Publications

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16 Aug 2024
In Practice

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

Ahead of the Democratic National Convention, HBS Working Knowledge gathered insights from Harvard Business School faculty about what’s at stake for companies, and how the election might impact workplaces. They offer an assessment as the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

20 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Users Love Ello, But What’s the Business Model?

that social media users are increasingly attracted to the idea of such a model. But funding it without advertising's help won't be easy. Two digital marketing experts, Harvard Business School professors John Deighton, the Harold M.... View Details

Keywords: Re: John A. Deighton & Sunil Gupta; Publishing; Financial Services

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

02 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Food Stamp Entrepreneurs: How Public Assistance Enables Business Bootstrapping

"Delivering phone books is the worst way to spend a Sunday when you're a kid," says Olds, now an assistant professor in the Entrepreneurship Management unit at Harvard Business School. The family lived paycheck to paycheck. And... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

Article

Creating Ecotourism in Costa Rica, 1970–2000

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

Between the 1970s and the 2000s, Costa Rica became established as the world’s leading ecotourism destination. This article argues that although Costa Rica benefited from biodiversity and a pleasant climate, the country’s preeminence in ecotourism requires more than a... View Details

Keywords: Ecotourism; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Tourism; Green Business; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; History; Business History; Tourism Industry; Latin America; Costa Rica

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22 Apr 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Immigrant Entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners 2007 & 2012

Keywords: by Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

concerned about the outcomes of business practices and products on our global society, and evaluate leaders accordingly." Yadeed Lobo commented that "the mark of a great leader is the impression they leave on any employee."... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

October 19, 2021
Article

The Facebook Trap

By: Andy Wu

Facebook has a clear mission: Connect everyone in the world. Clarity is good, but in Facebook’s case, it has also put the company in a bind because the mission—and the company’s vision for creating value through network effects—has also become the source of its biggest... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Mission and Purpose; Network Effects; Value Creation; Corporate Accountability; Strategy

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29 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed in Business (According to a 15th Century Trade Merchant)

In what could be considered the first business how-to book, an Italian merchant from the 1400s advises leaders to be charitable, ethical, and treat people fairly; be modest; look for the right qualities in a wife; be selective in deals;... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

2019
Article

Industrie-Holding: Creating a Community of Interest among Swiss 'Multinationals'

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focuses on the genesis and evolution of Industrie-Holding, a federation of Swiss multinationals, from 1942 onwards. Thanks to recent donations from the Alusuisse and Hero archives, historians now have access to the minutes of the Industrie-Holding... View Details

Keywords: Business ＆ Government Relations; Multinationals; Lobbying; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Switzerland

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January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Government And Business; Digital Infrastructure; Political Risk; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Information Infrastructure; Technology Industry; China; United States

2014
Working Paper

Bridging Science and Technology Through Academic-Industry Partnerships

By: Sen Chai and Willy C. Shih

Scientific research and its translation into commercialized technology is a driver of wealth creation and economic growth. Partnerships to foster the translational processes from public research organizations, such as universities and hospitals, to private firms are a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Firm Performance; Public-private Partnership Funding; Translational Research; Small And Medium Enterprises; Partners and Partnerships; Public Sector; Private Sector; Performance; Science-Based Business; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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January 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Simplifyy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Jake Lisby, co-founder and CEO of Simplifyy, a property technology startup in Kansas City, Missouri, was both exhausted and exhilarated by the flurry of activity surrounding the pivot of the business model in late 2021. Simplifyy, a venture-backed PropTech company, was... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; SaaS Business Models; Business Model; Business Startups; Small Business; Geographic Location; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Real Estate Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; Missouri

March 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Harmonic Hearing Co.

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Craig H. Stephenson

Harmonic is a small, privately held manufacturer of hearing aids. Harriet Burns and Marc Davis, two employees at Harmonic, have an opportunity to purchase the company from the founder. As well-informed insiders who understand the industry, Burns and Davis believe the... View Details

Keywords: Debts; Quantitative Analysis; Financing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Development Stage Enterprises; Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Small Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Manufacturing Industry

2023
Working Paper

Trading Off Business and Family Investments: Evidence from U.S. Entrepreneurial Households

By: Olivia S Kim

Keywords: Downsizing; Small Business; Work-Life Balance; Household

March 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Clara Wu Tsai and Brooklyn Loan Innovation

By: Archie L. Jones, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Henry McGee

Philanthropist Clara Wu Tsai is committed to racial equity and investing in Brooklyn-based minority business owners. In the wake of the George Floyd murder, she decides to create a new initiative called the Social Justice Fund and commit an initial $50 million over 10... View Details

Keywords: Minority-owned Businesses; Racial Equity; Entrepreneurship; Race; Values and Beliefs; Small Business; Partners and Partnerships; Social Issues; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Brooklyn

November 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

SANY: Going Global

By: Rajiv Lal, Stefan Lippert, Nancy Hua Dai and Di Deng

April 17, 2012, was a special day for SANY Group and for its founder Liang Wen'gen. Headquartered in Changsha, SANY Group had transformed itself in two decades from a small welding material factory in 1989 to a leading global construction equipment manufacturer with 5... View Details

Keywords: China; Expansion; Business Growth; Heavy Industry; Strategy Development; Globalization; Growth and Development; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Asia; China; Europe; Germany; India; North and Central America; South America