Public Management - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Oct 2003
What Do You Think?

Is “the Innovator’s Solution” to Sustained Corporate Growth an Unnatural Act?

spending your time on disruptive innovations!" M. P. Singh, a manager in the public sector, suggests, "Expecting corporate culture to tolerate or encourage radical change or innovation is like... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

successful, the economic engine runs backwards, and we become poorer, less educated, suffer from worse pollution, get sicker, and are miserable. We get Detroit. The demise of Detroit was easy to see and hard to address. Consider the causes: Decline of a major industry,... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

22 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

The COVID-19 Mutiny: When Teams Leave and Take Their Clients

"The biggest transition? Establishing a new Zoom account." Leadership integration—ensuring a fit between the acquiring firm’s top management and the team leader—has become part of the courtship phase. And remote work has radically... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Abrahams, Boris Groysberg, and Steven L. Manchel

30 Jun 2020
What Do You Think?

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

suggestions, including starting early (Kcorey: “How about connecting with youth at an earlier age who are interested in business?”), emulating efforts to bring women into management education (Roslyn Payne: “In the 1980’s when University... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

25 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

10 Reasons Customers Might Resist Windows 8

current software works well, then why should they change?" 3. Surprise, surprise!—Sudden change almost always faces resistance, Kanter says. To that end, Microsoft has made a point of preparing the public for Windows 8, briefing the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Computer; Consumer Products

04 Apr 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why Private Investors Must Fund 'New Nuclear' Power Right Now

Gates, and ThorCon Power, whose lead investor is Acadian Asset Management founder Gary Bergstrom, have publically committed to goals on cost (< $0.07/kwh), availability (full-scale demonstration by 2025)... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Lassiter; Energy; Green Technology

12 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

The Marketing of a President

funding, McCain ended up having to make some tough trade-offs regarding where to go and where to spend his money. Obama did not. Finally, Obama chose an excellent marketing and campaign team, and managed them well. From start to finish,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

29 May 2020
Op-Ed

How Leaders Are Fighting Food Insecurity on Three Continents

according to the Nwunelis. Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers, where Mezuo Nwuneli is the managing partner, provides capital and technical assistance to food and agriculture-focused small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence; Agriculture & Agribusiness

22 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

Publication:Academy of Management Annals Abstract The concept of imprinting has attracted considerable interest in numerous fields-including organizational ecology, institutional theory, network analysis, and career research-and has been... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: It’s Effective

came after several countries began requiring that companies report their metrics on environmental footprint, worker safety, and similar issues in a systematic, uniform way. But does this reporting actually lead to more responsible View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Nov 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Investors Have Too Much Accounting Transparency?

who wrote, "... legislative and regulatory response treats the symptoms (means) rather than the disease (motivation). Transparency is only as successful as the least creative obscurantist." He recommends, among other things, prohibiting "by regulation... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2025
Case

Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Barnett

In January 2025, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo considers strategies for continuing to grow Instacart from a grocery delivery platform to a holistic grocery technology company, including in-store grocery technology and expanding partnerships across the grocery sector. View Details

Citation

Educators

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

that's a mere 5 percent. Instead, overall, these managers ranked "recognition for good work (either public or private)" as the most important factor in motivating workers and making them happy.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

04 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Start to Measure Your E-commerce Success

stringent economic environment and the widely publicized negative impacts of many e-commerce initiatives has caused many senior managers to question the payoffs of e-commerce investments. As companies assess... View Details

Keywords: by Marc J. Epstein

21 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 21, 2007

innovating managers will instead segment their markets by the different jobs that customers might use their products for, their probability of success will be much higher. Understanding the job is much more important than understanding... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How Relationships are Building Biotech

Creativity (Oxford University Press) spells it all out. The Missing Link Higgins became interested in this missing link after watching a young biotech company go through two public offerings in the early 1990s. The observations she made... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Mallory Stark

17 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Brazil Teaches About Investor Protection

supposed to be bad, and there was little debate about what companies or managers could do about it. For me this just sounded too simplistic. Moreover, the focus on national laws led to policy recommendations that were sometimes too... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Banking; Financial Services

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

Corporations have responded to society's plea to provide innovative solutions to deep-seated problems of human misery. Organization and management scholarship can play an important role in understanding and guiding this corporate action.... View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Sona Comstar and Blackstone: Unlocking Value Through Business Transformation

By: Ranjay Gulati and Kanika Jain

Private equity firm Blackstone’s majority investment in automotive systems manufacturer Sona Comstar had culminated in the largest IPO in the Indian auto components industry in 2021, with stellar returns for all involved. This EV supplier was the result of a 2019... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Decision Making; Engineering; Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Initial Public Offering; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; Southeast Asia