Publications

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August 2023
Article

Taking Stock of the Implementation Gap in Climate Policy

By: Taryn Fransen, Jonas Meckling, Anna Stunzi, Tobias Schmidt, Florian Egli, Nicolas Schmid and Christopher Beaton

A gap persists between the emissions reductions pledged by countries under the Paris Agreement and those resulting from their domestic policies. We argue that this gap in fact contains two parts: one in the policies that countries adopt, and the other in the outcomes... View Details

Keywords: Emission Reduction; Outcome or Result; Policy; Environmental Regulation; Equality and Inequality

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June 1999
Case

PDQ Manufacturing, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A small manufacturer of car wash facilities has been unable to develop management systems because of rapid growth. Now size dictates the need for such systems because the current personal management style is proving inadequate. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Growth Management; Manufacturing Industry

20 May 2019
News

Why Do We Let Political Parties Act Like Monopolies?

Kyle R. Myers

Kyle Myers is an assistant professor of business administration in the Technology and Operations Management unit. He teaches the first-year Technology and Operations Management course.

Professor Myers studies the economics of innovation. His research is at... View Details

Keywords: health care; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; energy; high technology

March 2015
Case

Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A) (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg and James Weber

Tracks the first six months of a recent MBA grad, Tim Keller, at Katzenbach Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational change and strategy. Covers how Keller initially struggles with his assignment and ends with a question of whether or not he... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Relations; Organization Behavior; Superior ＆ Subordinate; Managing Projects; Informal Organization; Consulting; Professional Services; Leadership; Work-Life Balance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizations; Rank and Position; Product Development; Service Industry; Consulting Industry

September 2020
Case

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network

By: Anita Elberse and Julia McNicholas

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper’s fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Superstars; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Celebrities; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

December 1985 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Scovill, Inc.: NuTone Housing Group

Describes a conflict between the corporate controller and a division president about labor standards, which the division purposefully overstates to protect its margins. Illustrates the multiple roles of standards, and the roles of controllers and line management in... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Standards; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution

Article

The Price of Equality: Suboptimal Resource Allocations across Social Categories

By: Stephen M. Garcia, Max Bazerman, Shirli Kopelman, Avishalom Tor and Dale T. Miller

This paper explores the influence of social categories on the perceived trade-off between relatively bad but equal distribution of resources between two parties and profit maximizing, yet asymmetric, payoffs. Studies 1 and 2 show that people prefer to maximize profits... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Resource Allocation; Societal Protocols; Profit; Decision Making; Prejudice and Bias; Market Transactions; Ethics; Power and Influence; Distribution; Organizations

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25 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Steer Clear of the Blind Spots That Derail Experiments

tests in virtually every part of the business. Booking.com Chairwoman Gillian Tans has said that the nimbleness that comes with a testing culture helps companies engage employees and develop better products. Setting too narrow an... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

industries looking for ways to manage markets. Many states in the early 1930s created administrative boards to control competitive practices, wages, and retail prices industry by industry. “The crisis View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Health; Legal Services

September 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Mrs. Fields Cookies

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Mrs. Fields Cookies is a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Information Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Relationship Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Networks; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Information Technology Industry

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Personalized Entrepreneurial Finance and Other VC Trends

what venture capital might look like in the future, we asked Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking and head of the Entrepreneurial Management unit at... View Details

Keywords: Re: Josh Lerner; Financial Services; Banking

19 Jan 2021
In Practice

Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

Frei is the UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management at HBS and is the author of Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. Joseph... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

10 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Prospective Students Steer Clear of Schools Rocked by Scandal

They collected application data using the US Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System database, and when data for a particular college wasn’t available, they contacted the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

Web

After the Opium War: Treaty Ports and Compradors - A Chronicle of the China Trade

administered over its trade began to diminish. After the end of the First Opium War in 1842 and subsequent Treaty of Nanking, additional ports were open including the newly formed British colony View Details

July 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008 (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

As the recession lingered on into 2009, the U.S. government sought to limit executive pay and excessive risk. The debate raged over what constituted excessive risk and how best to mitigate it. This case describes the government restrictions on executive pay for TARP... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; Risk Management; Business and Government Relations; Motivation and Incentives; United States

Web

Doing Business with China: Early American Trading Houses - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of pounds of Chinese tea were exported annually. The Portuguese, the first European traders to enter China, leased and controlled Macao; by the 1700s the center View Details

January 2020
Case

SK Group: Social Progress Credits

By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and David Freiberg

SK Group was one of the largest companies South Korea. A family-run conglomerate consisting of around 120 subsidiaries and employing more than 100,000, SK was tightly knit into the fabric of Korean society. SK viewed their future success as contingent upon the strength... View Details