Publications

SSRN

August 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

By 2015, there had been an upsurge in activist shareholders arguing for radical changes in companies' corporate strategies. Personalities like Carl Icahn, Bill Ackman, and Daniel Loeb were feared and loathed in some quarters, celebrated in others. With nearly $120... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Activist Investors; Spin-offs; Synergy; Diversification; Consolidation; Hedge Fund; Corporate Strategy

2010
Book

One Strategy: Organization, Planning, and Decision Making

By: Steven Sinofsky and Marco Iansiti

Learn from the concepts, capabilities, processes, and behaviors that aligned around one strategy with the hard-won, first-person wisdom found in One Strategy. Challenging traditional views of strategy and operational execution, this book - written by Microsoft... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Organizations; Planning; Decision Making

06 Jan 2016
What Do You Think?

Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?

Summing Up Is Good Timing in Management Primarily a Function of Strategy or Culture? Timing in executing change is an important responsibility of leadership. Responses to this month’s column suggest that if... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto; Fashion

Research Summary

Overview

My research focuses on cross-boundary teaming within and between organizations and on how leaders enable the complex collaborations through which execution and innovation are accomplished in a dynamic environment. In one stream of my research, I study collaboration... View Details

August 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Building Brand Community on the Harley-Davidson Posse Ride

The second Harley-Davidson Posse Ride, a grueling 2,300 mile, 10-day trek from South Padre Island, Tex., to the Canadian Border is billed "for serious riders only." Harley Owner's Group (H.O.G.) Director Mike Keefe must decide whether this rolling rally deserves a... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Motorcycle Industry; United States

Research Summary

Current working papers

Organizational restructuring: the influence of formal and informal structure on tie formation. This paper considers how changes in formal structure and a key element of informal structure – the embeddedness of employee... View Details

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

blurring by retailers have generally increased both inventory levels and gross profit dollars across retail segments. Download paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-078.pdf New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

abandon their ethics to get it.” When applied to individuals, the question prompted an interesting exchange between Sandeep and Phillippe Gouamba regarding the effect of wealth and poverty on the tendency of managers to employ super... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Article

Embeddedness and New Idea Discussion in Professional Networks: The Mediating Role of Affect-Based Trust

By: Roy Y.J. Chua, M.W. Morris and P. Ingram

This article examines how managers' tendency to discuss new ideas with others in their professional networks depends on the density of shared ties surrounding a given relationship. Consistent with prior research which found that embeddedness enhances information flow,... View Details

Keywords: Information; Networks; Trust

Read Now

November 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Nicole M. Jones and The Hangar℠: Delta Air Lines' Global Innovation Center

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Nicole M. Jones was hired to lead The Hangar, Delta Air Lines’ new innovation center in Atlanta, Georgia. Delta’s leadership had intended for The Hangar to catalyze a new approach to innovation at the company. After conducting three months of research on... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Lab; Breakthrough Innovation; Biometric Technology; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Georgia (state, US)

Mihir A. Desai is the Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He received his Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard... View Details

Blog

Crossing the Bridge from Program Learning to Practical Application

When you attend an HBS Executive Education program, you never know what opportunities the experience may present. In fact, you could even find yourself becoming part of the teaching team. Ask Deb Barnes, Senior View Details

30 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 30, 2008

management may motivate managers to operate with insufficient labor levels, which, in turn, degrades profitability. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-040.pdf Cases & Course... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Lincoln Electric

By: Jordan I. Siegel

The case describes Lincoln Electric's business strategy and incentive system, and it discusses the global strategy choices that the company faces going forward. Lincoln Electric is deciding whether a strong push into India should be the next step in the company's... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; India

March 2011
Article

The New Path to the C-Suite

By: Boris Groysberg, L. Kevin Kelly and Bryan MacDonald

Job requirements at the top of corporations have changed. Companies have come to expect much more from their C-level executives, who need new and different skills to deal with today's business realities. Exactly what abilities do firms want in their leaders—now and in... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Leadership; Management Skills; Personal Development and Career

March 2012
Article

The Incentive Bubble

By: Mihir Desai

The past three decades have seen American capitalism quietly transformed by a single, powerful idea—that financial markets are a suitable tool for measuring performance and structuring compensation. Stock instruments for managers, high-powered incentive contracts for... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Financial Markets; Executive Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Governance; Equality and Inequality; Human Capital; United States

Read Now

10 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Flattened Firm—Not as Advertised

Keywords: by Julie Wulf

May 2012
Article

To Zap or Not to Zap: How to Insert the Brand in TV Commercials to Minimize Avoidance

By: Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters

Huge amounts of money are spent on TV advertising. In an environment of rising per-viewer rates for advertisers and increased skipping past ads by consumers, it is necessary for advertising managers to understand the determinants of commercial avoidance. In order to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Television Entertainment; Advertising; Decisions