Publications

October 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Data Breach at Equifax

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Quinn Pitcher and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case discusses the events leading up to the massive data breach at Equifax, one of the three U.S. credit reporting companies, the organizational and governance issues that contributed to the breach, and the consequences of the breach. The case supplement provides... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Information Management; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; United States

December 2014 (Revised February 2023)
Module Note

Legal Analysis: Customers

By: Lena G. Goldberg

This Note introduces the Module on Responsibilities to Customers taught in Leadership and Corporate Accountability, a required course in the Harvard Business School MBA program. The Note outlines the asymmetries inherent in the company-customer relationship and... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Legal Liability; Customer Relationship Management

Video

Khalid Al Rumaihi

Khalid Al Rumaihi, Executive Chairman of Bahrain based Amriya Group W.L.L., shares his views on the responsibility of business to society- being sensitive to customers, employees, shareholders and the environment. View Details

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

them from hard choices by a flight to abstractions. In Enron's case, its stated purpose—at first, to be the world's best energy company, and later to be the world's best corporation—was too general to permit disciplined and responsible... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

19 Aug 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #8: The Role of Solar and Wind Farming (and Other Tools) in the United States’ Clean Energy Future

the Department of Energy’s goal of 40% solar by 2035. Specifically the challenge for developers is “a lack of clarity around responsibility and... View Details

November 2014
Article

Government Green Procurement Spillovers: Evidence from Municipal Building Policies in California

By: Timothy Simcoe and Michael W. Toffel

We study how government green procurement policies influence private-sector demand for similar products. Specifically, we measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the U.S. Green Building... View Details

Keywords: Public Procurement; Green Building; Quality Certification; Environmental Policy; Buildings and Facilities; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Government and Politics; Green Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; California

2020
Working Paper

Why Do Firms Automate Production, and How Do They Adjust? Evidence from the Bell Telephone System over the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and James J. Feigenbaum

Over the course of the 20th century, AT&T's operating companies replaced telephone operators with mechanical switching and dial telephones. Yet it took AT&T 30 years from the invention of the technology to begin using it, and another 60 years to finish installing it... View Details

Keywords: Employment; Labor; Technology Adoption; Technology Networks; History; Telecommunications Industry; United States

27 Mar 2014
Video

Responding to Different Interpersonal Styles

2009
Working Paper

Corporate Social Entrepreneurship

By: James E. Austin and Ezequiel Reficco

Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) is a process aimed at enabling business to develop more advanced and powerful forms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship

Read Now

19 Nov 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Lessons from IBM in Nazi Germany

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones; Information Technology

2014
Chapter

Mergers and Acquisitions and Innovation

By: Gautam Ahuja and Elena Novelli

This article (a) identifies the different theoretical perspectives and abstractions used to conceptualize the M&A–Innovation relationship; (b) reviews the literature on antecedents, consequences, and integration of M&A in the context of innovation; and (c) identifies... View Details

Keywords: Mergers; Acquisitions; Innovation; Knowledge-bases; Knowledge; Mergers and Acquisitions; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Zespri

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Louise Shelman

Grower-owned Zespri is the sole exporter of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit outside of Australia and New Zealand. Facing growing international competition, Zespri invested in consumer branding and innovation, which has led to new types of kiwifruit that taste better and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Brands and Branding; Cooperative Ownership; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Zealand

Teaching Interest

Development Economics (PhD)

By: Shawn A. Cole

This course, intended for second-year PhD students in economics and related fields, is taught by Michael Kremer, Phillippe Aghion, and Shawn Cole.

Part I (Kremer) of the course will cover macro-economic topics including aggregate and non-aggregate growth... View Details

April 1964 (Revised September 1982)
Case

Empire Glass Co. (B)

Details the behavior of line managers, management staff, and workers in response to long-established control system developed by corporation headquarters. View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Management Systems; Employees; Manufacturing Industry

March 2009 (Revised November 2021)
Case

The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire?

By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey

Soon after Robert Iger took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in late 2005, he turned his attention toward Pixar, the animation studio with which Disney had worked since 1991 and was responsible for producing hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Disney's own... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Making; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Contracts; Distribution; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Motion Pictures and Video Industry