small businesses - Publications - Faculty & Research

17 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

Recent events in Orlando underscore an important marketing truth: consumer safety and security are mission critical. A popular nightclub, Pulse, known as a safe place for the LGBT community, is put out of business at least temporarily by... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation

26 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 26, 2006

Working PapersScale Without Mass: Business Process Replication and Industry Dynamics Authors:Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee, Michael Sorell, and Feng Zhu Abstract Since the mid-1990s, productivity growth has accelerated in the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Expensing Options Doesn’t Solve the Problem

comprehensive disclosure will protect the investor against disaster. The tensions in the American business model surrounding the way companies measure and track their performance are much less black-and-white than the popular press would... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman

27 May 2022
Blog Post

Q&A with the HBS Armed Forces Alumni Association, MBA Class of 2023

The Armed Forces Alumni Association (AFAA) is a student-led club on campus for service members and veterans from all military branches and nations. The AFAA mission is to help talented veterans transition out of the military to Harvard View Details

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

the more eclectic business careers of the last few decades. His entrepreneurial journey culminated (at least temporarily) in the sale of his electric toothbrush company to Procter & Gamble for almost a half-billion dollars. Not bad... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

05 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Closing the Education Gap with Kei Takatsuka (MBA 2022)

Growing up in the countryside of Japan, Kei Takatsuka (MBA 2022) attended a small school with fifty other students. She had good friends and teachers and never imagined something might be missing until she moved to Nagoya, Japan for... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Technology; Entrepreneurship

22 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Moving to the Lower 48 from Alaska for my MS/MBA

a small town in Alaska - where wilderness survival and fishing were necessary parts of her childhood education. I grew up in Alaska, where we spent much of my childhood outdoors. Our house was on a dirt road outside of town, and we spent... View Details

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Jieliang Phone Home! (A)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; China

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Web

Alternative Investments Course | HBS Online

you how to think about business problems and arrive at a solution yourself." Sichao Ni Commercial Attaché, U.S. Embassy Singapore at U.S. Department of Commerce What You Earn Certificate of Completion Boost your resume with a Certificate... View Details

24 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

In Troubled Africa, Botswana Flowers

small and still relatively poor—it can't compare to the Chinese market, say, or to Brazil. But it has a very stable government, a solid financial and physical infrastructure, and a welcoming investment climate. It has vast potential as a... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

small open economy, final goods production is carried out by foreign and domestic firms, which compete for skilled labor, unskilled labor, and intermediate products. To operate a firm in the intermediate goods sector, entrepreneurs must... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

A Penny for Your Thoughts? For Big-Picture Ideas, the Right Pay Structure Matters

workers, key issues such as how employees are paid and how they view the scope of their jobs can be crucial to their willingness to contribute ideas that help the company thrive, says Susanna Gallani, assistant professor at Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

29 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

For Entrepreneurs, Blown Deadlines Can Crush Big Ideas

out of cash before solving the problem, Harvard Business School researchers write in Entrepreneurial Learning and Strategic Foresight, recently published in the Strategic Management Journal. For startups trying to hang on until their next... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Profile

Ted Obi

Why did you choose this path at this point in time? I halted my medical school journey because I was curious about the business of medicine and passionate about making a broader impact in the health care and life sciences industry.... View Details

24 Apr 2020
Op-Ed

Lessons from the NFL: Virtual Hiring, Leadership, Building Teams and COVID-19

Prospects from small schools are being hurt even more. The first ever HBCU Combine was cancelled, many college pro days were cancelled, and with the NFL cancelling in-person interviews the hurdles faced by HBCU and other View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Abbott , Boris Groysberg, Tali Groysberg, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Secret to Success: Go for “Just Enough”

success over the top. You may be immune to the grosser forms of celebration—how many really believed Dennis Koslowski's financial excesses at Tyco were a sign of good business leadership?—but culture is a strong shaper of worldview. These... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Nash & Howard Stevenson

24 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

The Yelp Factor: Are Consumer Reviews Good for Business?

In recent years, consumer review sites including Yelp, Citysearch, and TripAdvisor have become the first stop for recommendations on everything from dinner to dentists. Along the way, they've earned a loyal following from fans, but also the ire of View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

New Dean Sets Five Priorities for HBS

When Dean Nitin Nohria stepped onto the Burden Auditorium stage on the morning of October 1 to welcome a standing-room-only reunion crowd back to Harvard Business School, his audience was as attentive as any he had experienced in his... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Education

27 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

IBM Finds Profit in Diversity

company's Small and Medium-Sized Business Sales and Marketing organization from $10 million in 1998 to hundreds of millions of dollars in 2003. Another result of the task forces' work has been to create... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Thomas

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

whom were above median wealth. This finding suggests that an important part of the positive relationship between personal wealth and entrepreneurship may be driven by the fact that wealthy individuals with lower ability can start new View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Publications