Publications

December 2014
Article

No Margin, No Mission? A Field Experiment on Incentives for Public Services Delivery

By: Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera and B. Kelsey Jack

A substantial body of research investigates the effect of pay for performance in firms, yet less is known about the effect of non-financial rewards, especially in organizations that hire individuals to perform tasks with positive social spillovers. We conduct a field... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Non-monetary Rewards; Intrinsic Motivation; Motivation and Incentives; Employees; Service Industry; Health Industry

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Crisis and Response: Sexual Abuse Allegations in the Boston Archdiocese (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

This case describes how the Boston archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse during the 1990s. In 2002, the archdiocese was confronted by public revelations of how the allegations were handled. Professional organizations first... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Religion; Crisis Management; Boston

March 2017
Supplement

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder

This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

October 1996 (Revised April 2011)
Module Note

Venture Capital and Private Equity: Module IV

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Provides an overview of a module that focuses on the adaptation of the private equity model to corporate and nonprofit settings. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Nonprofit Organizations; Adaptation

June 2025
Article

What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study

By: Shelly Li, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Yu Ting Forester Wong

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) identified major shortcomings in bank board governance, contributing to systemic risk management failures. This study adapts a management control framework and empirically examines... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Management Control; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Change Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis

SSRN

April 2017
Case

Yushan Bicycles: Learning to Ride Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers

Yushan Bicycles, one of Taiwan's leading bicycle manufacturers, is pursuing an international expansion strategy by increasing demand for its range of traditional and electric bicycles and shifting its product mix toward higher-margin models sold through specialty... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Conflict Management; Learning; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Australia

March 2006
Background Note

Business, Law, and Society: The Systems Approach to Law and Management

Presents the systems approach to law and management, a construct for understanding how public law affects the competitive environment and a firm's resources. Describes how the legally astute manager can use legal tools to assess opportunities, develop the firm's value... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Law; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

September 2023
Exercise

Irrationality in Action: Decision-Making Exercise

By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael I. Norton and Oliver Hauser

This teaching exercise highlights the obstacle of biases in decision-making, allowing students to generate examples of potentially poor decision-making rooted in abundant and unwanted bias. This exercise has two parts: a pre-class, online survey in which students... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

definition of profit by changing accounting rules. On one level, this corporate behavior embodies the capitalist spirit articulated by Milton Friedman: "The social View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Ingredients of a Deal Disaster

they pay little attention to the social contract, or the spirit of the deal. So while the parties agree to the same terms on paper, they may actually have very different expectations about how the agreement will work in practice. Without... View Details

Keywords: by Ron S. Fortgang, David A. Lax & James K. Sebenius

Profile

Ahmed Eldemerdash

that HBS is the best place for me. I believe that one of the great things about this institution is the diversity of people and how that enriches the experience both in the classroom and in our social lives. What were you looking to gain... View Details

Keywords: Technology

September–October 2017
Article

Managing Our Hub Economy: Strategy, Ethics, and Network Competition in the Age of Digital Superpowers

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

A small number of digital superpowers—Alibaba, Amazon, Microsoft, and others—have become “hub firms” because they control access to billions of mobile customers coveted by all kinds of product and service providers. These hubs drive increasing returns to scale and... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Strategic Planning; Auto Industry; Technology Industry

Register to Read

February 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran

In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “start-up nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Government and Politics; Economy; Equality and Inequality; Israel

17 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Are Companies Getting Away with 'Cheap Talk' on Climate Goals?

Companies regularly set ambitious climate goals, but these plans often end up like many people’s New Year’s resolutions: unmet aspirations that quietly fizzle out. While companies often gain positive media attention by trumpeting plans for reducing greenhouse gas... View Details

Keywords: by Tim Gray

May 2021
Article

Risk-Mitigating Technologies: The Case of Radiation Diagnostic Devices

By: Alberto Galasso and Hong Luo

We study the impact of consumers’ risk perception on firm innovation. Our analysis exploits a major surge in the perceived risk of radiation diagnostic devices following extensive media coverage of a set of over-radiation accidents involving CT scanners in late 2009.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Perception; Innovation; Medical Devices; Liability Risk; Risk and Uncertainty; Perception; Technological Innovation

June 2010
Article

The Pathologies of Online Display Advertising Marketplaces

By: Benjamin Edelman

Display advertising marketplaces place "banner" ads on all manner of popular sites. While these services are widely used, they suffer significant challenges, including weak user response and low accountability for both advertisers and web site publishers. I survey a... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Cost; Corporate Accountability; Information Publishing; Consumer Behavior; Relationships; Web Sites

2020
Book

Better, Not Perfect: A Realist's Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness

By: Max Bazerman

Every day, you make hundreds of decisions. They’re largely personal, but these choices have an ethical twinge as well; they value certain principles and ends over others. Bazerman argues that we can better balance both dimensions—and we needn’t seek perfection to make... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Moral Sensibility; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact