Publications

21 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Company?

morale, and impair the organization’s overall performance. Unlike the human interference instigated by operatives for the CIA, business leaders don’t typically throw up these work obstacles intentionally. After all, they may actually... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

The Ownership of Deep Metaphors

By: Gerald Zaltman

Deep metaphors are basic orienting structures of human thought. They guide in subtle and overt ways how customers and managers process information about any product, service, or activity and event. It is essential for a firm to understand deep metaphors as they are... View Details

Research Summary

Dawn Matsumoto's research investigates managers' financial reporting decisions including the incentives driving these decisions and the impact of these decisions on capital market participants. She is interested in the role of financial intermediaries (such as... View Details

27 Jul 2020
Book

Reflection: The Pause That Brings Peace and Productivity

what to do and when. “That is your call,” he says. What the design principles provide is a template for sound reflection in a hectic world. [div class=infogram-embed data-id=_/VZte60GUZvifD3GzJskt][/div] 1: Aim for good enough For many of the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Overview

Start Up Strategy and Management

Bussgang’s research focuses on applying Lean Startup principles to early-stage technology companies as well as the challenges and opportunities when scaling startups. His work led to the creation of the MBA elective course... View Details

2013
Book

Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed and How We Can Stick to the Plan

By: Francesca Gino

You may not realize it but simple, irrelevant factors can have profound consequences on your decisions and behavior, often diverting you from your original plans and desires. Sidetracked will help you identify and avoid these influences so the decisions you make do... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision-making; Judgment; Decisions; Strategy; Behavior; Ethics; Attitudes

Find at Harvard

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

operations? A: We don't have a preferred position on strategy formulation methodologies. We have seen each approach lead to success in different circumstances. If, for example, the company has low capital utilization, then some use of a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2009
Case

Berkshire Hathaway

By: Bharat N. Anand and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti

Berkshire Hathaway describes the history and strategy of one of the best known investment firms over the last forty years. The case describes the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett, its legendary chairman and CEO, the gradual diversification of its portfolio, its... View Details

Keywords: History; Private Equity; Diversification; Resource Allocation; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Strategy; Investment; Corporate Governance

2016
Working Paper

Mapping the Economic Grand Tour: Travel and International Emulation in Enlightenment Europe

By: Sophus A. Reinert

As the itinerant wizard (technically one of the Maiar, if not the Istari) Gandalf wrote to the then domestically-inclined hobbit Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Indeed, as the recent brouhaha over the... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Globalization

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November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga

On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Prejudice and Bias; Crisis Management; Employees; Training

27 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 27, 2007

Working PapersFrom Manufacturing to Design: An Essay on the Work of Kim B. Clark Authors:Sylvain Lenfle and Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract Kim Clark occupies a unique place in management scholarship. As a member of the Technology and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2022
Teaching Note

Sawiris Foundation: Elevating Education in Egypt

By: Brian Trelstad and Alpana Thapar

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-023. Founded in 2001 by the Sawiris family, one of the wealthiest families in Egypt, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) invested in human capital and provision of basic social services for the most marginalized... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Development; Human Capital; Equality and Inequality; Education; Business Strategy; Social Enterprise; Social Issues; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; Egypt

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

medium-sized, for-profit retailing organization. You have been asked to approve changes to the company’s orientation program that probably would not have crossed your desk several years ago. Your human resources group has proposed changes... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2020
Working Paper

How Do Private Equity Fees Vary Across Public Pensions?

By: Juliane Begenau and Emil Siriwardane

We study how investment fees vary within private-capital funds. Net-of-fee return clustering suggests that most funds have two tiers of fees, and we decompose differences across tiers into both management and performance-based fees. Managers of venture capital funds... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Fee Dispersion; Search And Negotiation Frictions; Private Equity; Investment Funds

SSRN

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December 2009
Article

Catering Through Nominal Share Prices

By: Malcolm Baker, Robin Greenwood and Jeffrey Wurgler

We propose and test a catering theory of nominal stock prices. The theory predicts that when investors place higher valuation on low-price firms, managers will maintain share prices at lower levels, and vice-versa. Using measures of time-varying catering incentives... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Stock Shares; Investment; Investment Return; Price; Theory; Valuation

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Hise Gibson graduated from West Point, where he was a member of the Division-1A Army football team. Following graduation, he commissioned in the US Army as an Aviation Officer in the UH60 Blackhawk Helicopter. He served with distinction in various command and staff... View Details

29 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Is There a Method to Musk’s Madness on Twitter?

and even foolhardy. Some in tech suggest there’s more of a “move fast, break things” strategy to it than perhaps meets the eye. How does it look to you? Wu: We shouldn’t be surprised by the management style that Musk is taking to Twitter.... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Technology

12 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 12, 2006

human capital are also important for the effect of FDI on economic growth. Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-013.pdf Architectural Innovation and Dynamic Competition: The Smaller... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2019
Case

Mahindra Finance

By: V.G. Narayanan and Tanvi Deshpande

Mahindra Finance is a non-banking lender operating mainly in the rural and semi-urban areas of India. Set up in 1991, the company had grown to become a market leader with assets of $8.5 billion and a presence in 3,30,000 villages across India. Since most of Mahindra's... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Model; Volatility; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Credit; Financing and Loans; Service Delivery; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; India