Publications

2015
Chapter

What Is Regional Strategy? Lessons from Business Strategy

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Regional policy, especially in Europe, makes increasing reference to the notion of strategy, a conceptual tool developed in the area of business studies. This chapter reviews some key aspects of strategy as defined by the so-called "positioning school" and discusses... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Regional Policy; Strategic Planning; Globalized Economies and Regions; Competition; Policy

May 2014 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Intellectual Property Strategy at North Technology Group—Sailing Downwind

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and William W. Fisher III

North Sails is the world's leading sailmaker. The company commands a global market share of more than 50% and is largely responsible for the rapid technological progress in the sailmaking industry over the past 30 years. CEO Tom Whidden needs to consider how to best... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Intellectual Property

Educators

December 2011
Article

Economics Education and Greed

By: Long Wang, Deepak Malhotra and J. Keith Murnighan

The recent financial crisis, and repeated corporate scandals, raise serious questions about whether a business school education contributes to what some have described as a culture of greed. The dominance of economic-related courses in MBA curricula led us to assess... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Ethics; Attitudes; Business Education; Economics; Education

2008
Working Paper

Attracting Flows by Attracting Big Clients: Conflicts of Interest and Mutual Fund Portfolio Choice

By: Lauren Cohen and Breno Schmidt

We explore a new channel for attracting inflows using a unique dataset of corporate 401(k) retirement plans and their mutual fund family trustees. Families secure substantial inflows by being named trustee of a 401(k) plan. This affords the plan sponsor potential... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Conflict of Interests; Financial Services Industry

October, 2023
Article

Cleaning Up the Great Lakes: Housing Market Impacts of Removing Legacy Pollutants

By: Alecia Cassidy, Robyn C. Meeks and Michale R. Moore

The Great Lakes and their tributaries make up the largest freshwater system on the planet, providing drinking water and recreational value to millions of people. Yet manufacturing plants left a legacy of toxic pollutants in the region, tarnishing it as part of the... View Details

Keywords: Valuation Of Environmental Effects; Housing Demand; Water Pollution; Water Quality; Infrastructure; Pollution; Consumer Behavior

06 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 6

http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/web/product_detail.seam?R=710410-PDF-ENG&conversationId=264137&E=1234203 Daqi Harvard Business School Case 309-113 In 2008, Daqi was one of the largest Internet portals for user-generated content and the leading word-of-mouth... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Photo Galleries - Alumni

of purchase for photos is based on processing and shipping costs. Harvard Business School does not benefit from the sale of any photographs. Login is required to access the photo galleries. SPRING REUNIONS 2025 One-Year Reunion Class of... View Details

02 May 2023
What Do You Think?

How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All?

humanity. Clearly, AI is a big deal with large potential benefits and, at the moment, largely unknown risks for society. It will get more important fast. Why? Two tech giants, Microsoft and Google, are competing for first-mover advantage... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Information Technology; Technology

Web

Research - Managing the Future of Work

Research Research Featured Reports The Partnership Imperative: Community Colleges, Employers, & America’s Chronic Skills Gap By: Joseph B. Fuller & Manjari Raman Healthy Outcomes: How employers' support for employees with caregiving responsibilities can View Details

November 2023
Case

Will Fintechs and Central Banks Play in Emtech's Sandbox?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

In February 2023, Emtech’s founder Carmelle Cadet is facing a dilemma. Rapidly running out of cash, Cadet has a term sheet from a leading VC but has a choice of how to structure the investment. The decision will have significant implications for Cadet’s own stake, as... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Currency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Digital Platforms

Educators

2021
Working Paper

Venture Capital's 'Me Too' Moment

By: Sophie Calder-Wang, Paul A. Gompers and Patrick Sweeney

In this paper, we document the historically low rate of hiring of women in the venture capital sector. We find that the high-profile Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins gender discrimination trial had dramatic treatment effects. In difference-in-differences regressions, we... View Details

Keywords: Gender Discrimination; Founders; Venture Capital; Selection and Staffing; Gender; Lawsuits and Litigation

Article

A Theories-in-Use Approach to Building Marketing Theory

By: G. Zaltman, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Bernard Jaworski, Ajay K. Kohli, Kapil R. Tuli and Wolfgang Ulaga

This article’s objective is to inspire and provide guidance on the development of marketing knowledge based on the theories-in-use (TIU) approach. The authors begin with a description of the TIU approach and compare it with other inductive and deductive research... View Details

Keywords: Building Theory; Grounded Theory; Theories-in-use; Theory Construction; Theory Development; Marketing; Knowledge; Theory

Register to Read

March 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Compass Group: The Ascension Health Decision

By: Ryan W. Buell

In 2012, Compass Group (Compass) was on the verge of closing a $2 billion deal with Ascension Health (Ascension), one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Under the deal, Compass would provide foodservice management and cleaning services for 86 of... View Details

Keywords: Operations Strategy; Sectorization; Operational Focus; Customer Compatibility; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Health Industry; United States

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

benefits from racial diversity but that diversity is a liability when society's negative stereotypes about racial minorities' competence inhibit such interactions. We analyze two years of data from 496 retail bank branches to investigate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Will the “Long Tail” Work for Hollywood?

Much has been written about the long tail phenomenon in the entertainment industries. Long-tail enthusiasts claim that low-selling books, CDs, and movies, which are not available in brick-and-mortar stores, will collectively take up a majority share of the market over... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation

2025
Working Paper

CEO-Firm Matches and Productivity in 42 Countries

By: Amanda Dahlstrand, Dávid László, Helena Schweiger, Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Firms are key to economic development, and CEOs are key to firm productivity. Are firms in countries at varying stages of development led by the right CEOs, and if not, why? We develop a parsimonious measure of CEO time use that allows us to differentiate CEOs into... View Details

Keywords: Training; Management Skills; Economic Growth; Leadership Development

2024
Working Paper

Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710

By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu

We examine the lifespan of over 40,000 elites in Japan born between 710 and 1912, including samurai warriors, feudal lords, business, political, cultural, and religious leaders at the apex of the social hierarchy. Japanese elites experienced increases in lifespan about... View Details

Keywords: Life Expectancy; Status and Position; Health; History; Human Capital; Japan

October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Veeva Systems: The Next Frontier

By: Satish Tadikonda and William Marks

Born out of a desire to bring technological advances in enterprise software into the healthcare vertical, Peter Gassner and Matt Wallach founded Veeva to bring life sciences companies into the digital age for data management in both the commercial and R&D sectors. Over... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Governance Compliance; Applications and Software; Growth Management; Expansion; Technology Industry

Educators

2023
Working Paper

Algorithm Failures and Consumers' Response: Evidence from Zillow

By: Isamar Troncoso, Runshan Fu, Nikhil Malik and Davide Proserpio

In November 2021, Zillow announced the closure of its iBuyer business. Popular media largely attributed this to a failure of its proprietary forecasting algorithm. We study the response of consumers to Zillow’s iBuyer business closure. We show that after the iBuyer... View Details

Keywords: Algorithmic Pricing; Price; Forecasting and Prediction; Consumer Behavior; Real Estate Industry