Publications

25 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Who is to Blame for 'The Great Training Robbery'?

About $162 billion was spent in 2012 in the United States on corporate training—in what Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer calls the “the great training robbery.” Beer, the Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, says money pumped into... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Education

November 1990 (Revised April 1999)
Case

General Motors: Packard Electric Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Cost; Management Style; Product Design; Product Development; Production; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Technology; Auto Industry

November 2013 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital

By: Robert S. Huckman and Nikolaos Trichakis

The case explores the challenges facing Massachusetts General Hospital concerning the adoption of a new infection control policy, which promises to improve operational performance, patient safety, and profitability. The new policy requires coordination between... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Health Industry; Boston

September–October 2012
Article

Toward a New Culture for Corporate Boards

By: Robert C. Pozen

A decade of business scandals and regulatory reforms find corporate America... facing fresh scandals and calls for more reforms. Robert Pozen, former chair of MFS Investment, noted director, and Harvard Business School faculty member, wonders if we have been fixing the... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Change; United States

Find at Harvard

June 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Lotus Development Corp.: Spousal Equivalents (A)

A group of Lotus employees propose extending all health care and other benefits to the spousal equivalents of lesbian and gay employees. The vice president of human resources considers the proposal during a reorganization and period of financial uncertainty. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Diversity Characteristics; Compensation and Benefits

14 Jul 2021
News

Job-Hopping Toward Equity

29 May 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is the “Service Sector Effect” on Productivity?

Summing Up Do increases in social sector productivity, which seem to prevail at least in the U.S., benefit consumers at the expense of workers? Or is the scale weighted in favor of the latter who may benefit... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

25 Apr 2024
Blog Post

Climate Stories: Water Series - Episode #18: Tom Ferguson (MBA 2014) Venture Capitalist and Water Evangelist

effectively to influence federal and state legislation.” Tom conceded that water has its own idiosyncratic complexities that make it harder to provide market-based support in the same way that energy and... View Details

Research Summary

Current Research

Professor Chung models the effect of incentive compensation to study its impact on the sales force. Using data from a Fortune 500 company, he has developed a dynamic structural model of sales force response to a bonus-based compensation plan and examined how various... View Details

30 Apr 2012
News

Executive Salaries: How Much Is Too Much?

Rajiv Lal

Rajiv Lal, is the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching an elective MBA course on the Business of Smart Connected Products/IOT. He has been responsible for the retailing curriculum and has served as the course... View Details

September 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

J.P. Morgan Private Bank: Risk Management during the Financial Crisis 2008-2009

By: Anette Mikes, Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

Mary Erdoes, the CEO of JP Morgan's asset management business, and three colleagues provide insights into risk management issues faced by the firm's private bank during the financial crisis in 2008–2009. The case provides perspective on the philosophy with which they... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Banking Industry; United States

28 Jun 2016
News

Which MBAs Make More: Consultants or Small-Business Owners?

January 2008
Supplement

Joe Bachelder: Reflections

By: Brian Hall and James K. Sebenius

After Charles Suarez's failed compensation negotiations with Victor, Suarez's attorney, Joe Batchelder, joined class discussions of the case in a course taught by Professor Brian Hall. Professor James Sebenius also interviewed Joe Bachelder at length on this case and... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Attorney and Client Relationships; Negotiation Deal; Executive Compensation; Knowledge Sharing; Talent and Talent Management; Perspective; Organizations

October 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

GoPro: Becoming a Subscription Hero

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2021, Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro, was reviewing the company’s subscription offering, considering whether to extend it beyond benefits that were directly related to the company’s iconic camera. Founded in 2002, GoPro had gained renown for its innovative... View Details

Keywords: Subscription Model; Pricing; Lifestyle Brands; Value Proposition; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; California

Research Summary

Optimal Contracting with Reciprocal Agents

(with Florian Englmaier) (Job Market Paper)

Abstract: Empirically, compensation systems often seem to generate substantial effort despite weak incentives. We consider reciprocal motivations as a source of incentives. We solve for the optimal... View Details

November 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

International Paper (A)

Concerns the decision of International Paper, the world's largest pulp and paper corporation, about when to adopt the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106 (SFAS 106), "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions." SFAS... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Pulp and Paper Industry