Publications

March 2006
Background Note

A Note on Applying Dimensional Analysis to Understand Cost Drivers

Describes the basics of how to break down costs into productivity and input prices and then compare those cost drivers between competitors. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Competitive Strategy

28 Aug 2018
News

Bargain Hunters Beware: A Store's 'Original Price' Might Not Be After All

Natalia Garbiras-Diaz

Natalia received her Ph.D. in Political Science in 2021 from the University of California, Berkeley, where she is currently a Research Associate at the Center on the Politics of Development. Prior to joining Harvard Business School, she was a Max Weber Fellow at... View Details

2016
Book

An Easy Introduction to Financial Accounting: A Self-Study Guide

By: V.G. Narayanan

This book is a self-study guide written for someone who wishes to teach themselves basic financial accounting. It is based on a course by the same author that has been successfully completed by thousands of students worldwide. It explains concepts in simple language... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Introduction To Financial Accounting; HBX; HBX CORe; HBX CORe Financial Accounting; Introduction To Accounting; Accounting

Research Summary

Overview

By: Andy Zelleke

US-China relations; boards of directors and comparative corporate governance; leadership; the intersection of business and government, especially in relation to foreign policy/national security. View Details

07 Mar 2013
HBS Seminar

Mike Toffel, Harvard Business School

August 1991 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

What Is Industrial Marketing?

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Discusses the key distinguishing aspects of industrial as compared to consumer marketing. These differences are highlighted for organizational as well as marketing mix aspects. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Marketplace Matching; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Core Relationships; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

April 1990 (Revised August 1993)
Case

NIKE in China (Abridged)

By: James E. Austin

Nike is reviewing its strategy for producing shoes in China for the U.S. market. Compares the experience in China with that in other countries. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China; United States

Organizations today can use both crowds and experts to produce knowledge. While prior work compares the accuracy of crowd-produced and expert-produced knowledge, we compare bias in these two models in the context of contested knowledge, which involves subjective,... View Details

January 2002 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Publishing Group of America (A)

By: Jay O. Light, Michael J. Roberts and Taslim Pirmohamed

A small start-up in the publishing business compares three possible alternatives for its new round of equity financing. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Equity; Financing and Loans; Information Publishing; United States

Paula Rettl is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. Her primary areas of expertise are comparative politics, political economy and political behavior, with a focus on Latin America and... View Details

Article

Assessing the Value of Pediatric Aerodigestive Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Chris Hartnick, Mahek Shah, Steven M. Coppess, Alisa Yamasaki, Kaalan E. Johnson, Jeremy Prager, Christopher T. Wootten, Thomas Gallagher and Evan Propst

Leaders at six hospitals conducted a research study to assess and compare the health outcomes and costs of pediatric aerodigestive care. Four of the hospitals delivered care with an integrated practice unit (IPU) while two delivered care traditionally, with isolated... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Value-based Health Care; Integrated Practice Unit; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Performance Improvement

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27 May 2015
News

Jon Stewart talks "Move" with Rosabeth Moss Kanter

June 2014
Article

Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement

By: A.W. Brooks

Individuals often feel anxious in anticipation of tasks such as speaking in public or meeting with a boss. I find that an overwhelming majority of people believe trying to calm down is the best way to cope with pre-performance anxiety. However, across several studies... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Attitudes; Performance

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Forthcoming
Article

Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers

By: Mengjie Cheng and Shunyuan Zhang

The growth of the influencer marketing industry warrants an empirical examination of the effect of posting sponsored videos on influencers' reputations. We collected a novel dataset of user-generated YouTube videos created by prominent English-speaking influencers in... View Details

Keywords: Reputation; Mathematical Methods; Marketing Reference Programs; Social Media; Brands and Branding

March 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Layoffs in the Tech Industry: 2022–2023

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Marilyn Morgan Westner

This case examines the mass layoffs that swept through the tech industry (2022-2023) through the lens of four companies: Twitter, Stripe, Meta, and Google. How these companies implemented workforce change through mass layoffs raises critical questions applicable beyond... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Human Resource Management; Workforce Reductions; Ethics; Human Resources; Management; Values and Beliefs; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Compensation and Benefits; Technology Industry; United States; United Kingdom

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Competition of Countries

globalization, and which strategies have you found to be the most effective? Richard H. K. Vietor: Each country—especially successful countries—deploys distinctive strategies for economic development. These strategies must fit their unique social, physical, and... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

Forthcoming
Article

Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis and Kyle Schirmann

This paper reports causal evidence on how the extent of hybrid work—the number of days worked from home relative to days worked from office—affects employee attitudes and performance. Workers who spent around two days in the office each week on average self-reported... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Performance Consistency; Employees; Work-Life Balance

February 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Background Note

Note on Valuing Private Businesses

By: Dwight B. Crane and Indra Reinbergs

This case provides a brief overview of valuation for owners of closely held companies. The focus is on a comparable transactions approach, although rules of thumb and discounted cash flow are mentioned. Earnings multiples and their drivers are discussed. It uses... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Finance; Cash Flow; Analytics and Data Science; Private Ownership; Valuation