Publications

01 Mar 2011
News

HBS Alumni Now on Facebook

Here’s something you’ll “like” — HBS Alumni’s new Facebook page. Search Facebook for Harvard Business School Alumni, or visit facebook.com/HBSAlumni to receive updates on classmates, faculty, and the School; view reunion and event photos; and more. Simply click the... View Details

Keywords: online social networks; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

Research Summary

On the Origins of Brokerage in Intraorganizational Networks

While we have ample empirical evidence linking brokerage in intraorganizational social networks to both individual and firm-level benefits, we know little about its origins. Prior research describes correlations between rough demographic categories and network... View Details

August 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Background Note

Take Advantage of Your Diaspora Network

By: William R. Kerr and Daniel J. Isenberg

Diaspora networks (DNs) are an important resource for global entrepreneurs. Discusses several features of DNs, combining both academic and practitioner perspectives. Describes the history and prevalence of DNs in many ethnicities, documents the broad resources DNs can... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Markets and Industries; Social and Collaborative Networks

04 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

The Money Connection—Understanding VC Networks

essential to the functioning of VC and the technology-based industries in which VCs often invest. And in addition to person-to-person social networks, firm-to-firm networks are vital in both contexts.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

22 Feb 2011
News

Harvard B-School's Social Media Wizard

25 Feb 2020
News

Turning Point: Network Effects

nonprofit that develops national networks of volunteer mental health professionals who can provide free, confidential care to individuals experiencing an acute or chronic need for help. Our initial focus was veterans and their families,... View Details

Keywords: Bruce Shuttleworth (MBA 1997)

2016
Chapter

User-Generated Content and Social Media

By: Michael Luca

This paper documents what economists have learned about user-generated content (UGC) and social media. A growing body of evidence suggests that UGC on platforms ranging from Yelp to Facebook has a large causal impact on economic and social outcomes ranging from... View Details

Keywords: User-generated Content; Crowdsourcing; Design Economics; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Economics; Media; Social Media

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January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy

01 Feb 2017
News

Does “Liking” Lead to Loving? The Impact of Joining a Brand’s Social Network on Marketing Outcomes

30 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Professional Networks in China and America

States a rich field of study and one that's a specialty for Harvard Business School professor Roy Chua. Chua, a native of Singapore who speaks fluent Mandarin, draws on human psychology to better understand important social processes in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Women's World Banking: Catalytic Change Through Networks

By: James E. Austin and Susan Hamerling

Describes the evolution of Women's World Banking, an international microfinance nonprofit promoting financial access for poor women. Explores the organization's development of different types of networks to achieve its mission. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; History; Networks; Microfinance; Nonprofit Organizations; Gender; Growth and Development Strategy

2020
Working Paper

Socioeconomic Network Heterogeneity and Pandemic Policy Response

By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mohammad Akbarpour, Cody Cook, Aude Marzuoli, Simon Mongey, Matteo Saccarola, Pietro Tebaldi, Shoshana Vasserman and Hanbin Yang

We develop and implement a heterogeneous-agents network-based empirical model to analyze alternative policies during a pandemic outbreak. We combine several data sources, including information on individuals’ mobility and encounters across metropolitan areas,... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Policy; Outcome or Result; Analysis

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29 Sep 2020
Blog Post

Virtual Networking Tips from HBS Career Coaches

When you think of networking, the image that may come to mind first is shaking hands and filling up a small plate with cheese and crackers at a networking event. For some, this type of networking comes... View Details

28 Aug 2009
News

Faculty Pioneer Award in Social Entrepreneurship

07 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

Keywords: by Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Background Note

Social Enterprise in Latin America

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Karina Souza

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a region characterized... View Details

Article

The Global Rise of Democracy: A Network Account

By: Magnus Thor Torfason and Paul Ingram

We examine the influence of an interstate network created by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) on the global diffusion of democracy. We propose that IGOs facilitate this diffusion by transmitting information between their member states and by interpreting that... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Networks; Society; Transformation; Power and Influence; Country; Globalization

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March 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Knowledge Sharing at REMA 1000 (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Olivia Hull

A year after Norwegian grocery chain REMA 1000 adopted Workplace, Facebook’s enterprise social network, Chief Human Resource Officer Tore Høylie is asked to evaluate its impact on company culture and communication. Almost 90% of the workforce is engaged with the... View Details

Keywords: Social Network; Enterprise Social Media; Facebook; Workplace; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication Technology; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Knowledge Sharing; Social Media; Retail Industry; Norway

2007
Other Unpublished Work

Mind Over Matter? Similarities and Differences Between Perceived and Observed Networks

In spite of the rapid development of new methods for network analysis—relying on electronic data sources and sophisticated computational analysis—organizational scholars continue to rely largely on more traditional survey-based methods. We believe that the... View Details

Keywords: Surveys; Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks