Publications

27 Sep 2012
News

Study Shows Leaders Experience Lower Stress

11 Oct 2021
News

Nobel Winners Found Economic Experiments in the Real World

05 Apr 2021
News

Help Wanted: Director of remote work

January–February 2021
Article

Compensation Packages That Actually Drive Performance

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah Abbott, Michael R. Marino and Metin Aksoy

By aligning executives’ financial incentives with company strategy, a firm can inspire its management to deliver superior results. But it can be hard to get pay packages right. In this article four experts break down the key elements of compensation and explain how to... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Performance

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26 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Mitigating the Negative Effects of Customer Anxiety Through Access to Human Contact

Keywords: by Michelle A. Shell and Ryan W. Buell; Health

August 1992 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Nucor at a Crossroads

Nucor is a minimill deciding whether to spend a significant fraction of its net worth on a commercially unproven technology in order to penetrate a large but hitherto inaccessible segment of the steel market. This case is an integrative one designed to facilitate... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Decision Making; Investment; Steel Industry

July 1991 (Revised December 2018)
Compilation

Slavery

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Explores the general history of slavery in the United States. Through detailed exhibits and a text consisting of excerpts from six first-hand observations of slavery, this note is designed to present the ethics, economics (especially the perverse incentive systems),... View Details

Keywords: Slavery; Human Capital; History; Ethics; Social Issues; Motivation and Incentives; United States

10 Mar 2008
News

Harvard Business School Offers New Executive Education Program on South Asia Real Estate

24 Aug 2015
Video

HBX Live In Action

June 1991 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Cumberland Worldwide Corp. (A)

A company in financial distress must design a successful exchange offer or face Chapter 11. Covers valuation and negotiation issues related to financial distress and the decision to file under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Valuation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy

November 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

W.S. Industries undertakes the design and implementation of an activity based costing (ABC) system, and the ABC information empowers workers to make process improvement decisions. Workers' incentive pay is tied to cost savings from process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Management; Energy Industry; India

August 1994
Background Note

Note on Entering Foreign Markets: Opportunities for Smaller U.S. Companies

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

Designed specifically for the smaller U.S.-based company; provides a brief overview of the various means by which such companies can enter foreign markets and the sources of information and assistance, principally on exporting, available to them. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Information; Management; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution; United States

Michael Tushman holds degrees from Northeastern University (B.S.E.E.), Cornell University (M.S.), and the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. (Ph.D.). Tushman was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, from 1976 to 1998 where he was... View Details

October 2024
Module Note

Purpose of the Firm

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Purpose of the Firm (PoF) is a short module designed to explore how, and under what circumstances, business leaders can harness the power of capitalism and markets to “make a difference in the world”—that is, to address a significant societal problem as a commercial... View Details

Keywords: Social Accounting; Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; Leadership

September 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

TetraScience: Noise and Signal

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In 2019, TetraScience CEO “Spin” Wang needed advice. Five years earlier, he had cofounded a startup that saw early success with a hardware product designed to help laboratory scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical spaces more easily collect data from... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; AI and Machine Learning; Organizational Structure; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Boston

2021
Chapter

Business Continuity Insurance in the Next Disaster

By: Samuel Gregory Hanson, Adi Sunderam and Eric Zwick

This article draws lessons from the business support policies pursued in the COVID-19 pandemic to guide policy design for the next disaster. We contrast the performance of the Paycheck Protection Program to the Main Street Lending Program to illustrate how design... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Policy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financing and Loans; United States

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October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan

By: George P. Baker III

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Sales; Management; Employee Relationship Management; Situation or Environment; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Article

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In a platform-mediated network, users rely on a common platform, provided by one or more intermediaries, that encompasses infrastructure and rules required by users to transact with each other. A fundamental design decision for firms that aspire to develop... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Digital Platforms; Infrastructure; Competition; Cooperation; Information Infrastructure