Publications

29 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Work 3.0: Redefining Jobs and Companies in the Uber Age

category of worker, the independent contractor. While rules vary by state, with the IRS providing its own guidelines as well, the key factor distinguishing employees from independent contractors is the company’s level of control over... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Transportation; Web Services

25 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

after testing and perfecting them. "There was a pride in ownership leading to the desire to share," Bernstein says. "And so they did. But only after they had data to support their new approach." Hence, the transparency... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

December 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Prime Designs

By: Paul W. Marshall

A student takes the role of the father who is the CEO of a family business. A non-family manager has asked for a meeting. Agenda topics are: your son's latest proposal and managers' desire to own equity. View Details

Keywords: Labor and Management Relations; Family Ownership; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Find at Harvard

March 2023
Case

Interior Collab

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

After venture capital-funded online interior design agency Homepolish collapsed, its former freelance designers met to discuss next steps. The bitter experience led some of them to create a workers’ collaborative called Interior Collab. The founding members needed to... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Employee Ownership; Trust; Service Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

10 Nov 2008
What Do You Think?

How Much Can You Ask of Your Customers?

contributed benefits other users (as, for example, when a network is enlarged) as well the organization itself (providing lower costs, greater resources at little cost, better customer service, more effective marketing, increased employee... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Jul 2000
What Do You Think?

Where Is the Microsoft Board?

Microsoft caused by (2) a defense personally led by Bill Gates and (3) by the failure of the company's board to provide counsel. In the case of a high-tech company where significant ownership rests in the hands of management (e.g... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

December 1998
Case

Australian Wheat Board Limited.: Becoming a Grower-owned Corporation

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In July 1999, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), a statutory national and international grain marketing organization, would become grower-owned. As a private corporation, the AWB would no longer receive government borrowing guarantees and would have to rely on its own... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Capital Structure; Globalized Markets and Industries; Monopoly; Employee Ownership; Competition

19 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Codeacademy’s Delicate Work of Adding Monetization Without Crushing Mission

help families save money for college. That experience convinced me of the power of for-profit, mission-driven companies as a force for change. Because they are for-profit, they can attract amazing talent and command huge resources. Because they are mission-driven, they... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Technology

30 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Measuring the Efficacy of the World’s Managers

and incentives—whether organizations promoted and rewarded employees based on performance and tried to keep the best performers from quitting. To collect the data, the researchers hired teams of MBA students who could interview managers... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 2008
Case

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

In late November 2000, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., the once-monopolized telecom operator owned by the Taiwanese government, was on its way to privatization. Mr. C.K. Mao, Chairman of the company, who headed the job only three months earlier, after its prior chairman... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Employee Relationship Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Privatization; Competition; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

Find at Harvard

22 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 22

Publications August 2013 PLoS ONE Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance By: Anik, Lalin, Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Michael I. Norton, and Jordi Quoidbach Abstract—In three field studies, we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1996
Case

Transportation Displays Incorporated (C): The Case for a Preemptive Restructuring

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Joel T. Schwartz, Steve Silver and David Stemerman

A company nears the end of a long multiyear turnaround and now must consider how to "cash out" so its management can realize a financial return on investment. The privately held company has several options, including a leveraged ESOP and a leveraged recapitalization. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Capital; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Private Ownership

19 Jan 2022
In Practice

7 Trends to Watch in 2022

Kominers: NFTs go mainstream Last year saw a huge spike in the creation and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital ownership records stored on distributed ledgers called blockchains. People bought and traded NFTs of everything from... View Details

Keywords: by HBS News

Article

Why Do Pro Forma and Street Earnings Not Reflect Changes in GAAP? Evidence from SFAS 123R

By: Ian D. Gow, Mary E. Barth and Daniel Taylor

This study examines how key market participants—managers and analysts—responded to SFAS 123R's controversial requirement that firms recognize stock-based compensation expense. Despite mandated recognition of the expense, some firms' managers exclude it from pro forma... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Read Now

21 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Is a Gap in Small-Business Credit Holding Back the American Economy?

patents per employee than larger firms, and employ more than 40 percent of high-tech workers in America. “Small business owners feel that despite being creditworthy today, banks remain either wary or entirely unwilling to lend to them.”... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Manufacturing

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

customer-owners requires a high percentage of employees who behave as owners with a stake in the success of the business. Customer ambassadors are not routinely created by interactions with employees who... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

September 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

3i Group plc: May 2006

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Since 2004, Philip Yea, the first outsider ever to lead 3i Group, one of Europe's largest publicly listed private equity firms, has been trying to help the far flung organization become more of a streamlined partnership even as it functions around the globe. As he... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Globalized Firms and Management; Alignment; Partners and Partnerships; Public Ownership; Employees; Goals and Objectives; Financial Services Industry

May 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Tribune Company, 2007

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Eric Seth Gordon

This case describes the proposed acquisition of Tribune Company by Sam Zell in 2007. Tribune Company is one of the largest newspapers and broadcasting companies in the United States. Zell's proposed acquisition is unusual in several respects. It is two-tiered, employs... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Markets; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Negotiation Offer; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry