Rare Goods - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Waking Up a Sleeping Company

delayed, expense budgets overrun, all with no direct consequences for the individuals in charge. The organization tended to diffuse responsibility for performance, making it difficult to find out who was responsible. When individuals failed, they were View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

30 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Computer Security is For Managers, Too

Most organizations already have at least some of these processes in place, but they rarely develop and manage them in a coherent, consistent way. Here are eight things that your company should be working on. Identify your company's... View Details

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin & Christopher A.R. Darby

20 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Fixing Corporate Governance: A Roundtable Discussion at Harvard Business School

in governance. In spite of all the checks and balances, failures occurred with boards of directors, auditors, regulators, financial analysts, and professional investors and money managers. We thought we had a pretty good system, one the... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

21 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Bio-Piracy: When Western Firms Usurp Eastern Medicine

Choudhury says. "If an indigenous society has discovered medicinal uses of an herb, and if a Western firm can go in there and share the rents with the society, the patent might be a good thing. As a member of the indigenous society,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Legal Services; Biotechnology

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

weighing the morality of an action based on its consequences, might see AI as an improvement over the status quo of 40,000 annual motor vehicle deaths. AVs are good at avoiding mistakes, and most of their crashes are caused by human error... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

cause-and-effect relationships are at work? Finally, organizations use or apply information, translating it into action." Each task involves distinct challenges. Most companies, Garvin found, commonly take the first step, but the next two are more difficult and... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

18 May 2021
Book

Launching a Career in the COVID Economy? Here Are 5 Tips.

Starting a job can feel like stepping onto a movie set without a script. Everyone knows the plot; the challenge is figuring out the role. Managers often know what they want from top performers but rarely explain it. That perspective... View Details

Keywords: by Carolyn DiPaolo

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

highly un-cool mode of transport for many American suburban families. Almost as radical was Porsche's choice of locations to build this SUV, named the Cayenne. Even though wages in Germany are a good six to seven times higher than in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Manufacturing

15 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

In the Virtual Dressing Room Returns Are A Real Problem

accurate" color. 4 Most of the consumers polled in the survey already use the Web to purchase nonapparel products that are not dependent on color. However, the respondents indicated that they rarely purchase apparel online,... View Details

Keywords: by Jan Hammond & Kristin Kohler; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Manufacturing; Retail

22 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

An Economic Principle For Us All: Comparative Advantage

both goods on its own. “Most of us—even those who have never studied the theory of comparative advantage—tend to live by it in our own personal affairs every day” To make this more concrete, assume that each country had 1,200 workers, and... View Details

Keywords: Re: David A. Moss

08 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 8, 2006

Working PapersThe Judgment-Decision Paradox in Experience-Based Decisions and the Contingent Recency Effect Authors:Greg Barron, Ido Erev, and Eldad Yechiam. Abstract The current paper explores a judgment-decision paradox in experience-based decisions: the finding... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

afraid to demonstrate any sign of weakness. They're reluctant to ask important questions or try new approaches that push them outside their comfort zones. For high achievers, looking stupid or incompetent is anathema. So they stick to the tasks they're View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

then lead to results. Ironically, that kind of organization building is pretty rare in the nonprofit sector. That's what VPP and other organizations like it are bringing to the table. For the past 20 to 40 years there's been a lot of talk... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

14 Nov 2019
Book

Lifting the Lid on Turkey's Hidden Business History

The business sector of modern Turkey has been dominated by closely held family business groups, which rarely allow access to their corporate archives, or else by a myriad of small businesses, which rarely... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

Books. Before Penguin was founded by Allen Lane in 1935, serious literature—"good books"—was expensive and bound in hardcover; only lurid fiction was sold in paperback. "The good books were out of reach of all but the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

23 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Brexit: Should Britain Stay or Go?

Brexit is Not Better for Britain Britain rarely has referendums, and for good reason. They call for binary decisions on complex issues, and voters have all sorts of reasons for voting one way or another. It... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones & Dante Roscini

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Global Poverty Needs a Global Answer

must be profitable to be sustainable. Second, the WDC would take the initiative to target projects in countries that have a good chance of success, where the government is hospitable, the local business community eager for partners, and... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

13 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

The Inner Life of Leaders

progress in life and in business. HBS Working Knowledge asked Zaleznik to reflect on the inner life of leaders. Martha Lagace: Your book is an intellectual and introspective discussion of leadership that seems rare in the literature of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

23 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Brand Power from Wedgwood to Dell: Part Two

Starbucks Coffee Company; and Michael Dell—all successfully navigated the transition from "garage" to global business. ... No Detail Too Small All three of them made that transition very successfully, but my research suggests it was View Details