Publications

SSRN

October 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Beth Israel Deaconess: Consolidating to Strengthen, or to Stave Off, Competition?

By: Leemore Dafny

In July 2017, CEO Kevin Tabb of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center announced his plan to consolidate 11 Massachusetts hospitals under a common management structure. These hospitals collectively generated $5 billion in patient revenue and 25% of... View Details

Keywords: Beth Israel Deaconess; Lahey; Partners; Health Care; Hospitals; Payers; Providers; Anti-trust; Health Care Regulation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Care and Treatment; Market Design; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Negotiation; Consolidation; Competition; Health Industry; Massachusetts; Boston

October 2013 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Steward Health Care System

By: Robert F. Higgins and Noah Fisher

Steward Health has raised private equity and has converted from not-for-profit to for-profit. The case describes its Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and asks whether it should continue this experiment. View Details

Keywords: Accountable Care Organization; ACO; Medicare; Medicaid; Medical Services; Cerberus; Caritas; Health Care Policy; Health Care Industry; Provider Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

August 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Oscar Health Insurance: What Lies Ahead for a Unicorn Insurance Entrant?

By: Leemore Dafny and Victoria Marone

Keywords: Oscar Insurance; Fintech; US Health Care; Affordable Care Act (ACA); Health Insurance Marketplaces; Insurer Competition; Provider Consolidation; Market Entry; Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation; Growth Management; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; New York (state, US); New Jersey

Web

Certificate of Management Excellence

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Middle managers aren’t going extinct. They’re evolving. Once a wasteland where careers stalled or abruptly ended in layoffs, middle management has adapted and is thriving, seeing double-digit growth in some industries. Managing others is being redefined in an... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

17 Oct 2023
HBS Case

With Subscription Fatigue Setting In, Companies Need to Think Hard About Fees

over the past decade, according to coauthor Amy Konary, senior vice president of the Subscribed Institute & Marketing Strategy at Zuora. Consider companies like the cloud storage provider Dropbox; Apple, which charges monthly for... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Information; Information Technology

23 Nov 2021
News

What It Takes to Build an Organizational Culture That Wins

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Give Employees the Energy Boost They Need

While companies may tout their wellness programs as a way of investing in their employees’ well-being, many are overly focused on reducing healthcare costs, so they tend to offer step challenges and gym discounts that workers don’t have time to use. Though these... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

26 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Want to Leave a Lasting Impression on Customers? Don't Forget the (Proverbial) Fireworks

Thousands of visitors flock to Disney World every day to immerse themselves in all kinds of exciting experiences—a cruise on the Pirates of the Caribbean; a visit to the China pavilion at EPCOT; a meet-and-greet with a favorite princess. For many guests, however, the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

03 May 2024
Research & Ideas

How Much Does Proximity Influence Startup Innovation? 20 Meters' Worth to Be Exact

unlikely to speak to people who are very different from us unless there is some sort of mechanism that brings us together.” The work provides a deeper understanding of the importance of physical proximity as organizations seek the best... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

09 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Called Back to the Office? How You Benefit from Ideas You Didn't Know You Were Missing

development (R&D), making the finding relevant for leaders of research-intensive organizations trying to calibrate hybrid work policies. To be sure, remote work can reduce office space costs for companies and provide employees with... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

23 Jun 2023
Blog Post

HBS Application Tips from MBA Admissions

What are we looking for in your application? The Application Tips video series breaks down each section of the application and provides some thoughts and advice from members of the MBA Admissions team. We encourage you to review the short... View Details

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

customer, then the management is likely to chastise the salesperson for failing. But they could also realize that if the top talent has trouble with the sell, then maybe there is something wrong with the product. Small failures can View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

28 Feb 2022
News

How Racial Bias Taints Customer Service: Evidence from 6,000 Hotels

March 1991 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi-Cola and the Soft Drink Industry

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Provides a summary of the history of the soft drink industry prior to World War II, and over the period 1950-1990 in greater detail. Major strategic competitive moves and countermoves are described. Also... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Industry Growth; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Nov 2021
News

How Long Does It Take to Improve an Organization’s Culture?

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

Do relationships between colleagues raise the bar? A new analysis of how physicians who know each other provide better patient care could impart wide-ranging lessons for the business world. Specialists who received referrals from primary... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

part of an effort to change the culture. This sounds like a lot, but the culture cycle provides a foundation for the creation of an organization capable of setting high goals and meeting them. Q: Your research produces an eye-opening... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 1987 (Revised October 2009)
Background Note

A Method For Valuing High-Risk, Long-Term Investments: The "Venture Capital Method"

By: William A. Sahlman and Daniel R Scherlis

Describes a method for valuing high-risk, long-term investments such as those confronting venture capitalists. The method entails forecasting a future value (e.g., five years from the present) and discounting that terminal value back to the present by applying a high... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Risk Management; Valuation