Publications

01 Oct 2014
What Do You Think?

Is Too Much Focus a Problem?

the product line, grow a business from its core competency, develop priorities and address the first two or three, and organize our time so that we can concentrate on complex issues without interruption. But sometimes focus can be... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

creates a "fiscal risk management" motive: incremental spending that occurs when total government spending is already high is particularly unattractive. A first key insight is that the government's need to manage fiscal risk frequently limits its capacity for managing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Aug 2016
First Look

August 2, 2016

households. The quality of the liquidity services provided by bank liabilities depends on their safety in case of default. Commercial bank debt is fully insured and thus provides full liquidity. However, commercial banks do not internalize the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Feeling Stuck? Getting Past Impasse

and suddenly old doubts emerge. "You never really were top at that and now it's really showing up." If it's a personal situation it may be old feelings of anger, shame, self-doubt. It's not just a career skills aspect; when I talk about the return of old... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

opted for only minimal control in order to create larger personal networks. Further, there was little governmental regulation of social networking companies protecting those users. In the past two weeks, Facebook’s world had changed with... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Information Technology

August 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Ryan Greene at Rainier Wearables

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Christopher Payton

This case provides a platform for discussing mental health and depression in entrepreneurship. Why do entrepreneurs have more mental health issues than other professions? What can an entrepreneur do if they face a situation where their mental well-being is being... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Depression; Entrepreneurship; Well-being; Personal Development and Career

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

for instance, might argue that capitalism ignores issues of fairness in outcomes—but they can't say that it doesn't exist. “Our task is not to take immoral people and make them moral. Our task is to add texture to the dominant ethical... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

07 Jul 2003
What Do You Think?

Can We Have Too Much Productivity Improvement?

as the result of exporting jobs to China, India, and other developing economies. Still others argued that the issue relates to end objectives, not the means, of achieving greater productivity. Jim Noon characterized the first point of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2012
Working Paper

Conflict Policy and Advertising Agency-Client Relations: The Problem of Competing Clients Sharing a Common Agency

By: Alvin J. Silk

What restrictions should be placed on advertising agencies with respect to serving accounts or clients that are competitors of one another in order to avoid conflicts in interest? In recent decades, the advertising and marketing services industry has undergone a number... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Service Delivery; Competition; Conflict of Interests; Policy; Practice; Advertising Industry; United States

Read Now

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

purview only. It is an issue that involves both. At the top of the customer base pyramid where the accounts are huge, marketing and sales must make joint decisions about product, price, brand, and all kinds of support.— Benson Shapiro The... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

08 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Recalling My First Cold Call: A Conversation with Second-Year Students

2022) Halperin, a student in the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program, is the co-president of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Women’s Student Association, social chair of the MS/MBA program, and the international representative of... View Details

December 1997 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Merck Sharp & Dohme Argentina, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Hal Hogan

Describes the efforts of the new managing director of Merck's subsidiary for Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to transform the organization and its culture. Focuses on a critical decision: whether to offer the son of a high-ranking official in the government's national... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Ethics; Decision Making; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Conflict of Interests; Argentina; Uruguay; Paraguay

27 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Build 'Scaffolds' to Improve Performance of Temporary Teams

which hampered the pod acting as a team, Valentine says. While a hospital may be a natural setting for team scaffolds, Edmondson and Valentine see other applicable sites. Many large, global companies are trying to enable better lateral coordination to solve client... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

13 May 2019
Blog Post

The Many Facets of Becoming a Mother at HBS

brought new life into the world during their time here. Find out how they juggled class time, cases, social lives, and motherhood through each of their amazing stories. Ally Wagner (MBA 2019) Pregnant RC | Delivery EC | Newborn during... View Details

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details

July–September 2020
Article

Innovation Contest: Effect of Perceived Support for Learning on Participation

By: Olivia Jung, Andrea Blasco and Karim R. Lakhani

Background: Frontline staff are well positioned to conceive improvement opportunities based on first-hand knowledge of what works and does not work. The innovation contest may be a relevant and useful vehicle to elicit staff ideas. However, the success of the... View Details

Keywords: Contest; Innovation; Employee Engagement; Organizational Learning; Health Care; Health Care Delivery; Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Learning; Employees; Perception; Health Care and Treatment