small businesses - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Aug 2016
What Do You Think?

How Can We Hold the “Leadership Industry” Accountable?

training they provide, market pressures, corporate governance shortcomings, and even the nature of leadership itself. John led the charge by saying, “Having taught within business schools for 20 years, I’ve had instructors talk about... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Tackling Climate Change Will Cost Less Than We Think

percent of global output) by 2095. Moreover delaying action could increase mitigation costs by 40 percent every decade, making it ever more difficult to do what may need to be done. OP-ED COLLECTION The Business of Climate Change What... View Details

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson; Energy; Utilities

31 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Niche Content in an Ad-Driven World

eyeballs," says Zhu, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "Content providers are serving advertisers rather than the audience, and consumers with niche preferences will be out of luck because the content they're... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News

20 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

The Power of Ordinary Practices

or deflate the people who were working for them. They were trying to do a good job of leading their teams, but lacked an effective model for how to behave. So, I would say sweat the small stuff, not only when you're dealing with your... View Details

Keywords: Re: Teresa M. Amabile

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

Working PapersDeterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears (revised) Author:Benjamin Edelman Abstract Online advertisers face substantial difficulty in selecting and supervising small advertising partners. Fraud... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 May 2016
Research & Ideas

When Mass Shootings Lead to Looser Gun Restrictions

In the United States, there’s much debate over whether gun-related legislation can diminish the likelihood of mass shootings. New research from Harvard Business School turns the question on its head: Do mass shootings lead to more... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

The Marketing of a President

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. When the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

05 Feb 2001
What Do You Think?

Do MBA Programs Face “The Innovator’s Dilemma”?

sources of support, both financial and nonfinancial, for such institutions? And aren't these some of the very dilemmas faced by organizations encountering the "innovator's dilemma"? What do you think? Original Article There are few thought leaders in View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

particular, supportive incumbent industrial structures for input and output markets are strongly linked to higher establishment entry rates. We also find substantial evidence for the Chinitz effect where small local incumbent suppliers... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 22, 2008

line. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=306064 The International Finance Corporation's Grassroots Business Initiative Harvard Business School Case 508-063... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

5 Weight Loss Tips From Behavioral Economists

Business scholars increasingly hinge their hypotheses on sociological and psychological studies, seeking a true handle on what motivates executives, employees, consumers, and policymakers. For instance, the following studies suggest... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

14 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Right Fit for Software Testing

If there is one job that many software analysts and programmers cannot stand, it is testing software on the path to launch. The grinding concentration and repetitive nature of the tasks serve to drive many techies around the bend. Testing—due in no View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Video Game; Web Services; Computer

12 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

Does Your HQ Operation Fit With Corporate Strategy?

The specter of "headquarters" usually looms large in the business world's imagination, but few managers—and few CEOs, especially new CEOs—understand how size, structure, and performance of headquarters interact. To investigate,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

09 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

These Employers Pay Higher Salaries than Necessary

buyer. Now translate the same situation from a brick-and-mortar bazaar to an online peer-to-peer marketplace such as Upwork, which allows businesses to outsource work to freelancers, frequently overseas. “Workers on the market have lots... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment; Technology; Computer

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

In her new book SuperCorp, Rosabeth Moss Kanter argues that capitalism is near a crossroads. The old ways of doing business no longer work. Traditional leadership roles are breaking down. And the public is fed up with greedy executives... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

stories. Indeed, all of these intermediaries are in the business of matching consumers with products. Trouble is, prior to visiting an intermediary, consumers are interested only in some products, which may not necessarily be the ones... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

28 May 2013
Research & Ideas

Can LEGO Snap Together a Future in Asia?

a factory in a low-cost location in Asia? Such a move over the next five to seven years would be full of risk, especially considering LEGO has had a checkered history of expansion—one such effort almost led to bankruptcy. So Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

Drawing on lessons from the battlefield is common practice for business leaders seeking tested strategies to succeed against adversity. Today, the battle against COVID-19, an invisible enemy, feels to many observers like a military... View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

15 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

We Have Better Ways to Break Habits Than Willpower. Why Don't We Use Them?

doing so may expose a weakness: a lack of self-control that would make others judge them harshly, says Harvard Business School Associate Professor Julian Zlatev in a recent paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Dec 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Growth Good?

Summing Up by Jim Heskett A small but thoughtful set of responses to the question "Is Growth Good?" posed this month conveys the sense that the wrong questions were asked. According to the responses, growth is not only good—it... View Details