sells consumer electronic equipment, appliances, and extended service and warranty contracts which supplement those provided by equipment manufacturers. Equipment is sold at low margins, while warranties carry very high margins. A question has been raised... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Cost; Profit; Financial Statements; Revenue; Marketing Strategy; Electronics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

Back, Moving Forward: A Review of Group and Team-Based Research, edited by Margaret A. Neale and Elizabeth A. Mannix, 359-381. Emerald Group Publishing, 2012 Abstract Purpose-We review how team members' identities and interests affect... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

John H. McArthur | About

John H. McArthur 1934—2019 John H. McArthur, a member of the Harvard Business School community for more than six decades—as student (MBA 1959 and DBA 1963), as faculty member (beginning in 1962), as Dean (from 1980 to 1995), and as Dean and View Details

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

Working PapersUser, and Open Collaborative Innovation: Ascendent Economic Models Authors:Carliss Y. Baldwin and Eric von Hippel Abstract In this paper we assess the economic viability of innovation by producers relative to two... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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

Keywords: Competitiveness; Corruption; Bribery; Employee Engagement; Reputation; Regulation; Competition; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Performance