Publications

21 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

With the advent of customer relationship management (CRM) in the late 1990s, companies came to believe that by using technology to tailor their offerings to individual consumers' needs, customer loyalty—and company profits—would... View Details

Keywords: by Jean Ayers

25 Jun 2001
Lessons from the Classroom

Machiavelli, Morals, and You

Stevens — we never learn his first name—set out early in life to become a great butler, one of the very best. He didn't want to get rich at it. He didn't care for fancy clothes. What Stevens wanted more than anything, according to HBS professor View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

31 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

The Faculty Reader: Who is Reading What This Summer?

Chinua Achebe, A Daughter of Han, by Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai, and No Future Without Forgiveness, by Desmond Tutu. Joseph Fuller There is something special about visiting your local... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Information; Publishing

02 Jun 2011
What Do You Think?

Is it Time for a National Bankruptcy?

the risks are no longer connected to individuals who possess the incentive, power and capability to take action and manage the risks." Stephen Basikoti agreed, noting that "creditors have already shown themselves incapable of making better decisions View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Tales of the Newly-minted MBA

H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference to tell their stories—the ups, downs, and detours that brought them to where they are today. "I moved back home. That's where I started," said Joseph Williams (HBS MBA '99), cofounder of Wakefield... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Spirit at Work: The Search for Deeper Meaning in the Workplace

"spiritual anchors for the new millennium." Clearly, something of a nonmaterial nature is stirring in the corporate temple. But questions abound. Just what does it mean to bring spirituality into the workplace? Is this an appropriate way to help people feel... View Details

Keywords: by Marguerite Rigoglioso

April 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Stalin’s Capitalists: American Business and Soviet Industrialization

By: Jeremy Friedman, Jingyu Liu and Christine Riggle

In the late 1920s and early 1930s when Joseph Stalin, leader of the world’s first Communist state, sought to industrialize his largely peasant country on an unprecedented scale, he turned for help to those who had the most experience constructing on such a scale:... View Details

Keywords: Communism; Industrialization; Socialism; History; Industry Growth; Economic Systems; Soviet Union

20 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

At a recent Harvard Business School conference, dozens of CEOs committed to the idea of working toward "higher-ambition" goals that go beyond just short-term shareholder value. Inspired by the book Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

Property), lured by the prospect of exciting careers in a hot market. But the question arises: After several boom years, is commercial real estate ripe for another fall? I don't see risks that you would associate with a bubble.—Stephen... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

Article

The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership

By: Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine

Agency theory, a new model of governance promulgated by academic economists in the 1970s, is behind the idea that corporate managers should make shareholder value their primary concern and that boards should ensure they do. The theory regards shareholders as owners of... View Details

Keywords: Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Corporate Governance

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26 Mar 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How Do Great Leaders Overcome Adversity?

Keywords: Re: Anthony Mayo

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Most Accountants Aren’t Crooks—Why Good Audits Go Bad

bias and moderate its ill effects. Only then can we be assured of the reliability of the financial reports issued by public companies and ratified by professional accountants. Professional accountants might... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore; Accounting; Financial Services

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Three Steps for Crisis Prevention

Bazerman Failures of prioritization arise when potential threats are recognized by leaders but not deemed sufficiently serious to warrant immediate attention. Monsanto fell into this trap in late 1999 when CEO Robert Shapiro and his... View Details

Keywords: by Michael D. Watkins & Max H. Bazerman

2007
Book

The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders Are the Key to Succession Planning

By: Joseph L. Bower

With rising CEO turnover, companies are increasingly looking outside for qualified candidates. Sure, externally recruited CEOs bring fresh perspectives and connections. But they lack the in-depth knowledge of the company's culture and history that they need to succeed.... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership Development; Management Succession

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March 2015
Case

West Coast Chill

By: William A. Sahlman, Robert F. White and Stephanie Puzio

The fall of 2010 marked the 20th year that Mitchell Joseph, a fourth generation beverage executive, serial entrepreneur, and the founder of the Joseph Company (the "Company"), had been working on developing the technology for a self-chilling can. Mitchell was at an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

April 2012
Case

Bella Healthcare India

By: Dorothy Leonard and Sunru Yong

Bella Healthcare India was originally established in Bangalore as a low-cost manufacturing facility for a U.S.-based cardiology equipment developer. Under country manager Joseph Cherian it evolved considerably, developing its own research and development capabilities.... View Details