Publications

June 2024
Case

Vinalhaven: The Downtown Project

By: Richard S. Ruback, Matthew Preble, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb

Vinalhaven is an island community located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Maine. The island has a year-round population of about 1,300 people as of 2022, with an additional 3,000 people who reside on the island in the summer months. The two largest industries... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Natural Environment; Weather; Sustainable Cities; Forecasting and Prediction; Construction; Property; Infrastructure; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Project Finance; Negotiation; United States; Maine

April 2020 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Singapore: 'Facing Challenges Together'

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Since its expulsion from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore had transformed itself from a third world island nation into a vibrant city-state with one of the highest levels of GDP per capita in the world. However, sluggish demand among Singapore's major trade partners began... View Details

2012
Case

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Olivia Leskinen

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A) 2009 AL Fellow Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and seemed to address a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from... View Details

2008
Article

Diversification of Chinese Companies: An International Comparison

By: Joseph P.H. Fan, Jun Huang, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Troy D. Smith and Mengxin Zhao

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001-2005 period. The reasons why publicly listed Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere are... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; State Ownership; Diversification; China

Research Summary

Industry Dynamics in Post-Socialist Economies

Robert E. Kennedy is studying industry dynamics in post-Socialist economies, primarily Poland. His research to date has focused on how structural factors influence industry transitions. In Poland he has found two distinct patterns: rapid transition, driven primarily... View Details

May 2022
Article

Investment as the Opportunity Cost of Dividend Signaling

By: Zach Kaplan and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos

We provide evidence that firms with weak investment opportunities (those whose current earnings justify a greater valuation than firms with strong investment opportunities) signal their permanent earnings level through their dividends. In the cross-section, we show... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Earnings; Investment Opportunities; Payout Policy; Signaling; Capital Structure; Business Earnings; Investment; Opportunities

2009
Working Paper

Asset Specificity and Vertical Integration: Williamson's Hypothesis Reconsidered

By: Christian Alejandro Ruzzier

A point repeatedly stressed by transaction cost economics is that the more specific the asset, the more likely is vertical integration to be optimal. In spite of the profusion of empirical papers supporting this prediction, recent surveys and casual observation suggest... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Vertical Integration

June 12, 2017
Article

Corporate Balance Sheets in Emerging Markets: A Comparison of the Global Crisis and the Asian Financial Crisis

By: Laura Alfaro, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari and Ugo Panizza

Leverage levels in emerging market firms rose dramatically in the aftermath of the Global Crisis. This column examines whether concerns of a repeat of the Asian financial crisis, which was largely attributed to corporate financial roots, are justified. While firm... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Emerging Markets; System Shocks

2007
Book

A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics: What Managers, Executives, and Students Need to Know

By: David A. Moss

Now more than ever before, executives and managers need to understand their larger economic context. In The Concise Guide to Macroeconomics, David Moss leverages his many years of teaching experience at Harvard Business School to lay out important macroeconomic... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Money; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

February 2003
Background Note

Identity Issues in Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

This note explains how identity dynamics underlie many of the observable interpersonal problems that team members encounter, ranging from lack of participation and low involvement to misunderstandings and dysfunctional emotional conflict. It provides a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Managerial Roles; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Emotions; Identity

2013
Working Paper

Imprinting: Toward A Multilevel Theory

By: Christopher Marquis and Andras Tilcsik

The concept of imprinting has attracted considerable interest in numerous fields—including organizational ecology, institutional theory, network analysis, and career research—and has been applied at several levels of analysis, from the industry to the individual. This... View Details

Keywords: History; Situation or Environment; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

SSRN

March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

After providing a brief overview of Turner Construction Co.'s structure and project work, the case gives a detailed description of its project management control system, the IOR system. In addition to explaining the mechanics of the IOR system, the case identifies the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Cost Management; Performance Evaluation; Risk Management; Strategic Planning; Planning; Management Systems; Management Teams; Construction Industry

Article

How Market Power Affects Dynamic Pricing: Evidence from Inventory Fluctuations at Car Dealerships

By: Ayelet Israeli, Fiona Scott-Morton, Jorge Silva-Risso and Florian Zettelmeyer

This paper investigates empirically the effect of market power on dynamic pricing in the presence of inventories. Our setting is the auto retail industry; we analyze how automotive dealerships adjust prices to inventory levels under varying degrees of market power. We... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Market Power; Pricing; Price Discrimination; Inventory Production; Marketing; Price; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

2017
Chapter

Upgrading Regional Competitiveness: What Role for Regional Governments?

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The literature on the competitiveness of locations has traditionally focused on countries. Over the last decade, however, subnational regions have gained increasing attention both as a level of analysis and as a level for policy making. This chapter aims to explore... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Regions; Economic Policy; Competition; Geographic Scope; Governance; Economy; Policy

December 2008
Article

Corporate Governance and Agency Conflicts

By: Aiyesha Dey

I investigate whether corporate governance is associated with the level of agency conflicts in firms. I employ exploratory principal components analysis on 22 individual governance variables to obtain seven factors that represent the different dimensions of governance... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Agency Theory

Summer 2018
Article

Why High-Tech Commoditization Is Accelerating

By: Willy C. Shih

Knowledge embedded within state-of-the-art production and design tools is a powerful force that is leveling the global technology playing field. It democratizes innovation and makes future competition more challenging. This paper describes the knowledge flows through... View Details

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2012
Chapter

Structuring Consulting Firms

By: Tim Morris, Heidi K. Gardner and N. Anand

This chapter presents a model of the way in which consulting and other professional-service firms organize themselves and grow. We will argue that the fundamental structural-design challenge for consulting firms, like other professional firms, is to adapt appropriately... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Service Operations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Projects; Groups and Teams; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

June 2023
Case

Launching Egypt’s First Digital Banking Platform: QNB Bebasata

By: Mark Egan, Billy Chan and Ahmed Dahawy

The leadership team at QNB Alahli, Egypt's second biggest private bank, looked back on their efforts to create a brand-new, fully digital banking platform since 2019. A digital-only banking service was unprecedented in Egypt, a country where over 90% of financial... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Product Launch; Finance; Banking Industry; Egypt