Publications

June 2007 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Thomas J. Watson, IBM and Nazi Germany

By: Geoffrey Jones, Grace Ballor and Adrian Brown

Considers the strategy of U.S.-owned IBM, then a manufacturer of punch cards, in Nazi Germany before 1937. Opens with IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson meeting Adolf Hitler in his capacity as President of the International Chamber of Commerce. IBM had acquired a German company... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Values and Beliefs; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Germany; United States

2010
Working Paper

Growth through Heterogeneous Innovations

By: Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr

We study how exploration versus exploitation innovations impact economic growth through a tractable endogenous growth framework that contains multiple innovation sizes, multi-product firms, and entry/exit. Firms invest in exploration R&D to acquire new product lines... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Growth; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Size; Research and Development; United States

2024
Working Paper

Does Private Equity Have Any Business Being in the Health Care Business?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Zirui Song

Private Equity (“PE”) has come under increased scrutiny by the press, academics, and policymakers, as well as the public, for its investments in health care delivery. This scrutiny has been exacerbated by recent high profile hospital bankruptcies following PE... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Government Administration; Acquisition; Health Industry

SSRN

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December 2011
Case

PepsiCo India: Performance with Purpose

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

In 2010, PepsiCo India's management is working to translate PepsiCo's new mission, "Performance with Purpose," into practice in the India market. The mission calls for continued financial performance and market leadership, as well as greater emphasis on healthy... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; India

2017
Working Paper

The Role of Taxes in the Disconnect Between Corporate Performance and Economic Growth

By: Urooj Khan, Suresh Nallareddy and Ethan Rouen

We investigate the relation between the growth in corporate profits and the overall U.S. economy, focusing on the impact of the U.S. corporate tax regime on this relation. We document that the growth of corporate profits, on average, has outpaced the growth of the... View Details

Keywords: Taxes; Gdp; Corporate Profits; American Jobs Creation Act Of 2004; Taxation; Economic Growth; Profit; United States

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We use an important legal event to examine the effect of managerial fiduciary duties on equity-debt conflicts. A 1991 legal ruling changed corporate directors’ fiduciary duties in Delaware firms, limiting managers’ incentives to take actions that favor... View Details

07 Jun 2023
Blog Post

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

2023 about a case they read that made an impact on them, how the lessons will help them become leaders who make a difference, and more. Furman Haynes (MBA 2023) Furman is a member of Section H. He will be working to launch an... View Details

June 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Dana Hall: Funding a Mission (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Herman B. Leonard and Melissa Tritter

Dana Hall is a private all-girls school in New England facing a crisis in its mission. As social norms shift away from single-sex education, the school's enrollment is falling and deficits are becoming the norm. At the same time, the modern vision for girls' education... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Financing and Loans; Nonprofit Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Education Industry; England

August 2021
Case

Danone S.A.: Becoming a Mission-Driven Company (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Emilie Billaud

Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives). In fact, in 2018, he said, “It’s time to make sustainable business... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe

January 2025
Case

North Forty: Managing Liquidity through Change

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brad Towne

This case explores the interaction between spending and investment decisions at a family office, specifically the family office of Jeff and Tricia Raikes, with special emphasis on the management of spending, portfolio investments, and asset liquidity in the presence of... View Details

At Harvard, Rosabeth Moss Kanter is chair and director of the Advanced Leadership Initiative, a University-wide faculty group aimed at deploying a leadership force of experienced leaders who... View Details

08 May 2020
In Practice

Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On

Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School shared advice for nonprofits facing dire financial challenges. How can donors support social impact organizations... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

27 Oct 2015
News

Pay-For-Success is Working in Utah

08 Apr 2015
HBS Seminar

Susan Athey, Stanford Graduate School of Business

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Teaching Note

Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Four diverse women entrepreneurs launched their ventures in a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that was part of a shift to a creative technology-driven economy for Miami. Although Miami was rated the #1 U.S. city for startups in 2017, the region contained structural... View Details

Keywords: Women; Racism; Black Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Gender; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Innovation and Invention; City; Culture; Miami

2024
Working Paper

Open Source Software Policy in Industry Equilibrium

Open source software (OSS) is a form of public knowledge widely provided and relied on by the private sector. To study the effects of growing government involvement in this critical public good, I build a new empirical model where high-tech firms choose software inputs... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Precautionary Debt Capacity

By: Deniz Aydin and Olivia S. Kim

Firms with ample financial slack are unconstrained... or are they? In a field experiment that randomly expands debt capacity on business credit lines, treated small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) draw down 35 cents on the dollar of expanded debt capacity in... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Financing and Loans

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November 2020
Article

The Role of Taxes in the Disconnect Between Corporate Performance and Economic Growth

By: Urooj Khan, Suresh Nallareddy and Ethan Rouen

We investigate the relation between the growth in corporate profits and the overall U.S. economy, focusing on the impact of the U.S. corporate tax regime on this relation. We document that the growth of corporate profits, on average, has outpaced the growth of the... View Details

Keywords: Taxes; Gdp; Corporate Profits; American Jobs Creation Act Of 2004; Taxation; Economic Growth; Profit; United States