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Publications - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Resources Resources Video Courses Data Events & Presentations Frameworks News Publications Publications Resources 20 Nov 2020 Article Utilizing time-driven activity-based costing to determine open radical cystectomy View Details

March 2012
Article

Racial Diversity, Racial Asymmetries, and Team Learning Environment: Effects on Performance

By: Robin J. Ely, Irene Padavic and David A. Thomas

This paper argues that learning in cross-race interactions is critical for work teams to realize performance benefits from racial diversity but that diversity is a liability when society's negative stereotypes about racial minorities' competence inhibit such... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Performance; Learning; Diversity

2024
Working Paper

Omnia Juncta in Uno: Foreign Powers and Trademark Protection in Shanghai's Concession Era

By: Laura Alfaro, Cathy Bao, Maggie X. Chen, Junjie Hong and Claudia Steinwender

We investigate how firms and markets adapt to trademark protection, an extensively utilized but under-examined form of IP protection to address asymmetric information, by exploring a historical precedent: China’s 1923 trademark law. Exploiting unique, newly digitized... View Details

Keywords: Trademark; Firm Dynamics; Intermediaries; Intellectual Property Institutions; Trademarks; Intellectual Property; Laws and Statutes; Outcome or Result; Organizational Change and Adaptation; China

2008
Working Paper

A Darker Side to Decentralized Banks: Market Power and Credit Rationing in SME Lending

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

We use loan-level data to study how the organizational structure of banks impacts small business lending. We find that decentralized banks—where branch managers have greater autonomy over lending decisions—give larger loans to small firms and those with "soft... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Financing and Loans; Industry Structures; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Mexico

August 2018
Supplement

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (B)

By: Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Supplements the (A) case. Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage... View Details

Summer 2019
Article

The Price Effects of Cross-Market Mergers: Theory and Evidence from the Hospital Industry

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Katherine Ho and Robin S. Lee

We consider the effect of mergers between firms whose products are not viewed as direct substitutes for the same good or service but are bundled by a common intermediary. Focusing on hospital mergers across distinct geographic markets, we show that such combinations... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Markets; Geographic Scope; Price; Outcome or Result; Insurance; Health Industry

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January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Technical Note

The Scope of Business at the Base of the Pyramid: Poverty in the U.S. and Other OECD Countries

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Tricia Gregg

Using data from U.S. Census and OECD, this note defines poverty as those populations who fall below 50% of that country’s median per capita income. It then provides a brief statistical tour of six key challenges facing such populations: Income and Jobs, Healthcare,... View Details

Keywords: Poverty; Social Issues; Problems and Challenges; Global Range

Educators

2009
Article

Feeling the Heat: The Effects of Performance Pressure on Teams' Knowledge Use and Performance

By: Heidi K. Gardner

Why do some teams fail to use their members' knowledge effectively, even after having correctly identified each other's expertise? This paper identifies performance pressure as a critical barrier to effective knowledge utilization in teams. I theorize that performance... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Expectations; Groups and Teams

August 2008 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Martingale Asset Management LP in 2008, 130/30 Funds, and a Low-Volatility Strategy

By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung

In early July of 2008, William (Bill) Jacques, Chief Investment Officer at Martingale Asset Management, a quantitative value-oriented investment manager in Boston, Massachusetts, was busy preparing for an upcoming meeting with the group that made new product decisions... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Asset Management; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Product Development

Educators

This study examines the U.S. commerce in human cadavers for medical education and research to explore variation in legitimacy in trades involving similar goods. It draws on archival, interview, and observational data mainly from New York state to analyze market... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Evolution of Land Distribution in West Bengal 1967-2004: Role of Land Reform and Demographic Changes

By: Pranab Bardhan, Michael Luca, Dilip Mookherjee and Francisco Pino

This paper studies how land reform and population growth affect land inequality and landlessness, focusing particularly on indirect effects owing to their influence on household divisions and land market transactions. Theoretical predictions of a model of household... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Land Reform; Household Division; Land Markets; Equality and Inequality; Property; West Bengal

28 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Disagreement about the Team’s Status Hierarchy: An Insidious Obstacle to Coordination and Performance

Keywords: by Heidi K. Gardner

2020
Working Paper

Food Security and Human Mobility During the COVID-19 Lockdown

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Wesley W. Koo, Xina Li, Nishant Kishore, Satchit Balsari and Tarun Khanna

During the COVID-19 crisis, millions of migrants around the world face food insecurity. This could force migrants to travel during the pandemic, exposing them to health risks and accelerating the spread of the virus. Anecdotal evidence demonstrates the importance of... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Migrants; Food Security; Mobility; Health Pandemics; Food; Distribution; Policy; Global Range

We study whether, when, and how better connectivity through nonstop flights leads to positive innovation outcomes for firms in the global context. Using unique data of all flights emanating from 5,015 airports around the globe from 2005 to 2015 and exploiting a... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Judging Foreign Startups

By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Rembrand Koning and Tarun Khanna

Can accelerators pick the most promising startup ideas no matter their provenance? Using unique data from a global accelerator where judges are randomly assigned to evaluate startups headquartered across the globe, we show that judges are less likely to recommend... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Entrepreneurial Financing; Innovation; Bias; International; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Decision Making

October 2008
Article

Navigating the Bind of Necessary Evils: Psychological Engagement and the Production of Interpersonally Sensitive Behavior

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Andrew Molinsky

We develop grounded theory about how individuals respond to the subjective experience of performing "necessary evils" and how that influences the way they treat targets of their actions. Despite the importance and difficulty of delivering just, compassionate treatment... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Power and Influence; Welfare

2018
Working Paper

Oral History and Writing the Business History of Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

This working paper highlights the benefits that rigorous use of oral history can offer to research on the contemporary business history of emerging markets. Oral history can help fill some of the major information voids arising from the absence of a strong tradition of... View Details

Keywords: Oral History; Business History; Research; Emerging Markets