Publications

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Article

Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s

By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj

This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Oral History; Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Middle East; India; Chile; Colombia; Sri Lanka; Kenya

Article

Organizational Innovation in the Multinational Enterprise: Internalization Theory and Business History

By: Teresa da Silva Lopes, Mark Casson and Geoffrey Jones

This article engages in a methodological experiment by using historical evidence to challenge a common misperception about internalization theory. The theory has often been criticized for maintaining that it assumes a hierarchically organized MNE based on knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Internalization; Multinational Strategy; Business History; Organization And Management Theory; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Governance; History; Organizations; Theory; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America

October 2014
Article

Putting Sales at the Center of Strategy

By: Frank Cespedes

Research indicates that relatively few firms execute their strategies effectively, and, on average, companies deliver just 50% to 60% of the financial performance that their strategies promise. One reason is a disconnect between strategic goals and field implementation... View Details

Article

Health Care Challenges for Leaders

By: R. E. Herzlinger

From ancient times to today, perceptive leaders have galvanized people by appealing to commonly shared values. Indeed, a discussion of leadership is virtually impossible without talking about values. As the articles in this issue demonstrate,Values are what animate... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Values and Beliefs

2020
Other Teaching and Training Material

Encouraging Student Participation Online—and Assessing It Fairly: Techniques and Methods to Involve More Voices in Virtual Classes

By: Ayelet Israeli

This article is about encouraging student participation online—and assessing it fairly. It includes techniques and methods to involve more voices in virtual classes, and evaluate them equitably and fairly. View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Education; Online Technology

Article

Why Schumpeter Was Right: Innovation, Market Power and Creative Destruction in 1920s America

By: Tom Nicholas

Are firms with strong market positions powerful engines of technological progress? Joseph Schumpeter thought so, but his hypothesis has proved difficult to verify empirically. This article highlights Schumpeterian market-power and creative-destruction effects in a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Power and Influence; Emerging Markets; Rank and Position; Status and Position; Capital Markets; Capital Structure; Information Technology; Patents; Creativity; Economic Systems; Development Economics; United States

May 2013
Article

The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

By now most companies have sustainability programs. They're cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a strategy must address... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Innovation; Environment; Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility; Governance; Strategy; Value; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention

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December 6, 2013
Article

Family Businesses Shouldn't Hunt for Superstar CEOs

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article discusses the challenges faced by family businesses when it comes to succession planning, particularly in selecting an outside CEO. It presents a case study of a third-generation family business looking for an external CEO, named "Mr. Wonderful," to manage... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession

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April 1996 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond

By: Amy P. Hutton and James Weber

This case examines how accurately investors have incorporated information about the growth strategy of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) into share price, especially given the changing competitive environment in the housewares industry and the recent Barron's article pointing... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Valuation; Financial Statements; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

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Summer 2013
Article

IP Modularity: Profiting from Innovation by Aligning Product Architecture with Intellectual Property

By: Joachim Henkel, Carliss Y. Baldwin and Willy C. Shih

Firms seeking to take advantage of distributed innovation and outsourcing can bridge the tension between value creation and value capture by modifying the modular structure of their technical systems. Specifically, this article introduces the concept of "IP... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Value Appropriation; Distributed Innovation; Open Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Intellectual Property; Value

2012
Article

Global Policy for Local Livelihoods: Phasing Out Mercury in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

By: Kristin Sippl and Henrik Selin

This article uses a behavioral economics lens to identify the challenges the United Nation's Minamata Convention is likely to face in addressing the problem of mercury pollution from gold mining. View Details

Keywords: Mining; Pollutants; Problems and Challenges; Policy; Global Range

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

Management Review What to Do When Industry Disruption Threatens Your Career By: Groysberg, Boris, Eric Lin, and Whitney Johnson Abstract—This article discusses how to diagnose the risks that disruptive industry forces pose to individual... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2019
Chapter

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Tiona Zuzul

Selecting the appropriate method for a given research question is an essential skill for organizational researchers. High-quality research involves a good fit between the methods used and the nature of the contribution to the literature. This article describes a... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Organizations

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30 Apr 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Brand Management

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered Does branding work for business-to-business marketing? Can individuals... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Sports; Publishing; Auto

2020
Article

Humanizing Management and Innovation

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

This article is an excerpt from The Wise Company book that Ikujiro Nonaka and I published in October 2019 from Oxford University Press. It is a sequel to The Knowledge-Creating Company book we published 25 years ago. As our thinking evolved from information to... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Creation; Knowledge Practice; Phronesis; Practical Wisdom; Ba; Continuous Innovation; Fusion Of Analog And Digital; Management As A Way Of Life; Management Style; Emotions; Innovation and Management

December 16, 2019
Article

Why Your Startup Won't Last

By: Ranjay Gulati and Vasundhara Sawhney

Why do some startups that have crossed the threshold of “product-market fit” and have a viable business model still fail? This article begins by exploring the argument that most startups need more professionalization to thrive. Founders resist putting in place... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy

May 2014
Article

Making 'Freemium' Work: Many Start-ups Fail to Recognize the Challenges of This Popular Business Model

By: Vineet Kumar

The article discusses the "freemium" business model, which is used by some Internet businesses and smartphone application developers to give users free basic features of a digital product and access to premium functionality for a subscription fee. The discussion topics... View Details

Keywords: Freemium; Startups; Product Design; Business Model; Marketing; Business Startups

Research Summary

Say on Pay

By: Jay W. Lorsch

This project is examining, on a continuing basis, the evolving practice of allowing shareholders to have a vote on top executive compensation. The expected product will be an article explaining the limitations of this effort to give shareholders voice. View Details

20 Oct 2006
Other Presentation

Value-Based Competition in Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter

This presentation draws on a forthcoming book with Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg (Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, Harvard Business School Press). Earlier publications about the work include the Harvard Business Review article... View Details

Keywords: Health; United States