Publications

Find at Harvard

February 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

ThirdLove

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

Keywords: Cohort Behavior; Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC); Lifetime Value (LTV)

17 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Expectations, Network Effects and Platform Pricing

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Hanna Hałaburda; Entertainment & Recreation

March 2021
Teaching Note

Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-043. This case study focuses on concepts, tools, and behaviors relevant to making sales calls along a typical progression with a prospect: from an initial phone call thru more in-depth discovery to a go/no-go meeting. The teaching... View Details

Keywords: Sales Calls; Sales; Competency and Skills

July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Timberland: Commerce and Justice

By: James E. Austin, Herman B. Leonard and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he pursued a strategy in which commerce and justice were "inextricably linked." Community involvement, environmental management, and global labor standards became not addenda to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Opportunities; Alignment; Business Strategy; Value

01 Mar 2018
News

New Marketplace Survey: Payers and Providers Remain Far Apart

November 2020
Case

The 1,000-Year Plan: Lee Kum Kee and Sustaining a Family Culture

By: Lauren Cohen, Dawn H. Lau and Billy Chan

The Lee family, whose Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee company has established itself as a legend within the Chinese and Asian sauce world, sets out to create a daring new vision of what family legacy means. With the family business having been established in 1888, and by... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Business and Community Relations; Organizational Structure; Strategic Planning

Research Summary

Fixed NAVs and Costly Puts: US Money Market Mutual Funds (with Peter Tufano)

US money market mutual fund investors have been granted an implicit put option that allows them to sell or redeem their shares at a fixed price of $1.00, regardless of the market value of the portfolio. We describe the institutional features that give rise... View Details

February 2014 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams

By: Tatiana Sandino

Indian cell phone retailer Go Mobile had implemented high-powered incentives to motivate its store employees to behave as owners and provide exceptional service. As the company scaled up, it faced multiple challenges in building a layer of district managers that were... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry; India

2020
Chapter

Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

Networking and the giving and receiving of advice outside of one's own firm are important features of entrepreneurship and innovation. We study how immigrants and natives utilize the potential networking opportunities provided by CIC, formerly known as the Cambridge... View Details

Keywords: Immigrants; Networking; Advice; Entrepreneurs; Inventors; Start-up Employees; Venturing; Co-working; Agglomeration; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Innovation and Invention; Social and Collaborative Networks

Read Now

July 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Narayana Murthy and Compassionate Capitalism

By: William W. George, Shailendra Jit Singh and Andrew N. McLean

Narayana Murthy's roles at Infosys Technologies--as a co-founder, longtime CEO, and nonexecutive chairman and chief mentor--has been marked by explosive growth, demanding management challenges, and widely lauded company leadership. His personal leadership philosophy... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Economic Systems; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Biography; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry; India

2011
Working Paper

Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice

By: Francois Brochet and Kyle Travis Welch

We study the role of executive functional background in explaining management discretion in financial reporting. Taking goodwill impairment as our reporting setting, we focus on top executives (CEOs and CFOs) whose employment history includes experience in investment... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Goodwill Accounting; Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Managerial Roles; Agency Theory

Read Now

April 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Commonwealth Care Alliance: Elderly and Disabled Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Jennifer F Baron

Individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, known as dual eligibles, are among the highest-cost beneficiaries in the US. Commonwealth Care Alliance, a small nonprofit insurer and care delivery system in Massachusetts, operated under a public demonstration... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Public Sector; Alliances; Policy; Age; Service Delivery; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Welfare; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

Article

The Information Technology Ecosystem: Structure, Health, and Performance

By: Marco Iansiti and Gregory L. Richards

A number of modern industries are organized as complex networks of firms whose integrated efforts are necessary to deliver value to end customers. The complexity of these networks, or business ecosystems, and the associated interdependencies among firms, make... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Networks; Value; Customers; Performance Productivity; Product; Applications and Software; Innovation and Invention; Competition; Business Model; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry