Urban Us - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Pittsburgh: A Successful City?

By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman

Pittsburgh, PA, was once the crown jewel of American heavy industry. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city was an undisputed leader in steel production, boasting some of the largest companies and wealthiest individuals in the world. Its abundance of... View Details

Keywords: Economic And Social Disparities; Economic Development; Local Economic Development; Contextual Intelligence; Contextual Knowledge; Context; City Growth; City Innovation; City Leadership; Pittsburgh; Local Government; Local Stakeholders; Business And Community; Business And Community Relations; Community Engagement; Community Relations; Cross-sector Collaboration; Innovation; Innovation Economy; Innovation Clusters; Innovation Ecosystems; Shared Prosperity; Equality Of Opportunity; Equity; Inclusion; Business And Government; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Government Relations; Business And Society; Neighborhoods; Race And Ethnicity; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Household; Income; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economics; Local Range; Urban Development; Urban Scope; City; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Growth and Development; History; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Public Sector; Social Issues; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Education Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Pittsburgh; Pennsylvania

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Educators

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04 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 4, 2018

factors influence individual creativity, as well as the contextual factors that impact creativity such as teams and leadership. The book takes research findings out of the lab and provides examples of these findings put to use in real... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

10 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 10

Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Nov 2012
Op-Ed

Stop Talking About the Weather and Do Something: Three Ways to Finance Sustainable Cities

The wrath of Hurricane Sandy has illuminated a fundamental question: How do we ensure that our cities are resilient in the face of inevitable future disasters? A destroyed city is not a sustainable city. I'm making the case that it's time to stop complaining about... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

work together to create all aspects of the urban environment. Also necessary are new systems and processes for helping cities operate efficiently and effectively, including the use of new information and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

urban landscapes to anchor growth, generate land-lease revenues, and display a capacious administration, Chinese urban governments exhibit varying levels of control over land. This article View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Increase Their Investment Impact

examined in an HBS case study, that provides prepaid power plans to poor urban and rural communities using energy derived from rice husks and solar power. Its model benefits both poor populations and the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities

in the rural areas where cable got started. By the end of the 1950s, however, cable technology had improved to the point where 12-channel systems were commonplace. 4 Cable entrepreneurs used these additional channels along with microwave... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Media & Broadcasting; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

The ABCs of Addressing Climate Change (From a Business Perspective)

zone. It's how financial managers cover the possibility of unlikely but high impact events. Why would asset owners—never mind groups of citizens—not want to use a probability-based approach to resilience of physical portfolios in the face... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Energy; Utilities

19 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Public Education Goes to School

organizational coherence in support of the strategy Developing and managing human capital Allocating resources in alignment with the strategy Using performance data for decision making and accountability Here's how these play out on the... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark; Education

07 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century

working to expand a fledgling business operating in a new, as yet largely undefined, market. Heinz and Noble believed that they had no time to lose. To make the most of the opportunity they saw before them, they would have to use their... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy F. Koehn

05 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 5, 2017

the capabilities they need. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52603 September 2017 Current History China Gambles on Modernizing Through Urbanization By: Looney, Kristen, and Meg Rithmire... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Designing Cities for a Sustainable Future

On a June day in Manhattan with temperatures heading into the 90s, a straphanger named Mike is taking his customary subway ride to work. People are grumbling about the heat, but hey, it's summer, it's supposed to be hot, and besides, "Whaddya gonna do?" New Yorkers... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Construction; Real Estate

07 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Off and Running: Professors Comment on Olympics

official International Olympic Committee (IOC) worldwide sponsors are said to pay $90 to $100 million each for the right to use the rings globally in their marketing efforts. These companies typically spend large additional amounts on... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Sports

15 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

A Mass Crisis Can Overwhelm Health Care. Liberia Found a Solution.

The ongoing pandemic is forcing a rethink of how the health care system operates in the United States as the death toll climbs, unemployment soars, and leaders debate how best to diagnose, vaccinate, and potentially treat millions of people. In the View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

16 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

The Unfulfilled Promise of Educational Technology

inventory without the use of technology," says John Jong-Hyun Kim, a senior lecturer and William Henry Bloomberg fellow at Harvard Business School. "And yet, schools have been slow to adopt and integrate technology in the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

14 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as a Beta Site for Business Innovation

Despite its long economic boom, America's social problems abound. To ensure future economic success, the country needs dramatic improvement in public schools, more highly skilled workers, jobs with a future for people coming off the welfare rolls, revitalized View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

08 Nov 2024
Op-Ed

How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis

budget is only about $31 billion, and that amount is intended to cover all areas of concern in all nations, according to the World Bank Group. Furthermore, the entire gross domestic product of Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, is only about $37 billion—and that... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Green Technology; Energy

06 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 6

emphasizes the role of local financial markets in enabling FDI to promote growth through backward linkages. Using realistic parameter values, we quantify the response of growth to FDI and show that an increase in the share of FDI leads to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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